Published: 4th May, 2023
Context
The Union Government told the Supreme Court that it is considering appointing an expert committee to examine if there can be a method less painful than hanging by neck for execution in death penalty cases in the country.
Background
- In 2017, a PIL was filed seeking to abolish the present practice of executing a death row convict by hanging and replace it with less painful methods such as "intravenous lethal injection, shooting, electrocution or gas chamber".
What is the death penalty in India?
- Hanging and shooting are the two methods of the death penalty in India.
- According to the Criminal Procedure Code, hanging is the method of execution in the civilian court system.
- The Army Act, of 1950, however, lists hanging and shooting as official methods of execution in the military court-martial system.
- Under the provisions of criminal procedure, the death penalty must be awarded as an alternative punishment to life imprisonment which the offenders may be sentenced to in 'rarest of rare cases'.
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Rarest of rare cases ( Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab )
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Gaps in the current sentencing framework
- Law Commission: In 2015, a Law Commission report called for its abolition, except for in terrorism-related cases.
- Supreme Court: In 2022, for the first time in 42 years, the Supreme Court acknowledged the gaps in the current sentencing frameworkand put together another constitutional bench to resolve them.
- But as the Supreme Court seeks ways to reform death penalty sentencing, trial courts across India continue to hand down capital punishment.
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Increasing death penalty
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Why capital punishment should be abolished?
- Violation of human rights: In 2015, a Law Commission report argued that the death penalty is unconstitutional and an infringement of Article 14 (right to equality before law) and Article 21 (right to life) of the Indian constitution.
- Endless suffering: The appeals procedure for death sentences is lengthy. Due to this, persons sentenced to death are sometimes brutally made to suffer extended periods of uncertainty about their fate.
- Economic burden: Abolishing the death penalty will ease, not enhance, the tax-payer’s burden. The annual cost of maintaining a prisoner is about Rs 30,000.
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Global Practice Since 1976, more than 90 nations have abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
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Conclusion
The capital sentencing framework as it stands today raises concerns about our commitment to the rule of law and poses a serious threat to the right to fair trial of the accused. Any attempts to repair the broken nature of capital sentencing in India must necessarily involve addressing the glaring normative, substantive and procedural deficiencies.
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