SUPREME COURT ON CAPITAL SENTENCE.

A Proposal made by: - SHUBHAM

1764
B.A LL.B {Hons.}

A Proposal submitted to:- Dr.FR. PETER LADIS F

A Research work submitted in complete fulfilment for the course

titled (CRIMINAL LAW-I) for attaining the degree B.A LL.B
{Hons.}.

August,2018

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

NYAYA NAGAR, MITHAPUR
PATNA-800001

1
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.A. LL.B {Hons.} Project Report entitle
“SUPREME COURT ON CAPITAL SENTENCE” submitted at Chanakya National Law
University, Patna is an authentic record of my work carried out under the supervision of
DR.FR.PETER LADIS F. I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other degree or
diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

(Signature of the Candidate)

SHUBHAM

Chanakya National Law University, Patna .

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr.FR. PETER LADIS F for his invaluable
support, guidance and advice. I would also like to thank my friends who have always been
there to support me and last but not the least I would also like to thank the library staff for
working long hours to facilitate us with required material going a long way in quenching our
thirst for education.

---- SHUBHAM

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE NO:-

 INTRODUCTION…………………………….5-6
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND……………..8
 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA………..9-10
 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: THE CURRENT
SCENARIO…………………………………..11
- SUPREME COURT ON VALIDITY OF CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT IN INDIA.
- CRITERIA FOR RAREST OF RARE
 EMERGENCE OF ALTERNATIVE PUNISHMENT TO CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT………………….12-13
 JUDICIAL REVIEW OF EXERCICE OF MERCY
POWER……………………………………...14
 LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA’S REPORT ON DEATH
PENALTY…………………………………...15
 ANNEXURE-I CAPITAL OFFENCES IN
IPC,1860…………………………………….16
 ANNEXURE-II MERCY PETITIONS DECIDED BY THE
PRESIDENT OF INDIA……………………17
 SPECIAL LEGISLATIONS PROVIDING FOR THE DEATH
PENALTY………………………...18-19
 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS…………………...20-23
 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………..24

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 INTRODUCTION

All punishments are based on the same proposition i.e. there must be a penalty for
wrongdoing. There are two main reasons for inflicting the punishment. One is the belief that
it is both right and just that a person who has done wrong should suffer for it; the other is the
belief that inflicting punishment on wrongdoers discourages other from doing wrong. The
capital punishment also rests on the same proposition as other punishments1 . The capital
punishment debate is the most generally relevant debate, keeping in mind the situation that
has been brought about by today. Capital punishment is an integral part of the Indian criminal
justice system. Increasing strength of the human rights movement in India, the existence of
capital punishment is questioned as immoral. However this is an odd argument as keeping
one person alive at the cost of the lives of numerous members or potential victims in the
society is unbelievable and in fact, that is morally wrong2.

MEANING OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT :

Capital punishment, also called death penalty, execution of an offender sentenced to death
after conviction by a court of law for a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be
distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law. The term
death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition
of the penalty is not always followed by execution (even when it is upheld on appeal),
because of the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment3 . The term "Capital
Punishment" stands for most severe form of punishment. It is the punishment which is to be
awarded for the most heinous, grievous and detestable crimes against humanity. While the
definition and extent of such crimes vary from country to country, state to state, age to age,
the implication of capital punishment has always been the death sentence. By common usage
in jurisprudence, criminology and penology, capital sentence means a sentence of death4 .

1 http://newindialaw.blogspot.in/2012/11/constitutional-validity-of-capital.html

2 http://www.allsubjectjournal.com/archives/2015/vol2issue4/PartK/62.pdf

3 http://www.britannica.com/topic/capital-punishment

4 Capital Punishment in India by Dr. Subhash C. Gupta, 2000, p. 1

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Supreme Court on Validity of Capital Punishment in India:

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution ensures the Fundamental Right to life and liberty for all
persons. It adds no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
procedure established by law. This has been legally construed to mean if there is a procedure,
which is fair and valid, then the state by framing a law can deprive a person of his life. While
the central government has consistently maintained it would keep the death penalty in the
statute books to act as a deterrent, and for those who are a threat to society, the Supreme
Court too has upheld the constitutional validity of capital punishment in “rarest of rare”
cases. In Jagmohan Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh (1973), then in Rajendra Prasad vs State
of Uttar Pradesh (1979), and finally in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980), the Supreme
Court affirmed the constitutional validity of the death penalty. It said that if capital
punishment is provided in the law and the procedure is a fair, just and reasonable one, the
death sentence can be awarded to a convict. This will, however, only be in the “rarest of rare”
cases, and the courts should render “special reasons” while sending a person to the gallows.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The researcher intends to find out the scope of Capital sentence by Supreme Court and its
development in India and to know the current penal provisions of Capital punishment
according to The Indian Penal Code,1860.

