{"id":34103,"date":"2023-03-27T02:32:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T21:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=34103"},"modified":"2025-04-20T08:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T03:28:07","slug":"all-about-death-penalty-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/all-about-death-penalty-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"All About Death Penalty in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Death Penalty in India<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Legal Remedies Available to Death Sentenced Individuals<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Arguments in Favour\/Against of Death Penalty<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Important Judgements on Death Penalty<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How are Executions Carried Out in Other Countries?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u00a0Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A Supreme Court Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI), recently asked the Central government to defend the law that allows hanging by the neck as a mode of execution for death penalty.<\/li>\n<li>This has reopened a decades-old debate over whether there can be a more humane and dignified way of executing the death penalty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Death Penalty in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The purpose of the death penalty is to deter people from doing something by instilling fear in them about the consequences.<\/li>\n<li>This punishment applies to heinous and traumatising offences to society as a whole, such as murder, rape, rape with murder, etc.<\/li>\n<li>According to <strong>Death Penalty in India (2022)<\/strong> report, the <i><strong>trial courts across the country imposed 165 death sentences in 2022<\/strong><\/i>, which is the highest in a single year in the last two decades.\n<ul>\n<li>Death Penalty in India Report is published by Project 39A, a criminal law reforms advocacy group based in New Delhi.<\/li>\n<li>It is inspired by <strong>Article 39A<\/strong> of the Indian Constitution which provides for <i><strong>free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society<\/strong><\/i> and ensures justice for all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In India, death penalty is carried out by hanging as the primary method of execution as given under Section 354(5) of the Criminal Code of Procedure, 1973 is &#8220;<i><strong>Hanging by the neck until dead<\/strong><\/i>&#8220;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Legal Remedies Available to Death Sentenced Individuals<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The award of the death sentence by a trial court must be reaffirmed by a High Court to make it final.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article 137<\/strong> of the Indian Constitution provides the power to the Supreme Court to review the orders and judgments passed by it.\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Review Petition<\/strong> can be filed under Section 114 and Order 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>After the dismissal of the review petition, the person can file <strong>Curative Petition<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Petitioners can file curative petitions in case of gross violation of principles of natural justice.<\/li>\n<li>The curative petition will be sent to the three senior most judges and the bench of judges who passed the judgment.<\/li>\n<li>If the majority of them find substance in the petition, then the matter would be sent to the same bench of judges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mercy Petition<\/strong> can be filed by the convicts. It is to be filed <u>within a period of seven days from the date when the Superintendent of jail informs the convicted person of the dismissal of the petition<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Article 72<\/strong> and <strong>Article 161<\/strong> of the Constitution provides the power to pardon the petitioner to the President and the Governor, respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Arguments in Favour\/Against of Death Penalty<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Moral arguments \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Supporters of the death penalty believe that those who commit murder, because they have taken the life of another, have <u>forfeited their own right to life<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>Furthermore, they believe, <u>capital punishment is a just form of retribution<\/u>, expressing and reinforcing the moral indignation not only of the victim\u2019s relatives but of law-abiding citizens in general.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Counter argument \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Opponents of death penalty argue that, by legitimizing the very behaviour that the law seeks to repress\u2014killing\u2014capital punishment is counterproductive in the moral message it conveys.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Utilitarian arguments<\/strong> <strong>\u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Supporters of capital punishment also claim that <u>it has a uniquely potent deterrent effect on potentially violent offenders for whom the threat of imprisonment is not a sufficient restraint<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Counter argument<\/strong> <strong>\u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0 Opponents, however, point to research that generally has demonstrated that the death penalty is not a more effective deterrent than the alternative sanction of life or long-term imprisonment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Practical arguments \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>There also are disputes about whether capital punishment can be administered in a manner consistent with justice.<\/li>\n<li>Those who support capital punishment believe that <u>it is possible to fashion laws and procedures that ensure that only those who are really deserving of death are executed<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Counter argument \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>By contrast, opponents maintain that the historical application of capital punishment shows that <u>any attempt to single out certain kinds of crime as deserving of death will inevitably be arbitrary and discriminatory<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Important Judgements on Death Penalty<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ediga Anamma v\/s State of Andhra Pradesh (1974) \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court laid down the principle that life imprisonment for the offence of murder is the rule and capital sentence is the exception in certain cases.<\/li>\n<li>The Court also stated that a <u>special reason should be given if the court decides to impose a death sentence<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bachan Singh v\/s State of Punjab (1980) \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court held that only in <i><strong>rarest of rare cases<\/strong><\/i> that are brutal, the death penalty should be imposed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How are Executions Carried Out in Other Countries?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>According to Amnesty International, <strong>55 countries <\/strong>still have the death sentence in their statute books.<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Death by hanging is the most prevalent mode of execution<\/strong><\/i>, especially in the former British colonies.<\/li>\n<li>Execution by firing squad is employed in <strong>China<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saudi Arabia<\/strong> uses beheading, apart from other methods.<\/li>\n<li>In the <strong>US<\/strong>, an intravenous lethal injection is given in every state (27 states and American Samoa) that allows the death penalty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2017, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a more dignified way to execute the death penalty.<\/li>\n<li>The petitioner argued that a convict whose life has to end because of the sentence should not be compelled to suffer the pain of hanging.<\/li>\n<li>In reference to this PIL, the Supreme Court, last week, asked the Central government to defend the law that allows hanging by the neck as a mode of execution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Central Government\u2019s argument \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In its affidavit filed in January 2018, <i><strong>the government had submitted that death by hanging was the only \u201cviable\u201d option to execute a death warrant<\/strong><\/i>, but had also sought time to examine methods followed in other countries.<\/li>\n<li>In its 187<sup>th<\/sup> report in 2003, the <i><strong>Law Commission had recommended that Section 354(5) CrPC should be amended to provide for \u201clethal injection until the accused is dead\u201d<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is the difference between Remission &amp; Respite?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Respite \u2013 Respite means awarding a lesser punishment on some special grounds. For example- the Pregnancy of women offender. Remissions\u2013 Remission means the reduction of the amount of sentence without changing its character, for example, a sentence of 1 year may be remitted to 6 months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong> <strong>Can the Governor commute a Death Sentence?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The President can pardon death sentence while governor cannot. Even if a state law prescribes death sentence, the power to grant pardon lies with the President and not the governor. However, <strong>the governor can suspend, remit or commute a death sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-law\/debate-over-mode-of-capital-punishment-explained-8510590\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Hanging, or something else as death penalty? Before Supreme Court, a case around the mode of capital punishment<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Death penalty is a legal punishment of being killed for a crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}