Supreme Court seeks Centre's response on plea against mode of execution

NEW DELHI: The SC on Friday sought to know the government response to a PIL seeking to change the mode of carrying out capital punishment in the country – from hanging till a convict is dead to either death by lethal injection or death by a firing squad.

The Law Commission of India had earlier suggested a switch to the more “humane” mode of executing condemned prisoners by lethal injection.

Several US states use this as the mode of execution, though studies have shown that it is equally painful for the convict as drug reaction differs from person to person.


The condemned prisoner in that case is given a lethal concoction of drugs to end his life. A PIL filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra said that hanging was a cruel form of executing a convict as it inflicted great pain and injury and violated his right to die with dignity.

It is barbaric, inhuman and cruel but also against the UN resolutions which mandate member states to carry out capital punishment in a manner that will inflict minimum possible suffering.