Capital Punishment- by Vedant Karia at LexCliq

 Capital Punishment- by Vedant Karia at LexCliq

Capital Punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of an offender sentenced to death following a court-ordered conviction of a criminal offence. The Indian criminal justice system is a critical component of capital punishment.

When India gained independence in 1947, it retained the 1861 Penal Code, which included the death penalty for murder. Several members of the Constituent Assembly expressed support for abolishing the death penalty during the 1947–1949 drafting of the Indian Constitution, but no such provision was included. Over the next two decades, private members bills to abolish the death penalty were introduced in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, but none were adopted. Between 1950 and 1980, it was estimated that between 3000 and 4000 people were executed. Measuring the number of people sentenced to death and executed between 1980 and the mid-1990s is more difficult. Annually, it is estimated that two or three people were hanged. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1980 Bachan Singh case that the death penalty should be reserved for the "rarest of rare" cases, but it is unclear what constitutes the rarest of rare.

India voted against a United Nations resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, arguing that it violates Indian statutory law and each country's sovereign right to establish its own legal system.

 

It is reserved for the most heinous crimes in India. It is given for the most heinous and grievous crimes. Article 21 states that no one shall be deprived of the 'right to life' guaranteed to every Indian citizen. In India, the Indian Penal Code punishes various offences with the death penalty, including criminal conspiracy, murder, war against the government, abetment of mutiny, dacoity with murder, and anti-terrorism (IPC). The president has the authority to grant mercy in death penalty cases. In Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, the Supreme Court held that capital punishment should be reserved for the most egregious of offences.

 

Only the president has the authority to grant pardons in cases involving death sentences. Once a Sessions Court has sentenced a convict to death in a case, the sentence must be confirmed by the High Court. If the convict's appeal to the Supreme Court is denied, he may approach the President of India with a'mercy petition.' States must follow detailed instructions on how to handle petitions for mercy from or on behalf of death-sentenced convicts. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall establish procedures for such convicts' appeals to the Supreme Court and requests for special leave to appeal to that court. The President, pursuant to Article 72 of the Indian Constitution, has the authority to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, or remissions of punishment, as well as to suspend, remit, or reduce the sentence of any person convicted of an offence.

 

In India, there are two methods of execution:

 

• Hanging

 

• Shooting

 

The following crimes and offences are capital offences:

 

• Murder committed with malice

 

• Other homicide-related offences

 

• Non-fatal terrorism-related offences

 

• Rape that does not result in death

 

• Kidnapping that does not result in death

 

• Drug trafficking is not fatal

 

• Treason

 

• Military infractions that do not result in death

 

• Other non-fatal offences

 

1. Anyone who is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit a capital offence faces the death penalty.

 

2. Attempts to murder those serving life sentences are punishable by death if the victim is harmed as a result of the attempt.

 

3. A person who provides false evidence with the knowledge that it may result in the conviction and execution of a member of a scheduled caste or tribe for committing a capital offence will face the death penalty if the false evidence results in the conviction and execution of an innocent person.

 

Which types of criminals are exempt from capital punishment?

 

• Minor

 

• Expectant Mothers

 

• Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

This is a controversial topic  related to social and moral aspects. Courts have expanded the scope of 'alternative options', which must be exhausted before the death penalty is imposed, and the Supreme Court has found him guilty in Bachchan Singh. By maintaining the death penalty, we might execute  innocent people.

Vedant Karia