2. However, some of the most commonly used
execution methods these days include:
Gas Chamber
The Electric chair
Lethal injections:
Shooting and Shooting Squad
Hanging

3. Between 1975 and 1991, about 40
people were executed. The
number of people executed in
India since independence in 1947
is a matter of dispute; official
government statistics claim that
only 52 people had been executed
since independence.[20] At least
100 people in 2007, 40 in 2006, 77
in 2005, 23 in 2002, and 33 in 2001
were sentenced to death .On 27
April 1995, Auto Shankar was
hanged in Salem, Tamil Nadu.

4. provision regarding the capital punishment is
the Presidential power of pardon. This appears
in Article 72 and states that “The President
shall have the power to grant pardons,
reprieves, respites or remissions of
punishment or to suspend, remit or commute
the sentence of any person convicted of any
offence….. (c) in all cases where the sentence
is a sentence of death.” The objective of this
article is to ensure that there be an authority
beyond the Supreme Court to help the
innocent if in case the Supreme Court, being a
human institution has committed an error.

5. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) provides for capital punishment for the following offences, or for
criminal conspiracy to commit any of the following offences (Section 120-B):
1. Murder (s.302) and murder committed by a life convict (s. 303).(Though the latter was struck
down by the Supreme Court, it still remains in the IPC)
2. Abetment of a suicide by a minor, insane person or intoxicated person (s.305)
3. Threatening or inducing any person to give false evidence resulting in the conviction and
death of an innocent person (s.195A)
4. Perjury resulting in the conviction and death of an innocent person (s.194)
5. Treason, for waging war against the Government of India (s.121)
6. Abetment of mutiny actually committed (s.132)
7. Attempted murder by a serving life convict (s.307(2))
8. Kidnapping for ransom (s.364A)
9. Dacoity [armed robbery or banditry] with murder (s.396)

6. Being one of the most controversial provisions
in the Indian Constitutions, there have been
many controversial cases against death
penalty throughout the entire course of time.
Here, I shall analyse andmark cases in the
history of the Supreme Court. They are the
following:
The Jagmohan Singh case was important in
the light that it challenged the
constitutionality of the death penalty.
However, this was rejected by the Supreme
Court, saying "…in the face of these (Art. 21 &
72) indications of constitutional postulates it
will be very difficult to hold that capital
sentence was regarded per se unreasonable
or not in the public interest". But fortunately,
a new CrPC in the same year had changed the
death penalty from being the norm to an
exception.

7. More than two-thirds of the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or
practice. The numbers are as follows:
Abolitionist for all crimes: 97
Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only: 8
Abolitionist in practice: 35
total abolitionist in law or practice: 140
Retentionist: 58
There are list of countries which have abolished the death penalty since 1976.
Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica,
Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia,
Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia,

8. No matter what the method is, it is
always cruel and unusual
punishment to take a life. Is it a
deterrent to others? There are
currently 3500 murderers on Death
Row. Since 1980, death sentences
have increased to 250 per year. On
the other hand, worldwide, only 58
countries still impose the death
penalty. It is time to review our
national attitude and find other
methods of punishing those who
kill.