There is increasing doubt regarding the decision to grant Mahendralal Patel, also recognized as Mahendra Motibhai Patel, a Presidential pardon, particularly since he has yet to serve his sentence.
Patel was charged with abuse of office in 2006 and was convicted in absentia on November 20, 2014, receiving a 12-month prison sentence. However, he did not serve any time, as the court allowed him to leave for medical treatment overseas, from which he did not return.
Efforts by this publication to reach Attorney-General Graham Leung, who also chairs the Mercy Commission, for clarification regarding Patel’s conditional pardon have been unsuccessful since Sunday, with no responses to follow-up inquiries.
Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) Commissioner Jalesi Nakarawa confirmed that Patel’s name was not included in the list submitted to the Mercy Commission. The FCS did not have Patel on their release list issued last Thursday afternoon. Yet, shortly after, the Fiji Government’s Facebook page published a list of pardoned individuals, which included Patel.
Nakarawa stated, “FCS facilitates applications submitted by convicted prisoners. We process these petitions and forward them to the Mercy Commission. For Patel, we were unaware, as his name was absent from our list because he was not in our custody. I am uncertain how his petition reached the Mercy Commission, as I only handle cases of convicted individuals under our care.”
According to a statement from the Mercy Commission released last Thursday, Patel initially submitted a petition on April 4, 2023, which was dismissed. On June 13, the Commission received a request from his lawyers to reconsider this petition. The Commission evaluated Patel’s second petition, taking into account his age, the time he had spent away from Fiji, and his significant contributions to the country.
As a result, the Commission recommended a conditional pardon for Patel, contingent upon his not reoffending. The President acted on this recommendation, as confirmed by the Commission, in accordance with Section 119(5) of the Constitution on September 18, 2024, stating that their decision was made in compliance with constitutional guidelines.