essay on capital punishment in india

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Essay on Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment is the execution of a person given by the state as a means of Justice for a crime that he has committed. It is a legal course of action taken by the state whereby a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. There are various methods of capital punishment in order to execute a criminal such as lethal injection, hanging, electrocution, gas chamber, etc. Based on moral and humanitarian grounds, capital punishment is subjected to many controversies not only at the national level but also at the global platform. One must understand the death sentence by itself.

Many records of various civilizations and primal tribal methods denote that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. The system of the prison was evolved to keep people in confinement for some time who have done wrong in their life and was harmful to society. The idea behind keeping the criminal in the prison was to give them a chance to change and reform themselves. The idea works well with people who have done minor offences like theft, robbery, etc. A complication arises when grievous offences like brutal and inhumane acts of rape, murder, mass killing, etc. are involved. So, the contentious part is the grimness of the crime, which is the deciding reason for execution. 

During the 20th century period, millions of people died in the wars between the nations or states. In this violent period, military organizations practised capital punishment as a way of maintaining discipline. The death penalty was employed for crimes in many religious beliefs and historically was practised widely with the support of religious hierarchies. Today, there is no religious faith attached to the morality of capital punishment. It has been left to the discretion of the judiciary system to award the punishment in special circumstances. 

Most people feel that punishment for crimes like murders, rapes, and mass killings should not be death but some reformative or preventive sentence. The death penalty cannot reform a criminal, since once dead he cannot be reformed. Some people hold the view that no one has the right to take away anyone’s life for any reason. One should not take the role of God in taking away anybody’s life. At the same time, a criminal has no right to take away anyone’s life for any reason at all. If a person could go to an extent of taking someone’s life, he too has no right to live in a civilized society. Both the arguments can be cited to support viewpoints that are poles apart. 

Mankind has coined a large number of methods of capital punishment:

hanging by the rope until a person breathes his last.

death by electric current.

the murderer faces a firing squad.

the offender is beheaded and executed.

the culprit is poisoned.

the offender is stoned to death.

he is burnt alive at the stake.

the criminal is made to drown.

the criminal is thrown before hungry beasts of prey.

death through crucifixion.

Guillotine.

the offender is thrown into a poisonous gas chamber.

Methods can be different but all of these methods have one thing common and that is capital punishment is barbaric in all forms. It is savage and vindictive. It is a relic of an uncivilized era. Many people say that the methods by which executions are carried out involve physical torture. Contrary to the popular belief that the death penalty deters all future crimes, various surveys have shown that the threat of the death penalty does not in any way reduce the occurrence of violent crimes. 

Capital Punishment in India

Capital punishment in India does not come with a single stoke. The practice of Capital punishment is not very common in India. In our country, the Court of Session awards a death sentence according to the gravity of the offence, and this verdict requires confirmation by the High Court. Then an appeal can be made to the Supreme Court of India. In some cases, an appeal to the Supreme Court lies as a matter of right, where the High Court has reversed the verdict of the Sessions Court either into acquittal or punishment or has enhanced the sentence to capital punishment. 

Lastly, if needed an appeal can be made to the president of India and the governors of states for mercy. The President is solely guided by the notes in the files by the Home Minister or the Secretariat. He is bound to pen down the reasons for mercy. It is exercised very judiciously. 

Contemplating over capital punishment has been ramping on for a countless number of years. It is true that the death sentence is not the solution to the increase in crimes but at the same time, capital punishment inflicts physiological fear in the minds of people. In many countries, the use of this punishment has helped to deter crimes and change the minds of future criminals against committing heinous crimes. Capital punishment should be given in the rare of the rarest cases after proper investigation of the criminal’s offence. 

FAQs on Capital Punishment Essay

Q1. What Do You Understand By Capital Punishment?

Ans. Capital Punishment is the execution of a person given by the state as a means of Justice for a crime that he has committed. It is a legal course of action taken by the state whereby a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. There are quite a few methods of capital punishment to execute a criminal such as lethal injection, hanging, electrocution, gas chamber, etc.

Q2. Why Do Some People Argue Against Capital Punishment?

Ans. Some people argue against capital punishment because they hold the view that no one other than God has the right to take anyone’s life. They argue that criminals should get a chance to change or reform themselves into good and responsible human beings. If they are executed, then they cannot be reformed.