HYPOTHESIS

1. Capital Punishment is unconstitutional as it is ultra vires article 21.

2. Capital Punishment is a barbaric form of Punishment.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher has adopted a purely doctrinal method of data collection.

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 SOURCES OF DATA

PRIMARY SOURCES

1. The Indian Penal Code,1860

2. Legislative Provisions
3. Case laws

SECONDARY SOURCES
• Books
• Newspaper
• Websites
• Journals
• Magazines

LIMITATION
The present research is confined to a time limit of one month. The researcher has used
purposive and convenient method of data collection due to paucity of time and various
limitations of Research which includes Money, area, language etc.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research work on “Supreme Court on Capital Sentence” may be utilised for studying
various acts with special reference to The Indian Penal Code,1860.

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 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Capital punishment is an ancient sanction. There is practically no country in the world where
the death penalty has never existed. History of human civilization reveals that during no
period of time capital punishment has been discarded as a mode of punishment5. Capital
punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape was widely employed in ancient Greece
under the laws of Draco (fl. 7th century BCE), though Plato argued that it should be used
only for the incorrigible. The Romans also used it for a wide range of offenses, though
citizens were exempted for a short time during the republic6.

This finds support in the observation made by Sir Henry Marine who stated that "Roman
Republic did not abolish death sentence though its non-use was primarily directed by the
practice of punishment or exile and the procedure of questions"7 .

5 Op.cit. Capital Punishment by Dr. Subhash C. Gupta, 2000, p. 1


6
http://www.britannica.com/topic/capital-punishment


7 Op.cit. Capital Punishment in India by Dr. Subhash C. Gupta, 2000, p. 1 .

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 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA
A careful scrutiny of the debates in British India's Legislative Assembly reveals that no issue
was raised about capital punishment in the Assembly until 1931, when one of the Members
from Bihar, Shri Gaya Prasad Singh sought to introduce a Bill to abolish the punishment of
death for the offences under the Indian Penal Code. However, the motion was negatived after
the then Home Minister replied to the motion.

The Government's policy on capital punishment in British India prior to Independence was
clearly stated twice in 1946 by the then Home Minister, Sir John Thorne, in the debates of the
Legislative Assembly. "The Government does not think it wise to abolish capital punishment
for any type of crime for which that punishment is now provided"8

At independence, India retained several laws put in place by the British colonial government,
which included the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (‘Cr.P.C. 1898’), and the Indian Penal
Code, 1860 (‘IPC’). The IPC prescribed six punishments that could be imposed under the
law, including death.

For offences where the death penalty was an option, Section 367(5) of the CrPC 1898
required courts to record reasons where the court decided not to impose a sentence of death:

If the accused is convicted of an offence punishable with death, and the court sentences him
to any punishment other than death, the court shall in its judgment state the reason why
sentence of death was not passed.

In 1955, the Parliament repealed Section 367(5), CrPC 1898, significantly altering the
position of the death sentence. The death penalty was no longer the norm, and courts did not
need special reasons for why they were not imposing the death penalty in cases where it was
a prescribed punishment.

The Code of Criminal Procedure was re-enacted in 1973 (‘CrPC’), and several changes were
made, notably to Section 354(3):

When the conviction is for an offence punishable with death or, in the alternative, with
imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of years, the judgment shall state the
reasons for the sentence awarded, and, in the case of sentence of death, the special reasons for

8 Ibid. pp. 104-105.

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such sentence.

This was a significant modification from the situation following the 1955 amendment (where
terms of imprisonment and the death penalty were equal possibilities in a capital case), and a
reversal of the position under the 1898 law (where death sentence was the norm and reasons
had to be recorded if any other punishment was imposed). Now, judges needed to provide
special reasons for why they imposed the death sentence.

