Abstract

Death penalty as a capital punishment is an irreversible, uncivilized intolerable violation of a human right to life, sanctioned by the state. The framework of prison, judiciary, as well trials is instilled in a civilized society to protect the society and to reform the lawbreakers into law abiders. The state by imposition of death penalty upon the criminals gives itself unduly excessive power to take away a life and thus is extremely inconsistent with the constitutional values that are embedded in our democratic system. The death penalty in India is awarded on the basis of the doctrine “Rarest of the Rare” so as to ensure that the justice is served in cases where the crimes committed against the victims are too brutal and heinous, however in determining what cases and circumstances constitute rarest of the rare brings about lot of arbitrariness. The paper provides an insight into how the capital punishment was first imposed in India with reference to landmark judgements and cases and how it has evolved to be imposed today. The paper also seeks to answer if imposition of capital punishment is morally justified as it is a gross violation of a human right to life.

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