The Supreme Court has rejected a PIL seeking to replace hanging with less painful execution methods, while allowing the Centre to explore alternatives through an expert panel.
Published: August 18, 2026, 4:04 PM IST
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Supreme Court on death penalty (Representational AI image)
New Delhi: In a serious national development, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the abolition of the present practice of executing a death penalty convict by hangingIn the recent development, the top court of the country has refused to replace execution with less painful methods such as intravenous lethal injectionHere are all the details you need to know about the litigation filed in Supreme Court about the replacement of death row with less painful methods.
What Supreme Court said on review current execution methods?
The public interest litigation (PIL) urged the court to declare Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) unconstitutional, arguing that it is discriminatory, violates Article 21, and contradicts the Constitution Bench ruling in the Gian Kaur case.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta clarified that its ruling does not prevent the Centre from forming an expert panel to review current execution methodsThe panel could evaluate whether an alternative mode better aligns with the constitutional requirement to minimize pain and uphold human dignity.
The judgment addressed a 2017 petition filed by senior advocate Rishi Malhotra, which sought to end execution by hanging and suggested alternatives like lethal injection, shooting, electrocution, or gas chambers.
During the arguments, Malhotra had said at least an option should be given to a condemned prisoner as to whether he wanted hanging or lethal injection as a mode of execution.
In March 2023, the apex court said it may consider setting up a committee of experts to examine whether execution of death row convicts by hanging was proportionate and less painful and sought “better data” from the Centre on issues regarding the mode of execution.
‘Cannot direct legislature to adopt particular mode of sentencing’: Supreme Court
The top court, however, made it clear that it cannot direct the legislature to adopt a particular mode of sentencing condemned convictsIn 2018, the Centre strongly supported a legal provision that a death row convict would only be hanged to death and had told the bench that the other modes of execution, like lethal injections and firing, were not less painful.
The counter affidavit, filed by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, had said that death by hanging was “quick, simple” and free from anything that would “unnecessarily sharpen the poignancy of the prisoner”.