These amendments also introduced the possibility of a post-conviction hearing on sentence,

including the death sentence, in Section 235(2), which states:

If the accused is convicted, the Judge shall, unless he proceeds in accordance with the
provisions of section 360, hear the accused on the question of sentence, and then pass
sentence on him according to law9. Various laws under which death penalty can be prescribed
as a possible punishment in India are given at Annexure-I

9 India. Law Commission of India, Report No.262 on Death Penalty, August 2015, pp. 17-18.

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 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT : THE CURRENT SCENARIO

* Supreme Court on Validity of Capital Punishment in India

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution ensures the Fundamental Right to life and liberty for all
persons. It adds no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
procedure established by law. This has been legally construed to mean if there is a procedure,
which is fair and valid, then the state by framing a law can deprive a person of his life. While
the central government has consistently maintained it would keep the death penalty in the
statute books to act as a deterrent, and for those who are a threat to society, the Supreme
Court too has upheld the constitutional validity of capital punishment in “rarest of rare”
cases. In Jagmohan Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh (1973), then in Rajendra Prasad vs State
of Uttar Pradesh (1979), and finally in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980), the Supreme
Court affirmed the constitutional validity of the death penalty. It said that if capital
punishment is provided in the law and the procedure is a fair, just and reasonable one, the
death sentence can be awarded to a convict. This will, however, only be in the “rarest of rare”
cases, and the courts should render “special reasons” while sending a person to the gallows10.

*Criteria for Rarest of Rare

The principles as to what would constitute the “rarest of rare” has been laid down by the top
Court in the landmark judgment in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980).

Supreme Court formulated certain broad illustrative guidelines and said it should be given
only when the option of awarding the sentence of life imprisonment is “unquestionably
foreclosed”. It was left completely upon the court’s discretion to reach this conclusion.
However, the apex court also laid down the principle of weighing, aggravating and mitigating
circumstances. A balance-sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in a particular
case has to be drawn to ascertain whether justice will not be done if any punishment less than
the death sentence is awarded. Two prime questions, the top court held, may be asked and
answered. First, is there something uncommon about the crime which renders the sentence of
imprisonment for life inadequate and calls for a death sentence? Second, are there
circumstances of the crime such that there is no alternative but to impose the death sentence
even after according maximum weightage to the mitigating circumstances which speak in

10 Indian Express, New Delhi, dated 27.5.2015

11
favour of the offenders11?

EMERGENCE OF ALTERNATIVE PUNISHMENT TO

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

In the last few years, Supreme Court has entrenched the punishment of “full life” or life
sentence of determinate number of years as a response to challenges presented in death cases.
The Supreme Court speaking through a three-judge bench decision in Swamy Shraddhanand
case laid the foundation of this emerging penal option in following terms:

“The matter may be looked at from a slightly different angle. The issue of sentencing has two
aspects. A sentence may be excessive and unduly harsh or it may be highly
disproportionately inadequate. When an appellant comes to this Court carrying a death
sentence awarded by the trial court and confirmed by the High Court, this Court may find, as
in the present appeal, that the case just falls short of the rarest of the rare category and may
feel somewhat reluctant in endorsing the death sentence. But at the same time, having regard
to the nature of the crime, the Court may strongly feel that a sentence of life imprisonment
subject to remission normally works out to a term of 14 years would be grossly
disproportionate and inadequate. What then should the Court do? If the Court's option is
limited only to two punishments, one a sentence of imprisonment, for all intents and
purposes, of not more than 14 years and the other death, the Court may feel tempted and find
itself nudged into endorsing the death penalty. Such a course would indeed be disastrous. A
far more just, reasonable and proper course would be to expand the options and to take over
what, as a matter of fact, lawfully belongs to the Court i.e. the vast hiatus between 14 years'
imprisonment and death. It needs to be emphasised that the Court would take recourse to the
expanded option primarily because in the facts of the case, the sentence of 14 years'
imprisonment would amount to no punishment at all.

Further, the formalisation of a special category of sentence, though for an extremely few
number of cases, shall have the great advantage of having the death penalty on the statute
book but to actually use it as little as possible, really in the rarest of rare cases ......."

