New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday urged the government to think of methods of execution other than hanging by neck.
“A person should die in peace, not in pain. For, it has been said since centuries that nothing can be equated with painless death,” said a bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
The Court sought the assistance of Attorney General KK Venugopal in the matter and issued a notice to the Central government.
It noted in its order that the “legislature can think of some other modes by which a convict has to meet his death” in view of the invention of some other less painful ways of carrying out execution.
The bench clarified that it was mindful of the fact that almost 30 years ago, the apex court upheld the constitutional validity of hanging by neck till the convict is dead but the Indian Constitution has always been seen as a dynamic and ever-evolving document. “Something which was valid at one point of time may become invalid later,” said the Court.
The bench appeared to be moved by the arguments of advocate Rishi Malhotra that even in death, the person has a right to dignity and that the end of life has to be least painful.
Malhotra pointed out that when a man is hanged by the neck and the subsequent period of his suffering before he is dead completely destroys his dignity, apart from inflicting excruciating pain on him.
The PIL, filed by Rishi Malhotra, challenged the constitutional validity of a provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure, which lays down hanging by neck as the only method to execute a person on death row.
The Court will hear the case next after three weeks.
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