Supreme Court Retains Hanging For Death Penalty, Leaves Door Open For Less Painful Alternatives
The court said hanging remains valid for now, but future review is possible if new scientific or medical evidence shows a better method.
- On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to replace death by hanging with painless methods like lethal injection in India. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta affirmed that hanging remains the legally valid mode of capital punishment.
- Advocate Rishi Malhotra filed the petition in 2017, arguing that hanging is "extremely painful, inhuman, and cruel." The plea claimed execution by hanging can take more than 40 minutes, while lethal injection or shooting takes only five minutes.
- Declining to refer three earlier judgments to a larger bench, the court noted no sufficient legal basis to reconsider hanging's constitutionality under Section 354 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, now Section 393 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
- The bench clarified that dismissal does not foreclose future constitutional scrutiny should "compelling scientific, medical or empirical evidence" emerge. The court added the Centre could establish an expert committee to examine alternative methods if it deems necessary.
- Attorney General Venkataramani told the Supreme Court that the Centre viewed alternative execution methods as "not practically feasible," following the bench's dissatisfaction with the government's reluctance during an October 15, 2025 hearing.
14 Articles
14 Articles
State can't take life arbitrarily or without dignity: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled that state execution powers are not arbitrary. The method of execution must uphold human dignity and minimize suffering. Hanging remains the legal method, established in 1861. The right to live with dignity extends to death row prisoners. The government is still examining less painful execution alternatives.
Supreme Court Retains Hanging For Death Penalty, Leaves Door Open For Less Painful Alternatives
<p>The Supreme Court has refused to replace hanging as India's existing method of carrying out death sentences, leaving the question of adopting alternative methods with the central government.</p> <p>A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed a plea seeking a less painful and more dignified method of execution, while holding that hanging continues to remain constitutionally permissible. The court also rejected a request to reco…
Will India Replace Death by Hanging With Lethal Injection and Other Methods? Know What the Supreme Court Said | 📰 LatestLY
The Supreme Court has upheld death by hanging, rejecting a plea to replace it with 'less painful' methods like lethal injection. The bench declined to refer the matter to a larger panel but noted that the government remains free to form an expert committee to review alternative execution methods should new scientific evidence emerge. 📰 Will India Replace Death by Hanging With Lethal Injection and Other Methods? Know What the Supreme Court Said.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 71% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
