India Supreme Court backs hanging as method of execution
India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea seeking to replace hanging with what petitioners argued were less painful methods of execution, leaving hanging as the prescribed method for carrying out the death penalty in the country. However, the court made clear that its ruling need not be the final word on the issue, saying the Central government remained free to examine alternatives and…
India's Supreme Court upheld hanging as the official method of carrying out the death penalty on Tuesday, rejecting a petition seeking to replace it with more humane execution methods. However, the court acknowledged that its decision does not preclude future examination of alternative methods if new scientific or medical evidence emerges.
The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the legal challenge, arguing that hanging causes unnecessary pain and violates the dignity of death row inmates. The petition had proposed lethal injection, shooting, electrocution, and the gas chamber as potential alternatives. The court also rejected the request to refer earlier Supreme Court judgments on the topic to a larger bench, stating there was no compelling reason to do so.
While the ruling leaves the current system in place, it allows the government to conduct a comprehensive review of alternative methods if compelling evidence emerges.
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