Let $X$ be a normal projective variety defined over an
algebraically closed field $k$ of positive characteristic. Let $G$
be a connected reductive group defined over $k$ . We prove that
some Frobenius pullback of a principal $G$ -bundle admits the
canonical reduction $E_P$ such that its extension by $P\to P/R_u(P)$ is strongly semistable (see Theorem 5.1).
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Then we show that there is only a small difference between
semistability of a principal $G$ -bundle and semistability of its
Frobenius pullback (see Theorem 6.3). This and the boundedness of
the family of semistable torsion-free sheaves imply the
boundedness of semistable (rational) principal $G$ -bundles.