What could be the best way to execute the death sentence? The Supreme Court started such a debate by asking the government to hold a discussion on this question on Tuesday, which is always needed in a civilized society.
However, this is a critical issue in the sense that deciding the method of capital punishment is considered the responsibility of the legislature, not the judiciary.
Perhaps, that is why the apex court also made it clear that it is not going to issue any order on the method of deciding the death penalty.
But this question has come before it , so it is become necessary to see whether the present method of awarding death sentence meets the criteria of law and constitution.
The current method of hanging was last justified by the Supreme Court in 1983, but since then all the progress has been made in the field of science and technology.
In view of that, it is necessary to reconsider this question. If we look at the situation in other countries of the world, this need is confirmed from there also.
Rather, the debate is on why the death penalty should be there at all.
Most of the countries of the world have repented from this. The argument is that the purpose of punishment should not be to inflict pain on the offender, but to provide an opportunity for reformation.
If there is no hope of reformation of a criminal and his living in the society is a danger to other people, then he can be kept in prison till the last moment of his life.
However, every country and society decides on its own whether to keep the death penalty or not.
Even in our country it is given only in the rarest of rare cases. But even in cases where punishment is given, They should be given in such a way that human dignity is not violated in any way.
The latest initiative of the Supreme Court has once again underlined the inevitability of this criterion inherent in our judicial system. Whatever may be the outcome – whether the existing process of hanging is considered the least painful or any other method after studying all aspects – the principle of dignity of death is bound to be vindicated.
If any other method is found to be better, the existing method will be declared unconstitutional. The legislature can then ratify the new method.
In today’s era, when in our country, due to various reasons, the discussion of direct encounter of criminals seems to be gaining momentum, it is expected that this initiative of the apex court will make us more aware about the criteria of justice.
