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The Supreme Court of India has reignited the debate around capital punishment methods, questioning whether the colonial-era practice of death by hanging should continue to be India’s sole means of execution. On October 9, 2025 , a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta suggested that the Union Government should consider giving death row convicts the option to choose between hanging and lethal injection , observing that “methods of execution across the world have undergone significant change” since India codified hanging into law. The Case and the Challenge The issue arises from a petition filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra , challenging the constitutional validity of Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) , which mandated that a person sentenced to death “shall be hanged by the neck till he is dead.” This provision has now been replaced by Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 , but the method of hangin...

The Supreme Court of India, in a significant ruling, has reiterated that the gravity of a crime alone is insufficient to impose the death penalty unless the judicial process leading to the sentencing is scrupulously fair, transparent, and in strict compliance with constitutional safeguards . This judgment, delivered in the case involving death row convict Vasant Sampat Dupare , is a reminder of India’s strong constitutional framework that upholds life, dignity, and justice , even for those convicted of heinous crimes. The Fragility of the Death Penalty System A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta emphasized the irreversible nature of capital punishment and the risk of wrongful convictions. The judgment pointed out that investigations in India often rely on confessions extracted under opacity, contested recoveries, and forensic material of doubtful rigor , which when coupled with an overburdened trial system, increases the risk of errors. “A Constituti...

Balwant Singh Rajoana's Mercy Plea: A Case of Delayed Decision on Death Sentence Introduction: The Supreme Court's Latest Directive The Supreme Court of India has directed the Central Government to decide on the mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana , a death-row prisoner convicted for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. The court has set March 18 as the deadline, warning that if no decision is taken, it will proceed to hear the matter on merits. The Assassination of Beant Singh The case stems from the August 31, 1995 , assassination of Beant Singh, orchestrated via a bomb explosion in Chandigarh. Balwant Singh Rajoana, a sympathizer of the Babbar Khalsa militant group , was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 by a Chandigarh court. The conviction was upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2010. Notably, Rajoana never filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision. Mercy Petition: Grounds and Delay Balwant Singh...