India Debates Whether Death Penalty Should Be There Or Not??

With the death penalty being awarded to Yakub Menon. It opens up the debate should Capital Punishment be there or not in India ?

Let me start by discussing some details about what are the facts about the death penalty in India.The State of Death Penalty in India 2013” stated that as per the records of the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, a total of 1,455 convicts or an average of 132.27 convicts per year were given death penalty during 2001 to 2011.

During the same period, the highest number of death penalty was imposed in Uttar Pradesh (370) followed by Bihar (132), Maharashtra (125), Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (95 each), Madhya Pradesh (87), Jharkhand (81), West Bengal (79), Delhi (71), Gujarat (57), Rajasthan (38), Kerala (34), Odisha (33), Haryana (31), Assam (21), Jammu and Kashmir (20), Punjab (19), Chhattisgarh (18), Uttaranchal (16), Andhra Pradesh (8), Meghalaya (6), Chandigarh and Daman and Diu (4 each), Manipur and Himachal Pradesh (3 each), Tripura and Pondichery (2 each) and Goa (1).

In the rest of the States (Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim) and Union Territories (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakswadweep), no death penalty was imposed.This implies that on average one convict is awarded death penalty in less than every third day in India. The rarest of rare case doctrine for application of death penalty has become routine.

Now let start with the case as to why it should be abolished?

The execution of Nathuram Vinayak Godse for assassination of none other than the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, has not acted as a deterrent against assassination of many prominent political leaders including former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, MP Lalit Maken and many other prominent political leaders, then how can we say hang in others will act as a deterrent.

Even now as debated by some the execution in certain cases does not given the person the right to appeal. The state itself must not be flouting or circumvents the rules as it erodes the belief in the rule of law. Guru was hanged out of the queue and was denied the right to appeal against the rejection of mercy petition.India must follow its own civilisational values. Mythologies of India are full of stories about criminals being reformed.

Valmiki, the author of the epic Ramayana, was a highway robber known as Ratnakara until he came under the influence of Maharshi Narada to leave the paths of sin. Similarly, according to Buddhist literature, Daku Angulimala (dacoit who wears finger necklace/ garland of fingers) was a ruthless killer who was redeemed by a sincere conversion to Buddhism. India as the land of Valmiki, Lord Buddha and Gandhi must follow its own civilisational values and take effective measures to join the countries which have abandoned retributive justice system and abolished death penalty.

At times the judicial system takes more than 25 years plus to catch up with cases, then at times even the person who has committed the crime has gone through a long period of suffering making his pain too much to be converted to death penalty . Which is used as a plea for petition in most of the convict cases

Now let start with the case as to why it should not be abolished?
When someone is a terrorist, killing people at will, or a serial murderer or rapist, is this person’s right to life all that sacrosanct all the time?

Why is only human life so valuable, and not that of animals? Why is it so unethical to hang a human being, but perfectly all right to murder animals by the million, when we don’t debate about such things. Specially animals who are not understanding the consequences, but when humans know the consequences of their actions and they still do such things why should the death penalty not be there?
When it comes to people who kill or rape for pleasure and mental happiness, and when they do so out of mental sickness, is it better to keep them rotting in the jail or we should end their potential threats to society .Sometimes, the greater good is more important than the life of one individual. Hence the death penalty is not something we should not neglect because of emotions.
In Case of fear of the death penalty being there at times the convict becomes approver and it can be of great help in getting more people in the net of Judiciary and this helps in increasing the scope of people to be charged for in the case.

 

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