The Maths of Mercy: which president would have been most likely to grant Yakub a pardon?

Out of the 24 mercy petitions which President Pranab Mukherjee has received in three years in office, he has rejected 22. These includes the petitions of Afzal Guru (2001 Parliament attack convict) and Ajmal Kasab (2008 Mumbai terror attack convict).

Here's a look at how mercy pleas have been addressed by the presidents of India in the last 25 years.

• 43 mercy petitions have been rejected by presidents of India since 1992
• 84 per cent of these petitions were rejected by just two Presidents: Shankar Dayal Sharma and Pranab Mukherjee
• 37 convicts were granted the presidential pardon.
• 14 out of 14 mercy petitions were rejected by Shankar Dayal Sharma
• 51 per cent of all petitions since 1992 have been rejected by Pranab Mukherjee alone

Pratibha Patil

• Pranab Mukherjee's predecessor Pratibha Patil pardoned 92 per cent of the death row convicts who addressed mercy pleas to her. She disposed of 39 clemency petitions
• 5 mercy petitions were rejected by Patil, including three from Rajiv Gandhi's killers
• 34 convicts had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment
• Patil left 11 petitions for Pranab Mukherjee to deliberate

Dr K R Narayanan

• Received 10 petitions of which he disposed off just one
• Dr Narayanan rejected the mercy plea of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, convicted for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in Kolkata

APJ Abdul Kalam

• 25 petitions were referred to Kalam, of which he inherited 9 petitions left undecided by Narayanan
• Kalam acted on 2 petitions - rejected one and accepted the other