Examining painless death penalty issue at highest level: Govt

New Delhi:The government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that the matter whether the death penalty should be carried out by hanging or through an alternative method is being examined at the highest level.

This was submitted by attorney general R Venkataramani during the resumed hearing of a plea seeking to do away with death by hanging and adopt methods, namely lethal injection or electrocution, which are relatively less painful.

Recording the AG’s statement and briefly hearing the submissions, a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta reserved its verdict on the plea. The petitioner has placed reliance upon a report by the Law Commission, which said many countries have abolished death by hanging as punishment.


The petitioner contended that at least in Armed Forces Act cases, options are given to prisoners regarding execution. An option must be given, and prisoners must be given a choice between hanging and lethal injection as the mode of execution, the petitioner, senior advocate Rishi Malhotra, argued.