Evolution of jurisprudence around capital punishment, its procedures
1 year, 8 months ago

Evolution of jurisprudence around capital punishment, its procedures

Hindustan Times  

The Supreme Court last month decided to test the validity of hanging by the neck as the method of executing death sentence in India, stating that the method can be declared unconstitutional if there is scientific material favouring a different method of execution as less painful and “more consistent with human dignity”. Over the years, there has been a constant evolution of jurisprudence on varying aspects of the validity of the capital punishment and the procedure surrounding it, but it is the only second time in the last four decades when the apex court has agreed to examine if the mode of executing death sentence meets the requirements of the constitutional right to die with dignity and the test of proportionality. In 2003, the law commission, under the chairmanship of former Supreme Cout judge M Jagannadha Rao, submitted its 187th Report on ‘Mode of Execution of Death and Incidental Matters’, focussed on the method of execution, process of eliminating differences in opinions among Supreme Court judges on passing a death sentence, and need to provide a right of appeal on death sentences. It added that the use of lethal injections has “gained the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of botched executions within the United States between 1900 and 2010.” Granting an effective hearing to Malhotra’s petition after almost three years, the CJI-led bench last month agreed with the 1983 ruling that the court is not going to tell the legislature which method of execution should be in the statute, but added that it could still ascertain the validity of the existing mode of execution on the anvil of the constitutional right to dignity in death — both in the process of execution and the manner of it.

India Death Supreme Court Death Penalty Court Criminal Procedure Punishment Capital Capital Punishment State Singh Supreme Act Method Sentence Chandrachud Cji Execution Death Sentence Malhotra Death Sentences Crpc Hanging Lethal Injections  method  state  death  evolution  jurisprudence  court  act  hanging  supreme  procedures  execution  punishment  sentence  capital

History of this topic

Bombay High Court upholds penalty of a man convicted in murdering his mother and later eating her organs
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Bombay High Court upholds penalty of a man convicted in murdering his mother and later eating her organs

The Hindu  

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday upheld the death penalty awarded to a man from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur for brutally murdering his 63-year-old mother and later eating her body parts and organs in 2017. Thus, we have upheld your death sentence, as awarded to you by the sessions court,” the Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan observed. The …

Created Fear & Vulnerability Amongst Women, Had Profound Impact On Society: Kerala High Court Confirms Death Sentence Of Man Convicted Of Brutal Rape-Murder
7 months ago

Created Fear & Vulnerability Amongst Women, Had Profound Impact On Society: Kerala High Court Confirms Death Sentence Of Man Convicted Of Brutal Rape-Murder

Live Law  

The Kerala High Court today confirmed the death sentence imposed upon Muhammed Ameer-Ul Islam, a migrant labourer from Assam for committing the rape and murder of a law student in Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016. It said, “The Court stated that the brutality committed by the accused on the body of the victim to cause her death can only be …

Kerala High Court upholds death sentence of a convict in law student rape and murder case
7 months ago

Kerala High Court upholds death sentence of a convict in law student rape and murder case

India TV News  

The Kerala High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence for Ameerul Islam, convicted in the 2016 rape and murder of a 30-year-old Dalit law student in Perumbavoor. The high court dismissed Islam's appeal against the sessions court verdict and confirmed the capital punishment. The court had said that the confirmation of the capital punishment was also made based on …

Yes Milord, the process is often punishment
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Yes Milord, the process is often punishment

Hindustan Times  

The two-judge bench SC order clearing a person charged with abetting the suicide of his wife 30 years ago is noteworthy for two reasons. One, it has stressed an important principle that should guide law officers while invoking stringent provisions, in this specific case, Section 306 of the IPC. Two, the comment the Court made on the judicial process that …

Supreme Court Allows Project 39A To Intervene In PIL Challenging Execution Of Death Penalty By Hanging
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court Allows Project 39A To Intervene In PIL Challenging Execution Of Death Penalty By Hanging

Live Law  

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Project 39A of National Law University-Delhi to intervene in a PIL seeking to abolish the present practice of executing a death row convict by hanging and to replace the same with less painful alternatives. Earlier, the Supreme Court had expressed its inclination towards constituting an expert committee to determine if the execution of death …

Capital term review, mitigation probe of death row convicts
1 year, 7 months ago

Capital term review, mitigation probe of death row convicts

New Indian Express  

The order is significant as it revisits, once again, the often ignored aspect of death penalty jurisprudence. Sure, the two prisoners who are serving death sentences have committed heinous crimes: one involves a techie convicted for murdering his female friend’s three-year-old daughter and mother-in-law and injuring her husband at Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram in 2014, while the second convict is a …

Abolition is the way: The Hindu Editorial on the higher judiciary’s move on the death penalty
1 year, 9 months ago

Abolition is the way: The Hindu Editorial on the higher judiciary’s move on the death penalty

The Hindu  

Forty years after holding that the mode of executing prisoners by hanging cannot be termed too cruel or barbaric, the Supreme Court of India has now ventured to find out if there is a more dignified and less painful method to carry out death sentences. The idea of finding an alternative mode of execution, one considered less painful and involves …

Uphold dignity in death penalty
1 year, 9 months ago

Uphold dignity in death penalty

Hindustan Times  

There are layers upon layers in the judicial debate on capital punishment — the efficacy and ethics of administering the death penalty, the adequacy of procedural safeguards, the choice of the most humane way to execute a person, and even the moral argument — but at its heart rests the motivation to safeguard the dignity of the life that is …

Death Penalty By Hanging Barbaric? Supreme Court To Examine Less Painful Alternatives
1 year, 9 months ago

Death Penalty By Hanging Barbaric? Supreme Court To Examine Less Painful Alternatives