Q3. What are Some Methods that Mankind has Coined for Capital Punishment?

Ans. Mankind has coined various methods of capital punishment:

the criminal is burnt alive at the stake.

the offender is thrown before hungry beasts of prey.

Q4. Does Capital Punishment Deter the Rate of Crimes?

Ans. There is no solid evidence to the theory of capital punishment that it reduces the crime rate but yes it does instil psychological fear in the minds of future criminals against committing heinous crimes.

Capital Punishment Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on capital punishment.

Every one of us is familiar with the term punishment. But Capital Punishment is something very few people understand. Capital punishment is a legal death penalty ordered by the court against the violation of criminal laws. In addition, the method of punishment varies from country to country. Where some countries hung the culprits until death and some shoot or give them a lethal injection.

Types of Capital Punishments

In this topic, we are going to discuss the various methods of punishment that are used in different countries. But, before that let’s talk about the capital punishments that people used in the past. Earlier, the capital punishments are more like torture rather than a death penalty. They used to strain and punish the body of the culprit to the extreme that he/she dies because of the pain and fear of torture.

Besides, modern methods are quicker and less painful than traditional methods.

• Electrocution – In this method, the criminal is tied to a chair and a high voltage current that can kill a man easily is passed through the body. In addition, it causes organ failure (especially heart).
• Tranquilization – This method gives the person a slow but painless death as the toxin injections are injected into his body that takes up to several hours for the criminal to die.
• Beheading – Generally, the Arab and Gulf countries use this method. Where they decide the death sentence by the crime of the person. Furthermore, in this method, they simply cut the person’s head apart from the body.
• Stoning – In this the criminal is beaten till death. Also, it is the most painful method of execution.
• Shooting – The criminal is either shoot in the head or in his/her chest in this method.
• Hanging – This method simply involves the hanging of culprit till death.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Advantages and Disadvantages of Capital Punishments

Although many people think that it’s a violation of human rights and the Human Rights Commission strongly opposes capital punishment still many countries continue this practice.

The advantages of capital punishment are that they give people an idea of what the law is capable of doing and the criminal can never escape from the punishment no matter who he/she is.

In addition, anyone who is thinking about committing a crime will think twice before committing a crime. Furthermore, a criminal that is in prison for his crime cannot harm anyone of the outside world.

The disadvantages are that we do not give the person a second chance to change. Besides, many times the real criminal escape the trial and the innocent soul of the prosecution claimed to guilty by false claims. Also, many punishments are painful and make a mess of the body of the criminal.

To conclude, we can say that capital punishment is the harsh reality of our world. Also, on one hand, it decreases the crime rate and on the other violates many human rights.

Besides, all these types of punishment are not justifiable and the court and administrative bodies should try to find an alternative for it.

FAQs about Capital Punishment

Q.1 What is the difference between the death penalty and capital punishment?

A.1 For many people the term death penalty and capital punishment is the same thing but there is a minute difference between them. The implementation of the death penalty is not death but capital punishment itself means execution.

Q.2 Does capital punishment decrease the rate of crime?

A.2 There is no solid proof related to this but scientists think that reduces the chances of major crimes to a certain level.

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Capital Punishment in India: Status, Arguments, and Way Forward

This article is based on the news “ Death by nitrogen: Why this Alabama execution is polarising ” which was published in the Indian Express. In Alabama, USA a convict has been executed using nitrogen hypoxia for the first time as a method of capital punishment.

What is Capital Punishment?

• About: Capital Punishment is defined as a death penalty ordered by the state owing to the commission of a Crime. Crimes that can result in the death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences.
• Purpose of Capital Punishment: The prime reason behind capital punishment is its efficacy in deterring identical or similar crimes.

Status of Capital Punishment Across World

• European Union : Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment. 
• Council of Europe: It has 47 member states, and also prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members.
• Although many nations have abolished capital punishment, China, India, the United States and Indonesia , continue to apply the death penalty (although in India and in many US states it is rarely employed). 
• Each of these four nations has consistently voted against the General Assembly resolutions.

Capital Punishment in India: Status

• A ll death sentences were either set aside or commuted to life in 2023, as they did not fall under the “rarest of rare cases”.
• 98.3% of the death penalty cases were decided by trial courts “ without any materials on mitigating circumstances of the accused and without any state-led evidence on the question of reform.

