Section 55 PPC Commutation of Sentence of Imprisonment for Life in Law and as per Lawkidunya the word Commutation of Sentence is a reduction in sentence. In a Commutation of Sentence, a person is not absolved from a conviction completely, but, his/her punishment is substituted with a lesser punishment. For example, a death sentence may be commuted to a sentence of imprisonment for life.
Imprisonment for Life in PPC Pakistan Penal Code
As per Lawkidunya, the word Imprisonment of Life or Life Imprisonment stands for “imprisonment for the whole of the remaining of convicted person’s natural life”, and not twenty-five years. It provides that, in calculating fractions of terms of punishment, imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for twenty-five years.
Commutation of Sentence of Imprisonment for Life
In every case in which sentence of imprisonment for life shall have been passed, the Provincial Government of the Province within which the offender, shall have been sentenced may, without the consent of the offender, commute the punishment for imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding fourteen years: Provided that, in a case in which sentence of imprisonment for life shall have been passed against an offender convicted for an offence punishable under Chapter XVI, such punishment shall not be commuted without the consent of the victim or, as the case may be, of his heirs.