Dear All, For those who oppose capital punishment in India, this is the time to make your views and voices count. The Law Commission has issued a public consultation paper on the death penalty. A lot has changed since this report was published. For example: 1. The murder rate has declined continuously for the last 22 years. 2. The Supreme Court has repeatedly admitted that the death penalty has been inflicted arbitrarily, unfairly, subjectively and inconsistently. The Court has said that death sentencing depends more on the personal predilections of the sentencing judge than on the facts of the case. 3. The Supreme Court has also admitted that a large number of people have been wrongly sentenced to death and executed. 4. In 1967, just a handful of countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practise. Today, more than two-thirds of the worlds countries eschew capital punishment. 5. In 1967, the normal punishment for murder was the death sentence. Today, it is only in the rarest of rare cases that the death sentence is handed out. It is actually executed in even fewer cases. This drastic decline in the use of capital punishment has not increased crime; in fact it is has coincided with the decline in the murder rate. In India, we use capital punishment so infrequently (8 executions for every lakh murders), we may as well not have it all. Moreover, there is no rational basis for selecting these 8 as being especially deserving of capital punishment. 6. In India, we did not have any executions between 2004 - 2012, and there was no corresponding impact on the murder rate. If anything at all, the murder rate kept decreasing. This shows that we can easily do without capital punishment and it does not serve any utilitarian purpose. 6. Countries with a lower Human Development Index (HDI) than Indias have abolished capital punishment with no tangible negative consequences. If Haiti, Cambodia, Mozambique, Angola, Paraguay, South Africa, Senegal, Philippines, Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Bolivia -- with lower HDI and higher murder rates -- can do away with capital punishment, surely we can too. 7. Studies around the world have shown that the death penalty has no greater deterrent value than life imprisonment. Please circulate news of this consultation widely in email groups, social media etc so that as many people as possible write in with their views and comments. Fill in the questionnaire and return it to the Law Commission at the following address: Member-Secretary Law Commission of India, 14th Floor, Hindustan Times House Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi – 110 001 Tel.:+91 – 011- 23355738, 23355742; Fax: (0091)/011 - 23736744 E-mail: [email protected] Website: lawcommissionofindia.nic.in Best, Nandita. Questionnaire on Capital Punishment 1.Are you in favor of retaining capital punishment on the statute book? (If in favor of retention, please see Q.2 & 3. If not in favor of retention, please see Q.4) 2.If you are in favor of retention of capital punishment, please indicate your reasons for the same - a)Capital Punishment acts as a deterrent for future crimes b)Retribution through death penalty is the most effective means of achieving justice for the victim and provide closure to the victim/victims family and society c) Capital Punishment ensures that the convicts are never released back into society as they may pose a threat in future d)Capital punishment reduces the chances of convicts escaping from prison e)Those accused of capital crimes do not deserve an opportunity for reformation f)The severity of a crime should mandate an equally severe punishment g)Capital Punishment ensures jails are not overpopulated/overcrowded as the current prison infrastructure is inadequate to accommodate too many prisoners for life h)Capital Punishment may impose less financial burden on the State as the cost of imprisoning someone for life may be higher i)Any other reason. 3.Which of the above arguments in support of death penalty is the strongest? a)Deterrence b)Justice c)Satisfaction of effective punishment being delivered for victim/victims families d)Cost 4.If you are in favor of abolition of capital punishment, please indicate your reasons for the same -a)There is no conclusive proof that capital punishment acts as a deterrent for future crimes b) Capital punishment imposes hardship and trauma for the convicts family who may have had no role in the crime c)Capital punishment confuses the idea of retribution with justice and society must move away from the conception of an eye for an eye d)Capital Punishment deprives people of the opportunity to reform e)Most countries have abolished capital punishment f) The imposition of capital punishment is not free from risk as there is a chance of innocent people being sentenced to death g)The application of capital punishment is too judge centric and depends on a judges personal belief against or in favor of death sentence h)Economically and socially backward groups will always have greater chance of being subjected to capital punishment than the rich i) Capital Punishment is a form of state sponsored violence j) The mode of execution i.e. hanging by the neck until death is cruel k) Any other reason . 5. In your opinion, can the sentence of life imprisonment as an alternate to capital punishment achieve the arguments mentioned in Q2 (if there is a stringent and periodic system of review of all prisoners before granting remission/reprieve/commutation)? Please indicate why. 6.The recent Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 introduces capital punishment for the repeat offense of rape (Section 376E). Should capital punishment extend to non-homicide offenses? Please indicate your reasons for the same. 7. In your opinion, is the crime of murder as severe and abhorring as an act of terrorism? 8. Is it possible to divide murders into different categories for the purpose of sentencing, such that - a)Murders punishable with death b)Murders punishable with life imprisonment If so, what murders would you include in category a)? 9.Do you subscribe to the view that under normal circumstances the punishment of life imprisonment is adequate for murder but under aggravating circumstances, the Court may award death penalty? 10.Is it possible to divide offenses into different categories for the purpose of sentencing, such that - a)Terror Offenses b)Non terror Offenses If so, do you think capital punishment should be retained for category a) and abolished for category b)? 11.Do you think the existing framework of police investigation and collection of evidence is full proof and guarantees zero room for erroneous convictions? 12.In your opinion, should crimes mandating capital punishment require a higher burden of proof over and above proof beyond reasonable doubt? 13.Do you believe that capital sentencing carries the risk of being judge centric? 14.In your opinion, should there be a provision for rehabilitation of families of criminals sentenced to death? 15.Do you agree with the current mode of execution i.e hanging by the neck until death? Please indicate why. Please suggest any other preferable mode of execution. 16. In your opinion, should mandatory guidelines be laid down for the Governor and President of India to exercise their powers of granting mercy under the Constitution of India in death penalty cases.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 06:51:52 +0000
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