Provisions For Capital Punishment in India

• Statutory Provision : The Air Force Act, of 1950, The Army Act, of 1950, and The Navy Act, 1957 provide punishment for offences, including hanging or death by shooting.

Supreme Court Judgement on Capital Punishment in India

• Jagmohan Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1972): The constitutional validity of the death penalty was upheld by the SC.  
• The special reasons should be recorded for imposing the death penalty in a case.
• The death penalty must be imposed only in extraordinary circumstances.
• It upheld the Rule of Law which holds that the death sentence is only legal if it s erves as an alternative to life in prison.  
• It strengthens the policy that life imprisonment is the rule and death punishment is an exception.
• Deena Dayal vs Union of India And Others (1983): It upheld the capital punishment by ruling that hanging is “as painless as possible” and “causes no greater pain than any other known method”.

Arguments in Favour of Capital Punishment in India

• Death sentence is seen as just retribution for murderers, providing closure for victime’s family and society.
• Utilitarianism: Utilitarian theory propounded by Jeremy Bentham aims at welfare-maximising actions and conveys that the consequential welfare of the society outweighs the deprivation of life of the criminal. 
• Deterrence: It has been argued that it gives victims’ families satisfaction and serves as a deterrence to potential offenders , preventing them from committing these extremely horrible crimes again.
• Public Safety: The public has to be safeguarded against the possibility of release of a murderer which may cause further crimes.
• Least Humane Method: The government argues that hanging should remain legal because it is the least common method of execution that goes wrong, in addition to not being harsh or inhumane.

Arguments Against Capital Punishment in India

• The Indian Constitution , under Article 21, states that no person shall be deprived of his “Right to Life” unless done with due process. 
• When the death penalty is imposed, it also r estricts the scope of introducing fresh evidence or legal rules into the case.  
• The most popular technique, lethal injection , has been involved in controversy due to unsuccessful executions. 
• Ex- One Oklahoma prisoner experienced an apparent heart attack forty-three minutes following the initial injection in 2014.
• Social scientists had shown the death penalty had no deterrent effect; and that public opinion worldwide was in favour of its abolition. 
• The death penalty Report of India clearly shows that a round 76% of convicts of Death Penalty belonged to lower and backward castes contravening the philosophy of ethics and morality. 
• Additionally 93.5% sentenced to death penalty for crimes of terror belong to Scheduled Castes or religious minorities. 
• The sanctity of life and the dignity of death are held in high moral regard, and capital punishment is widely condemned as a grave violation of human rights.
• In some cases, special or military courts set up through counterterrorism laws have sentenced civilians to death, undermining international standards. 

Way forward

• Life Imprisonment as an Alternative: The  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 has defined ‘life imprisonment’ as a term for the remainder of one’s natural life, and this should be the default alternative to death sentences. 
• Removing capital punishment from the statute book and introducing a rational and universal remission policy will be a substantive reform in the justice system.
• The case for the abolition of the death penalty in India will gain strength if the trend of seeking the premature release of life convicts on political grounds is arrested and life terms without remission become more common. 
• Rehabilitation has its theoretical base in the belief that unfavourable social conditions are the reason behind commission of crime. Therefore, it is the moral right of the convict to seek the help of society. 
• Law Commission Recommendation:   As recommended by the Law Commission report, death penalty should be abolished , except in certain cases where the accused is convicted in terror related offence.

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Essay on Capital Punishment

• Updated on  
• Jun 11, 2022

The phrase “punishment” is one that we are all familiar with. However, only a small percentage of the population is familiar with capital punishment. Capital punishment is a court-ordered death penalty for violating criminal laws . Furthermore, the method of punishment differs from one country to the next. Some countries hang the criminals until they die, while others shoot or inject them with a fatal injection. Keep reading the blog to find an IELTS Essay on Capital Punishment and much more!

Methods of Capital Punishment 

• Electrocution – In this method, the perpetrator is bound to a chair and a high-voltage current is passed through his body, quickly killing a guy. It also leads to organ failure (especially heart).
• Tranquilization – This method causes the criminal to die slowly and painlessly by injecting toxin injections into his body. It can take up to several hours for the criminal to die.
• Beheading – Arab and Gulf countries commonly use this method of capital punishment. In this, they just sever the person’s head from their body using this manner.
• Stoning – It is a kind of capital punishment in which the criminal is beaten to death. It’s also the most agonizing technique of execution.
• Shooting – In this approach, the culprit is shot either in the head or in the chest. Hanging – In this method, the culprit is hanged till death.