11 Indian Express, New Delhi, dated 27.5.2015

12
The observations in Swamy Shraddhanand [2] case have been followed by the Court in a
multitude of cases such as Haru Ghosh v. State of West Bengal, State of Uttar Pradesh v.
Sanjay Kumar , Sebastian v. State of Kerala, Gurvail Singh v. State of Punjab where full life
or sentence of determinate number of years has been awarded as opposed to death penalty12.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has drafted the “Procedure Regarding
Petitions for Mercy in Death Sentence Cases” to guide State Governments and the prison
authorities in dealing with mercy petitions submitted by death sentence prisoners13. Details of
mercy petitions decided by the President in India are given at Annexure-II.

12 India. Law Commission of India. Consultation Paper on Capital Punishment, May 2014, pp.26-27

13 India. Law Commission of India, Report No.262 on Death Penalty, August 2015, pp.176, 179

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 JUDICIAL REVIEW OF EXERCISE OF MERCY POWERS
The Supreme Court in Shatrughan Chauhan case has recorded that the Home Ministry
considers the following factors while deciding mercy petitions:

. a) Personality of the accused (such as age, sex or mental deficiency) or circumstances of

the case (such as provocation or similar justification); 


. b) Cases in which the appellate Court expressed doubt as to the reliability of evidence but
has nevertheless decided on conviction; 


. c) Cases where it is alleged that fresh evidence is obtainable mainly with a view to see
whether fresh enquiry is justified; 


. d) Where the High Court on appeal reversed acquittal or on an appeal enhanced the
sentence; 


. e) Is there any difference of opinion in the Bench of High Court Judges necessitating
reference to a larger Bench; 


. f) Consideration of evidence in fixation of responsibility in gang murder case; 


. g) Long delays in investigation and trial etc. 


However, when the actual exercise of the Ministry of Home Affairs (on whose

 recommendations mercy petitions are decided) is analysed, it is seen that many times these
guidelines have not been adhered to. Writ Courts in numerous cases have examined the
manner in which the Executive has considered mercy petitions. In fact, the Supreme Court as
part of the batch matter Shatrughan Chauhan case heard 11 writ petitions challenging the
rejection of the mercy petition by the Executive14. Supreme Court, last year held that judicial
clemency could be granted on the ground of inordinate delay even after a mercy petition is
rejected15.

14 India. Law Commission of India, Report no.262 on Death Penalty, August 2015, pp.190-191

15 Indian Express, New Delhi, dated 27.5.2015
 


14
 LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA's REPORT ON DEATH
PENALTY

nd
The Law Commission of India in its 262 Report (August 2015) recommended that death
penalty be abolished for all crimes other than terrorism related offences and waging war.
Complete recommendations of the Report are as follows:

. The Commission recommended that measures suggested that police reforms,

witness protection scheme and victim compensation scheme should be taken up
expeditiously by the government. 


. The march of our own jurisprudence -- from removing the requirement of giving
special reasons for imposing life imprisonment instead of death in 1955; to requiring
special reasons for imposing the death penalty in 1973; to 1980 when the death penalty
was restricted by the Supreme Court to the rarest of rare cases – shows the direction in
which we have to head. Informed also by the expanded and deepened contents and
horizons of the Right to life and strengthened due process requirements in the interactions
between the State and the individual, prevailing standards of constitutional morality and
human dignity, the Commission felt that time has come for India to move towards
abolition of the death penalty. 


. Although there is no valid penological justification for treating terrorism

differently from other crimes, concern is often raised that abolition of death penalty for
terrorism-related offences and waging war, will affect national security. However, given
the concerns raised by the law makers, the Commission did not see any reason to wait any
longer to take the first step towards abolition of the death penalty for all offences other
than terrorism related offences. 


. The Commission accordingly recommended that the death penalty be abolished for
all crimes other than terrorism related offences and waging war. 


. Further, the Commission sincerely hopes that the movement towards absolute

15
 abolition will be swift and irreversible16. 


