CAPITAL PUNISHMENT- AN ANALYTICAL STUDY

AUTHOR – AVIKA SINGHAL, STUDENT AT MANIPAL UNIVERSITY JAIPUR

Best Citation – AVIKA SINGHAL, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT- AN ANALYTICAL STUDY, Indian Journal of Legal Review (IJLR), 3 (2) of 2023, Pg. 213-218, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

Capital punishment refers to the authority given by law to slaughter a person who has committed a serious crime. There are various theories of punishments like retributive theory, reformative theory, preventive theory and deterrent theory. Punishment of death has been in use since ancient times, with some societies believing it to be a necessary form of deterring crime. However, some believe it to be an inhumane and cruel practice, violating human rights law and hence it has been a subject of heated debate since time immemorial. In India, the provision of capital punishment is legal, however its imposition is strictly reserved for those exceptional cases which fall under the doctrine of “rarest of rare” as elucidated by the Indian judiciary through its various judgements. Apart from this, there are other provisions and precedents of supreme court that ensures the rational use of punishment of death, like, pardoning power of president and governor, bachan singh guidelines, etc . In the present paper, I have also included the status of other countries regarding the provision of capital punishment. When analysed globally, it is seen that the globe is divided majorly into two perspective- the Retentionist and the Abolitionist. The Retentionist are the ones who have retained the provision of capital punishment as they believe that deterrence is an effective way by which crimes can be prevented in a society. The Abolitionist are the ones who have abolished this provision as they perceive it to be a violation of basic human rights i.e. Right to life.