Also Read: Essay on Human Rights

Advantages of Capital Punishment

• A life sentence is disproportionate to the seriousness of the offense.
• The death sentence has the potential to deter violent crime.
• It does not have to be done in a violent manner.
• The affected family is not re-victimized by the death penalty.
• It eliminates the prospect of an escape and potential victims in the future.
• When capital punishment is used in a fair manner, it can help to reduce prison overcrowding.

Disadvantages of Capital Punishment

• When applied, it is the ultimate negation of human rights.
• The death penalty has the potential to execute someone who is potentially innocent.
• The cost of bringing a death penalty case to trial is substantially higher than in other situations.
• With the death sentence in existence, there may be no deterrent to crime.
• It’s used to keep political messages under control.
• Capital punishment is occasionally used to put children to death.
• There is no turning back once the execution has occurred.
• Sometimes the evidence used to justify the death penalty is contaminated.
• It is frequently used in a discriminating manner.
• The death sentence has a negative influence on a victim’s family.
• Only a few jail escapes occur each year, and even fewer involve violent offenders.
• Some people are simply unconcerned.

IELTS Essay On Capital Punishment (Sample) 

This is an IELTS essay on Capital Punishment which can help you for your exam-

Our lives are less secure without capital punishment, and violent crimes are on the rise. Capital punishment is necessary to restrain violence in society. Since the beginning of time, there has been debate about capital punishment, particularly for violent offences. Many regard it as one of the most heinous penalties, intended to convey a stern message to anyone who even contemplates trouble. While some believe it is natural justice, others believe it is unnatural and argue that humans should not play the role of demi-god. I am certain that people are incapable of deciding one’s death purely on the basis of a disruptive account.

Capital punishment strongly depicts eye-for-an-eye justice, which is a barbarous act in and of itself. Hanging someone to death will not improve the victim’s position, nor will it bring the dead back to life. It may provide a phoney sense of fairness to the people, proving transitory and fading with media attention. Instead, the victim must be given the opportunity to reflect on his own actions, perhaps by meeting the victim or the victim’s family. History has demonstrated that such an exercise acts as a form of punishment because the guilty is usually consumed by flames of repentance. Certainly, such a person deserves a second opportunity.

Few people, on the other hand, would argue that capital punishment restricts criminals and makes the general public feel safe, which is the establishment’s primary responsibility. It is not, in my opinion, lethal punishment that induces a sense of security. People will feel safer in countries like India if decisions are delivered on time and the process is transparent because justice delayed is justice denied. 

It should be emphasized that the main goal of punishment is to reform and rehabilitate a criminal. The state’s job should be to punish the guilty person in a way that re-educates and morally redeems him. Given the inevitability of capital punishment, it should not be used in any circumstance.

A life sentence could instead be used for this purpose where it’s possible that the criminal is given a second opportunity.

Also Read: Essay on Democracy

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Essay on “Capital Punishment in India ” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Capital Punishment in India    

POINTS TO DEVELOP

Putting ’crime’ and ’punishment’ in context.

Capital punishment and retributive punishment

Changes in forms of capital punishment.

Reaction against capital punishment.

Reasons in support of and against capital punishment.

Ultimate control of crime depends upon Effective enforcement, fair investigation and firm investigation on death sentence.

Crime and punishment are perhaps as old as the human species itself. When one person snatched food or some necessary item from another, a crime was committed, and the victim would have probably retaliated to get back what he thought was his. Maybe, there was a fight unto death, and that was the end of it. But the word ‘crime’ perhaps is not quite correct in the context, for the word denotes an act against law, and there was no real law prevalent that long ago. As humans bonded into groups and society was formed, concept of law and crime and the need to control that crime through punishment came into being. In primitive societies, crimes were treated as wrongs against a person, and at other times against religious norms and group loyalty. Meting out punishment remained for long the prerogative of the individual or family that was wronged. It was vindictive, the primary motive being revenge rather than correction, and often had no proportional relation to the gravity of the crime committed. Gradually, the idea of proportionate punishment evolved, as in the Mosiac law of an ‘eye’ for an ‘eye’ and a ‘tooth’ for a ‘tooth’. As nations came into being, the institution of punishment was transferred into the hands of the state. A system of law now evolved to place crime and punishment in context, and individuals were discouraged from taking the law into their own hands.

