A Freedom Fighter Reignites Death Penalty Debate, Says It Is Against The Spirit Of Constitution

Capital punishment has always been a divisive topic - those in support of the death penalty say it is necessary to send out a message and that it will deter others from committing such acts.

AFP

But those opposed to it say that capital punishment is against human rights and that such a punishment is unfit for a civilized society. They also argue that data shows that capital punishment has not helped in reducing the number of crimes.

As the never-ending debate continues, a freedom fighter has given a new angle to it saying that hanging by the neck is a "colonial hangover". S Parameswaran Nampoothiri, a freedom fighter from Kerala has challenged the legality and validity of section 354 (5) of the CrPC which stipulated that "when any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged by the neck till he is dead".

BCCL

Nampoothiri has claimed in his plea that section 354 (5) of CrPC is against the "letter and spirit" of the Constitution and is violative of the fundamental rights, including under Article 14 (equality before the law) and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty).

"The present writ petition is maintainable as it is an issue concerning the life of the citizens, an issue touching the basic features and basic structure of the Constitution. The petitioner is challenging a practice followed, which is in conflict with the ideals and objectives of the Constitution," said the plea, settled by advocate Wills Mathews.

The plea said that such a way of executing convict is "not Indian and a continuation of the colonial hangover" and almost all democratic countries have stopped this practice. It said that "sentencing a person to 'death' invoking section 354(5) CrPC....is in conflict with the basic structure of the Constitution of India and also the basic features of the Constitution of India, its ideals, values, philosophies enshrined in the Constitution, the Fundamental Rights, the Directive principles of the State policy, the Preamble, including the DNA of the Constitution..."

It further said, "Whether in a state where attempt to commit suicide is an offence, whether the state can take the life of its citizens under any circumstances, resulting in violation of its own laws. The plea also questioned the sentencing a person to death "when the state cannot create a person or give life to a dead person".

"Whether death sentence as a 'punishment' can be imposed on a convict, more particularly when death is not defined, there are various forms of death, with various stages, and as such there is no clarity about death... there are only 'uncertainties' about death and life-after-death, and being so, is it safe to kill a person considering the constitutional values?" asked the petitioner.

This comes at a time when the four death-row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case have been trying all possible options to delay their executions. The four men who were sentenced to death back in 2013 have been delaying the executions by exploiting the legal loopholes one after the other.