Annexure-I

. 16 India. Law Commission of India, Report no.262 on Death Penalty, August 2015, pp.217-218 


16
Annexure –II

17
Special Legislations providing for the death penalty

18
 There are a number of other special legislations that also provide for the death penalty. In
some cases the offences provide for mandatory death sentences (see Section 5 below):

. Laws relating to the Armed Forces, for example the Air Force Act, 1950, the Army Act,
1950 the Navy Act, 1950 and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992 


. Defence and Internal Security of India Act, 1971 


. Defence of India Act, 1971 (Section 5) 


. Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (Section 4(1)) 


. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Prevention) Act 1985, as amended in 
 1988
(Section 31A) 


. Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA) (Section 3(2)(i)) 


. Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) (Section 3(2)(a)) 


. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Section

 3(2)(i)) 


. Explosive Substances Act, 1908, as amended in 2001 (Section 3(b)) 


. Arms Act, 1959, as amended in 1988 (Section 27) 


. Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, as amended in 2004 (Section 16(1)) 


. A number of state laws, including: Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 
 1999
(Section 3(1)(i)), Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act, 2000 (Section 3(1)(i)), The
Andhra Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act, 2001(Section 3(1)(i)), The Arunachal
Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act, 2002 (Section 3(1)(i)) 


Unless special provisions are contained within the above-mentioned laws, the procedure set
out in the CrPC are followed in relation to the investigation and prosecution of crimes under
these laws.

Crucially, a number of these laws include changes to the rules relating to the appreciation of
evidence at trial stage. For example, a number of laws relating to alleged acts of “terrorism”

19
have permitted the use of confessions made by an accused to a police officer as evidence.
Under ordinary criminal law, such confessions are inadmissible and of no evidentiary value
largely because of concerns about the use of torture by police to extract confessions.
Similarly, while admissions made by one accused about another co-accused are not
admissible under the ordinary criminal law, in some of the special laws such as TADA and
POTA, the law has allowed for certain presumptions to be drawn implicating other accused.
While the constitutionality of many such dangerous provisions has been challenged and
upheld by the Supreme Court of India, in practice there is clear evidence that the
implementation of many of these laws has been characterised by misuse and abuse; this only
heightens concern for those sentenced to death under such legislations .

20
 Conclusions and recommendations
This report has referred to a large number of cases that place it beyond doubt that whether an
accused is ultimately sentenced to death or not is an arbitrary matter, a decision reliant on a
number of extremely variable and often subjective factors – ranging from the competence of
legal representation (in particular at the trial court stage) to the interest of the state in the case
(whether to appeal or not) to the personal views and even idiosyncrasies of the judges who sit
on the various benches hearing the case.

Furthermore, the report shows that contrary to the majority Bench’s views and intentions in
Bachan Singh, errors and arbitrariness have not been checked by the safeguards in place, and
no small role in this has been played by judges themselves who have rarely adhered to the
requirements laid down in Bachan Singh, making it clear that it is commonly the judge’s
subjective discretion that eventually decides the fate of the accused-appellant.

The arbitrariness is fatal, but it is also selective and discriminatory. The randomness of the
lethal lottery that is the death penalty in India is perhaps not so random. It goes without
saying that the less wealth and influence a person has, the more likely they are to be
sentenced to death. This is implicit in the concerns expressed in Part II of this report about
access to

effective legal representation as well as about pre-trial investigations and collection of

evidence. The Supreme Court itself has acknowledged the class bias in death sentences. In
his dissenting judgment in Bachan Singh, Justice Bhagwati commented, “death penalty has a
certain class complexion or class bias inasmuch as it is largely the poor and the down-trodden
who are the victims of this extreme penalty. We would hardly find a rich or affluent person
going to the gallows”. The judge concluded: “There can be no doubt that the death penalty in
its actual operation is discriminatory, for it strikes mostly against the poor and deprived
section of the community ... this circumstance also adds to the arbitrary and capricious nature
of the death penalty and renders it unconstitutional.”

Two decades later, the Supreme Court chastised the lower courts and the investigative
agencies in a case in which a man charged with murdering his wife would have succeeded in
avoiding arrest if it hadn’t been for the persistence of the father of the deceased in writing to
the authorities and petitioning the courts, leading to the Supreme Court’s cancellation of
orders granting him bail.17At the other end of the scale, thousands of disadvantaged

17
Prahlad Singh Bhati v. N.C.T Delhi and anr. (AIR 2001 SC 1444).


21
 undertrials languish in jails awaiting trial for periods longer than the maximum punishment
permissible upon conviction, with absent or inadequate legal representation. The absence of
detailed studies that track discrimination within the criminal justice system more generally
and the implementation of the death penalty more specifically, should not be an excuse for
ignoring this terrible injustice. The question asked of the Home Ministry in 2005 by President
Kalam – why all those on death row were the poorest of the poor, remains well known but
officially unacknowledged18.