Punishment was, however, for a long time retributive in nature, and the idea of correction did not come into the picture till recent times. Capital punishment was awarded for petty crimes such as stealing as well as grave crimes such as murder, and there was also arbitrariness in the award of punishment. It was only in the 18th century, with the birth of Enlightenment in the Western context that thinkers like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Cesare Beccaria, and Jeremy Bentham spoke in favour of reform in the criminal system. Beccaria was an Italian criminologist who, in fact, was the first to advocate the complete abolition of capital punishment in his work, ‘Die delittie delle Pene’(Crimes and Punishment) in 1764. The rise of humanitarian movements as well as the growth of an industrial working class added strength to the groups calling for abolition of capital punishment.

It was in 1814 that hanging was substituted as the general mode of execution in Britain, while France chose the guillotine during the French Revolution to behead criminals irrespective of class; earlier there were horrifying processes such as hanging, drawing and quartering, burning at the stake and throwing the criminals to wild beasts. In more recent times, there have been discussions on the best modes of execution. Hanging, according to eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani, is not Only quick but relatively painless and sure as well, and it is the form prescribed in India at present. The Law Commission recently asked public to respond to its questionnaire on preferable forms of execution. In the USA, the most prevalent form is the electric chair. Other states follow yet other modes of execution-the gas chamber, firing squad or lethal injections. Whatever the mode, the idea of killing another human being, whatever his or her crime, is repulsive to many people today.

The advocates and the abolitionists of capital punishment have their own arguments in support of their stand. Those who say death should be the punishment in some cases. agree that it is to be in special cases alone, the most heinous and gravest of crimes. The most prominent argument put forth by the advocates of the death penalty is that of deterrence. They feel that it is only fear of severe punishment that will deter the criminal and reduce the occurrence of heinous crimes. The theory appears to be valid at first glance, so to say. However, scientific studies have consistently failed to find strong and consistent evidence that capital punishment deters crime more effectively than other forms of punishment. The United Nations conducted research in 1988 (updated in 2002) and concluded that “it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment”. It further says that the statistics on the relation between the changes in the use of the death penalty and the crime rates indicate that “countries need not fear sudden and serious changes in the curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death penalty”.

Another argument put forward by those favouring death penalty is that ‘life imprisonment’ is merely for 14 years or less in India, and then the criminal will be out, and free to resume his criminal activity. Besides showing a retrograde notion of human nature-surely, not all criminals are so unredeemable, for do we not have our own Valmiki, and many others in more recent times to prove otherwise?-the argument also shows ignorance of the law. If the state wants it so, life imprisonment can be for life. Being imprisoned for life is enough to deter the hardiest of criminals. To which the advocates say that the corruption existent in out jails would make the life of these criminals too pleasant to make them regret their crime. That would bring up the question of inequality in this country. A Dhananioy Chatterjee is not likely to enjoy those privileges which are reserved for the rich and influential or those with the right political contacts, who are unlikely, in the first place, to be awarded the death sentence; they would have the best lawyers and legal advice to get them off the hook. In such a situation of inequalities, awarding death penalty would compound the inequality and injustice. It is well known that the same kind of crime attracts different punishments from different judges and under different  conditions of trial. It is equally well known that the underprivileged are easier to catch and convict, and are punished ‘appropriately’.

As to the argument that keeping a convict prisoner for life is a heavy burden on the country’s economy, and may be even dangerous if he is a ruthless killer, the abolitionists point put that these are aspects which can be solved; get the prisoners to do some constructive work that may more than compensate for their ‘keep’, and take the necessary precautions to prevent further crime.

