Supreme Court bins plea to replace death by hanging with lethal injection

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to replace death by hanging with lethal injection as a less painful method of executing those sentenced to death. However, the court did not rule out the possibility of revisiting the issue in the future. The court declined to refer the matter to a larger bench for reconsideration of the 1983 three-judge decision that upheld the constitutionality of hanging as a form of capital punishment.

Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta expressed that no compelling evidence had been presented to warrant a larger bench review of the constitutionality of the specific provisions governing hanging as the death penalty. The petitioner, Rishi Malhotra, argued that hanging is barbaric, inhuman, and cruel, and goes against international resolutions.

In contrast, lethal injection via intravenous method reportedly takes no more than 5 minutes, compared to the minimum of 40 minutes for a hanging execution. The Supreme Court made it clear that its decision should not be perceived as closing off any future constitutional examination on this matter, should new scientific, medical, or empirical evidence arise that challenges the rationale behind the 1983 order.

The court emphasized that its ruling is "organic" and must adapt to evolving constitutional doctrine, as well as to advances in scientific knowledge.