Kritika Singh, Institute of Law, Nirma University
The notion of capital punishment in India is adapted from the Benthamite conceptualization of capital sentence i.e. this particular punishment should only be imposed in the “rarest of the rare” cases. The motive behind imposing capital punishment is to maintain deterrence in society so that heinous crimes can be prevented from being committed. Still, is this motive enough for taking an individual’s life and violating his right to life? No empirical study has ever demonstrated a causal relationship between the death penalty and crime reduction. The act of physically eliminating the individual is not the appropriate solution.
There are many such loopholes identified in giving this punishment by many scholars and legal theorists, therefore, this article will delve into the loophole regarding the death penalty sentence given to economically vulnerable prisoners.
Criticism of Capital Punishment
Although capital punishment in India holds certain exceptions such as an offender under the age of eighteen years cannot be sentenced to death which ignited the society in the famous Nirbhaya case. People demanded stringent punishment for juveniles who committed heinous crimes which led to an amendment in the Juvenile Act where a juvenile can be treated as an adult when committed a heinous crime but a death sentence. There are many such instances when the theory of India’s punishment system is criticized and capital punishment is the most criticized of all.
The theoretical and executing theories of the death penalty practice have grave differences. For example, section 302 of the Indian Penal Code clearly states, “whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine” but the execution is in the hands of the sitting judge conveying the order as he has the choice to either passing death penalty or sentencing life detainment to the offender. The section mentions “whoever” but according to the reports from the years 2000-2015, 74.1% of prisoners who were sentenced to death were economically vulnerable which highlights the autonomy of the judges and the lack of opportunity this section of society has while representing themselves in the Court. The reports also revealed that out of these prisoners, 62% of them had not even completed their secondary education which also underlines the lack of awareness and knowledge they had to deal with the court proceedings as the only recourse they were left with was to be dependent on the lawyer and his knowledge.
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