The most important reason the abolitionists offer is that death is so final that no miscarriage of justice can be corrected. And there have been cases, even if rare, of convicts having been innocent though convicted. Even one such case is enough to call for the removal of the death penalty from the statute book. It may come as a surprise to many that in the USA, since 1973, more than 100 prisoners have been released from ‘death row’ after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were convicted. Recurring features in their cases include prosecutorial or police misconduct; the use of unreliable witness testimony, physical evidence or confessions; and inadequate defence representation. For each of the prisoner‘ released, how many might have gone to their death in innocence? Can we say that the Indian system of law and justice is free of these features? The Supreme Court of  India has given some guidelines on cases where capital punishment may be given-the rarest of rare cases, as they are known. Examples cited by the apex court include such cases as when the murder is committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner, so as to arouse the intense and extreme indignation of the community; when the murder is committed for a motive, which evinces total depravity and meanness, such as murder by a hired assassin for money or reward or a cold- blooded murder for gains of a person vis-a-vis whom the murderer is in a dominating position or in a position of trust, or if the murder is committed in the course of betrayal of the motherland; when the murder of a member of a Scheduled Caste or minority community, etc., is committed not for personal reasons, but in circumstances which arouse social wrath, or in case of ‘bride burning’ or ‘dowry deaths’ or when murder is committed in order to remarry for the sake of extracting dowry once again or to marry another woman on account of infatuation; when the crime is enormous in proportion, for instance, when multiple murders, say of all or almost all the members of a family or a large number of persons of a particular caste, community, or locality, are committed; and when the victim of murder is an innocent child, or a helpless woman or an old or infirm person or a person vis-a-vis whom the murderer is in a dominating position, or a public figure generally loved and respected by the community. But even these are open to Subjective (and hence biased) interpretations.

Those who advocate death penalty have in their hearts revenge more than deterrence. The primitive emotion of wanting to avenge wrong exists in a collective manner in society. This was evident in the interviews carried out by the media when the Dhananjoy affair was in the limelight. It was depressing to hear a school principal, albeit of the school where the victim of a horrifying crime studied, speak vociferously for the death penalty to be carried out. Worse, children in their early teens were made to show their support for capital punishment. Such strong emotions of revenge surely do not have a place in a civilised society, especially among the sections which would be expected to be enlightened. Emotional responses should not be taken as valid enough to perpetuate a practice which, if we are truly civilised, should he considered from many other angles. True, in India, death penalties have not been carried very rarely, according to reports; but there are several prisoners languishing in the death row for years together. There are few hangmen, and the procedures are lengthy and antiquated. This kind of delay in carrying out a sentence manifests an injustice all its own.

Ultimately, control of crime depends on an efficient legal and law-enforcing system, quick, efficient and ensuring fair investigation free of corrupt practices, a quick and fair trial and conviction. Make sure that a crime will be investigated and the criminal caught-however well-placed or well-connected he or she may be-and provide fool proof evidence that will lead to a conviction, and crime will go down whatever the punishment is. With the low conviction rate in India, mostly because the case put up is so feeble. death penalty will kill a few criminals, no doubt; it will not reduce crime, heinous or otherwise.

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As a member of public, I naturally find myself concerned about the death penalty. And though people may differ that the provision of awarding death punishment should be continued. My this conclusion rests on two arguments. First the very process awarding death sentence, In recent years as the situations have changed drastically, judiciary has become more and more restrained in awarding death sentence. This instance can be understood by the decision given in case of Swami Sharadhanand v State of Karnataka where hon'ble supreme court itself gave the judgment that death sentence be awarded in only rare of the rarest case. Even the fact that only one execution has taken place since 1995 is sufficient enough to show the ground reality of the death penalty. And as are far as any jurist is concerned then keeping in mind the principles of basic jurisprudence, equity and good conscience. He would agree that death sentences are in consonance with the very idea of justice. My second argument is the need of having a death penalty, the death penalty is not just any other ordinary sentence. It is the last arrow present in the quiver of the judiciary. More than punishing it is the deterrent effect that it possesses.

And if law is denied the privilege of this, then there will be little law can do then to award imprisonment, whether it is any crime. Take the case of Aamir Ajmal Kasab. Would it not be a laughing case when a man guilty of such an act is left without a strict punishment, which would also serve as a lesson for others. Also it might be there that if he is not hanged, then an another IC- 814 is hijacked and the demand that is made is of Kasab. So it is very important to keep the tradition of death sentence continued.

Now to the question as to whether India should continue the death sentence or not. I would definitely say that it would be in the best interest if India continues the death sentence. As the amnesty international itself points out , the record of India while awarding death sentence has been very clean. While in countries like Iran, China and Egypt death sentence is a tool for silencing dissidents and opponents, there is no such case in India. Moreover we are often accused of being soft on terror. Then the abolishment of death sentence if not directly then indirectly will encourage the terrorists to strike at will, for they will be assured that even when they are caught they will be the guests of India and any day one of their accomplice will attack the jail and free them off. Keeping in mind all of these I can say that death sentence should be continued in India.

