Death by hanging: SC asks govt if this is best way to execute convicts
Friday, October 6, 2017 IST
The Supreme Court asked the government on Friday to explain within three weeks why it shouldn’t ban hanging by the neck as a mode of execution, reopening a decades-old debate over what’s a more humane and dignified way to end a life.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra signalled that in the light of progress made by science it was willing to review a 34-year-old decision backing hanging as the legal method of execution in India.
The court is hearing a private petition seeking a more dignified capital punishment.
“Prima facie we observe… the legislature can think of some other mode by which a convict facing the death sentence should die in peace but not in pain,” the bench said.
Practiced by some 60 countries, death by hanging is by far the most common method of legal execution. Lethal injections, firing squads and electrocution are some of the other ways used.
A few countries use more bizarre methods, including “falling from an unknown height” used by Iran, while Sudan allows a method which calls for retributive justice to be carried out in the same manner in which the convict caused death, according to research by Cornell Law School.
In India, military court-martials also allow shooting as a means of execution.
Lawyer Rishi Malhotra’s petition argues that an individual’s right to life includes the right to die with dignity, and that hanging was too barbaric and cruel a way to end one’s life. The petition seeks replacement of hanging by lethal injection or shooting.
But the court did not appear to agree with Malhotra.
Justice DY Chandrahud, one of the bench members, said shooting was associated with authoritarian regimes, and extensive research in the United States showed that lethal injections led to severe suffering of about 45 minutes before a convict died.
The court, however, said it was willing to reconsider its decision of 1984 upholding hanging as the preferred means of executions.
The court spoke of the constitution being a live document that has evolved with time. “The constitution of India… recognises the sanctity of flexibility,” the bench said.
“Once a provision held valid, with the influx of time, can become invalid,” it added, giving the government three weeks to respond.
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
More in National
There are times when technology comes to the rescue in the strangest of ways. Imagine this – a man goes to donate sperm but he finds that masturbating in a ...
Recently posted. 1K views . 3 min read
Being a good person is not hard, but it doesn’t just happen. As much as anything else, you have to want to be a good person and make choices that correspond...
Recently posted. 1K views . 2 min read
December marked a historic moment in the United States with the hemp legalization. No wonder the industry is now flourishing. It has been estimated that the industr...
Recently posted. 1K views . 2 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 352 views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Besides the eyes, people pay close attention to a person’s lips. According to physiognomists or the face scientists who are experts at reading facial cues, th...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read
What does it take to create a healthy, balanced relationship? Here are some of the signs — like, taking each other’s careers seriously, respecting eac...
Recently posted. 881 views . 1 min read