SC seeks govt’s response on plea to abolish execution by hanging

The PIL by advocate Rishi Malhotra sought striking down Section 354(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code which says “when any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead”.

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the government’s response to a plea to abolish the practice of executing death row convicts by hanging and introducing more “dignified” means.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, while issuing a notice to the Centre, said “prima facie we observe… the legislature can think of some other mode by which a convict facing the death sentence dies in peace but not in pain”. The bench, which also included Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, gave the government three weeks to reply.

The PIL by advocate Rishi Malhotra sought striking down Section 354(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code which says “when any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead”.  He contended that the provision violated Article 21 of the Constitution and also the 1996 decision of the Constitution Bench of the apex court in Gian Kaur versus the State of Punjab.

The court held in that case that “the Right to Life including the Right to Live with human dignity would mean the existence of such a right up to the end of natural life. This also includes the right to a dignified life up to the point of death, including a dignified procedure of death. In other words, this may include the right of a dying man to also die with dignity when his life is ebbing out.”

Malhotra also wanted the court to “declare the Right to Die by a dignified procedure of death is a Fundamental right as defined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India”. He pointed out that the Law Commission in its 187th report had noted that there was a significant increase in the number of countries where hanging had been abolished and substituted by electrocution, shooting or lethal injection as the method of execution.

“It had categorically opined that hanging is undoubtedly accompanied by intense physical torture and pain,” the plea said.  Comparing figures, it said while in hanging, the entire execution process takes over 40 minutes to declare a prisoner to be dead, the shooting process involves not more than few minutes. In case of intravenous lethal injection, it is all over in 5 minutes. He added: “Dying with dignity is part of the right to life” and the present practice of executing a death row convict by hanging involves “prolonged pain and suffering”.

The present procedure can be replaced with intravenous lethal injections, shooting, electrocution or gas chamber in which death is just a matter of minutes, the petition said. It said that execution was not only “barbaric, inhuman and cruel”, but also against the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.