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Capital Punishment in India Essay | Free PDF Download

December 28, 2017 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

The subject of capital punishment is an issue of major debate. Capital punishment refers to death penalty for the commitment of a crime. Countries in the Middle East practice absolute intolerance and people are not spared for the crime they commit. Capital punishment sounds barbaric and inhuman.

Human rights activists vouch for its total abolition. But is total abolition a solution? Will people stop committing heinous crimes towards other beings? The answer is no. There would be no fear of law left inside them.

Take the case of ‘Nirbhaya’ for example. She was raped by 5 men, one of whom was a juvenile. She was raped inhumanly and God forbid if another instance like that ever happens to any girl. Four culprits were executed while the juvenile was sent to a reformatory.

Just because he was not 18 years of age, he got away with a crime so inhuman that it sends chills down my spine when I speak about it. But was his mind not sound enough to know the extent of brutal crime he was committing. He knew what he was doing yet he did not stop.

He was let off free just because he was a juvenile about to mature. Won’t the youth get wrong message about this act of the Government? Misplaced notions will cloud their mind that they are juveniles and can get away with committing a crime. Their needs to be some fear which keep people from committing crimes.

Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code states that capital punishment can be given only in some extreme cases. Our Indian constitution has not yet done away with capital punishment. Its implementation or abolishment is a matter of issue for the whole world. Some favour capital punishment but some disagree also.

What is better- eradicating crime or the criminal? Now, most of you would say eradicating crime is better. Even I think the same. But crime cannot be stopped unless fear is instilled in people’s minds or ethics are restored. In a country like India, where there exists 1.3 billion of population, it is almost impossible to change all of their mindsets. Majority of the population in India is still uneducated.

Without education, no morals can see the dawn in India. Even educated people are caught involved in such heinous crimes that it puts our motherland to shame. What to think of uneducated when you cannot expect something out of educated people. So the last option we are left with is making people fear the law.

Those who favour capital punishment believe that the crime rate will increase if we remove capital punishment. Not only developing but also developed countries are practicing capital punishment. USA is one country which has higher rates of its application, especially in the state of Texas. Texas is also known as the ‘city of crime’ due to the active presence of mafia, drug dealers and killers there. So the government has to implement strict laws to keep the law and order in check.

In some countries like Dubai, capital punishment is normal. They explain their policy with the statement ‘an eye for an eye’ and follow the rule of ‘a life for a life’. Violence will be more prevalent in the society as the criminal has no fear of death in his mind. He will commit crimes continuously as become unstoppable.

Some criminals commit crime out of necessities and hardships while some do it out of fun or vengeance. But the punishment of both these crimes should not be the same. The circumstances of the criminal should be kept in mind before announcing the verdict for the criminal.

A person who stole bread to satiate his hunger is different from a person who steals money from a shop to satiate his whims and fancies. Thus, the punishment should be different for both of them. Nobody deserves to die but the one who takes another life should be rewarded with a punishment so severe that is serves as a lesson for the generations to come to not repeat the act. Taking another life is not okay.

There is various kind of capital punishment but the most common are; hanging- where the convicted is put to death by hanging.  Electric chair; when the convicted is put to death by strapping him on the chair and passing electric current through his body until death.

Lethal injection- when a lethal injection is injected into the guilty person; firing squad- when a person is tied up blind folded and made to stand against wall and fired directly, the gas chamber- where is convicted is put in a deadly gas room where the poisonous gas kills him by suffocation.

All these methods of execution which claim to be humane according to lessening the pain and time of execution are implemented.  Several countries like France , Canada , and New Zealand have banned it but still many countries like America and India are still executing this practice to raise fear among criminals mind to stop committing crime.

Some religious books like Bible have the reason to continue with death penalty because the Bible requires the death penalty for the wide range of crime, murder and homo sexual behavior. Some people think that it is only death penalty which provides safety to the victim`s family . While other people think that it violates the criminal`s right to life. It lowers the value of human life and society too.

But, our life is given to us by the God. No human has the right to decide whether someone shall live or not. Who are we to decide the life of other person? God has not given any person, sage or hermit to decide the life of other person.

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