SC Asks Govt for Painless Method of Execution Rather than Hanging
Guwahati: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ruled that the Center should investigate whether there is a less painful execution option than hanging.
The Supreme Court asked that a conversation be started and information gathered to determine if there is a less painful alternative than hanging by the neck. The court requested a report from Attorney General R. Venkataramani regarding any studies done on the effects of hanging.
The Court said, “Mr. AG, come back to us and we should have better data before us on the impact of death by hanging, pain caused and the period taken for such death to take place, availability of resources to effectuate such hanging by death. And is today’s science suggesting that this is best method today or is there another method which is more suitable to uphold human dignity.”
The Supreme Court stated that if the government hasn’t previously done so, it can form a committee to conduct a comparable probe.
“If Centre has not done this study, then we can form a committee which can have experts from two national law universities like NLU Delhi, Bangalore or Hyderabad, some doctors from AIIMS, distinguished people across the country and some scientific experts,” the Court stated.
As it heard a petition requesting a “painless end for death convicts,” the court indicated that it was open to forming a panel of experts to examine the issue. Moreover, rather than hanging, the petition suggests shooting, lethal injection, or the electric chair.