Amnesty International India and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Tamil Nadu &
Puducherry) believe that there is ample evidence in this report to show that the death penalty
in India has been an arbitrary, imprecise and abusive means of dealing with crime and
criminals. The findings should give more than sufficient grounds for civil society to demand
further investigation on the subject, the immediate publication of information on
implementation of the death penalty so that an informed debate can ensue, and while this is
ongoing, a moratorium on executions. In the longer term, abolition of the death penalty is
essential if India is serious in its commitment to guarantee the full range of human rights to
all its citizens without discrimination.

Recommendations
Amnesty International India and People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Tamil Nadu &
Puducherry) urge the Government of India to abolish the death penalty and thereby open the
way to accession to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (which commits nations to the permanent abolition of the death penalty).

In the immediate interim, we believe that there are a number of steps that can and should be
taken:

.  Impose an immediate moratorium on executions pending abolition of the death

penalty. 


. Ensure that the death penalty is not imposed or carried out on anyone suffering
from a mental disability – either permanent or temporary; remove anyone suffering from a
mental disability from death row and provide them with appropriate medical treatment. 


. Ensure that cases of persons suspected to have been juveniles at the time of the

18 th
‘Why only poor on death row?’ The Times of India, 18 October 2005.

22
 offence and presently on death row are examined without further delay. 


. 

. Abolish all provisions in legislation which provide for mandatory death sentences. 


. Initiate an urgent independent study into the extent to which national law and
international standards for fair trial and other relevant international standards have been
complied with in capital cases in at least the last two decades (as per the recommendation
of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or 
 Arbitrary Executions). 


. Provide compensation and care to those found to have been the victims of

 miscarriages of justice in capital cases. 
 Ensure openness, transparency and informed
debate 


End the secrecy surrounding application of the death penalty by making

all information regarding the past use of the death penalty, and the total number of
persons presently on death row with details of their cases, publicly available. 


Having made available such statistical information and having carried

out an independent study of capital cases and their conformity to national and
international law, initiate a parliamentary debate on abolition of the death penalty.

 Improve Procedural Safeguards 


Provide a mandatory appeal to the Supreme Court in all cases where a

death sentence has been awarded (including by any military court) as previously
recommended by the Law Commission of India; 


Implement the Law Commission’s recommendation that a Bench of five

judges decides any capital case in the Supreme Court; 


Recognise the requirement of unanimity of judges as a procedural

safeguard in the award of the death penalty; 


Disallow the award of the death sentence or enhancement of a sentence

to death by the High Court or Supreme Court, in any case where a trial court has
directed an acquittal or awarded any other sentence. 


End torture, ill-treatment and coerced confessions

Order an investigation into the cases of prisoners on death row

who were reported to have been tortured, ill-treated or denied access to legal counsel
during police questioning; 


23
 Ensure that ‘confessions’ obtained under duress are never
invoked by state prosecutors in legal proceedings against criminal suspects; 


Ensure that anyone who faces the death penalty has an effective
right to competent state appointed legal counsel of the defendant’s choice during the
entire legal process, including appeals and mercy petitions; 


Ratify the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or

Degrading Treatment or Punishment as also its Optional Protocol. 


24
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

1. Agarwal, Rr.S and Sarvesh Kumar: Crimes and Punishment in New Perspective:
(1986).
2. Ahmad Siddique: Criminology: Problems and Perspectives: (1983).
3. Ratan Lai and Dheeraj Lai: Law ofCrimes: (1995).

ARTICLES:

1. Blaekshield, A.R: “Capital Punishment in India”: Journal of the Indian Law Institute:
v. 21 (AprilJune 1979).

BULLETINS AND REPORTS:

1. Amnesty International News Letter: Vol. 15: No. 1: January 1985. Amnesty
International Report: (1977).
2. Law Commisssion ofIndia : Thirty-fifth Report (September, 1967).
3. PUCL Bulletin: Vol.4: No.5: May 1984.

25