Live Law  

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its inclination towards constituting an expert committee to determine if the execution of death penalty through hanging was proportionate. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha was hearing a PIL seeking to abolish the present practice of executing a death row convict by hanging which involves “prolonged pain. A bench …

SC asks govt. for data on death by hanging and a possible alternative mode of execution
1 year, 9 months ago

SC asks govt. for data on death by hanging and a possible alternative mode of execution

The Hindu  

The Supreme Court on March 21 asked the Centre to provide data which may point to a more dignified, less painful and socially acceptable method of executing prisoners other than death by hanging. The Court indicated to the Centre, represented by Attorney General R. Venkataramani, that it needed some underlying data based on which it could examine if there was …

Explained: How India saw the highest number of death penalties in 2022
1 year, 10 months ago

Explained: How India saw the highest number of death penalties in 2022

Firstpost  

According to the report ‘Death Penalty in India, Annual Statistics Report, 2022,’ trial courts across India imposed 165 death sentences in 2022, the most in a single year in the last two decades New Delhi: Trial courts across the country imposed 165 death sentences in 2022, which is the highest in a single year in the last two decades, a …

165 Death Sentences Awarded By Trial Courts In 2022, Highest Ever In A Year Since 2000 : Project 39A Report
1 year, 10 months ago

165 Death Sentences Awarded By Trial Courts In 2022, Highest Ever In A Year Since 2000 : Project 39A Report

Live Law  

In 2022, trial courts imposed the largest number of death sentences in a single year since 2000 while the death row population was the highest it has been since 2004. Overview of Death Sentences In 2022, trial courts imposed death sentences on 165 persons - the largest number of death sentences imposed in a single year in over two decades …

Why India needs a rethink before expanding scope of death penalty
2 years, 1 month ago

Why India needs a rethink before expanding scope of death penalty

Firstpost  

It is crystal clear the graph of number of death sentences dips amazingly as the cases get referred up Put yourself in the shoes of a rape and murder victim’s parents. But while the Delhi High Court had given the death punishment calling the accused “predators”, the Supreme Court exonerated all three defendants for the 2012 rape and murder of …

DC Edit | SC move to set guidelines on death penalty welcome
2 years, 3 months ago

DC Edit | SC move to set guidelines on death penalty welcome

Deccan Chronicle  

The decision of the Supreme Court to set up a Constitution Bench to lay down guidelines for the courts on providing a convict a real and meaningful hearing before deciding on a death penalty is a refreshing step that will further civilise the criminal justice delivery system in our country. The only protection a person can have against incarceration or …

Death Penalty: SC Refers to 5-judge Bench Case on Framing Guidelines on Mitigating Circumstances
2 years, 3 months ago

Death Penalty: SC Refers to 5-judge Bench Case on Framing Guidelines on Mitigating Circumstances

News 18  

The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a five-judge Constitution bench a suo motu plea on framing of guidelines on how and when potential mitigating circumstances be considered by courts during trial in cases which entail the death penalty as the maximum punishment. A bench headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said it was of the opinion that this …

Death Penalty : Legislative And Judicial Chronology From Bachan Singh Vs. State Of Punjab (1980) To Manoj Singh Vs. State Of M.P(2022)
2 years, 4 months ago

Death Penalty : Legislative And Judicial Chronology From Bachan Singh Vs. State Of Punjab (1980) To Manoj Singh Vs. State Of M.P(2022)

Live Law  

Death Penalty, one of the punishments that can be awarded to an accused in India- has always been subject to diverse views, criticism and repeated evaluations of being effective or ineffective in retribution or being a necessary action in few cases. The five judge bench in Bachan Singh's case laid down elaborate frame-line and guiding factors to be taken into …

A new track for capital punishment jurisprudence
2 years, 7 months ago

A new track for capital punishment jurisprudence

The Hindu  

A recent trend in the evolution of jurisprudence around the death penalty in India may reset judicial thinking around sentencing and have long-term ramifications in the awarding of capital punishment. The Court has also initiated a suo motu writ petition to delve deep into these issues on key aspects surrounding our understanding of death penalty sentencing. Building on this, the …

Revisiting death penalty jurisprudence
2 years, 7 months ago

Revisiting death penalty jurisprudence

The Hindu  

On April 22, a Bench of the Supreme Court of India, led by Justice U.U. Several other cases also were decided by ignoring the Bachan Singh doctrine, as noted by the Supreme Court itself in Santhosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar vs State of Maharashtra and Rajesh Kumar vs State. Taking empirical lessons from the fate of Bachan Singh, the Supreme Court …

Ahmedabad serial blasts: Indian court sentences 38 out of 49 convicts to death in 2008 case
2 years, 10 months ago

Ahmedabad serial blasts: Indian court sentences 38 out of 49 convicts to death in 2008 case

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A local court in the …

Supreme Court Commutes Death Sentence in a Triple Murder Case
3 years ago

Supreme Court Commutes Death Sentence in a Triple Murder Case

Live Law  

Supreme Court has recently commuted the death penalty awarded to a man convicted for triple murder.A bench comprising of Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Justice L. Nageshwar Rao, Justice B.R. Gavai was considering an appeal filed by the convict against the Madhya Pradesh High Court Judgment sentencing him to death by affirming the death sentence passed by the trial Court for the …

ILS Webinar: Revisiting Jurisprudence On Capital Punishment In India [11th July]
4 years, 5 months ago

ILS Webinar: Revisiting Jurisprudence On Capital Punishment In India [11th July]

Live Law  

Indian Law Society's Law College, Criminal Law Cell is organizing a webinar on the "Revisiting Jurisprudence on Capital Punishment in India". The webinar aims to get insights on different aspects of the death penalty such as philosophies behind it, constitutionality, ground realities, and discussion on both abolition and retention of the death penalty in India. Day & Date: Saturday, 11th …

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