However, the first woman President of the country rejected mercy petitions of five people who had committed heinous crime, including the assassins of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said the President commuted the death sentence of 35 people involved in 19 cases.
Among those whose mercy petitions were accepted are those convicted of mass murder, kidnapping, rape and killing of children.
On June 2, Patil gave her pardon to four more
