LEGALITY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
THE LAWWAY WITH LAWYERS JOURNAL VOLUME:-7 ISSUE NO:- 7 , JANUARY 22, 2024 ISSN (ONLINE):- 2584-1106 Website: www.the lawway with lawyers.com Email: thelawwaywithelawyers@gmail.com LEGALITY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT – Koushlendra Singh Bhadoriya B.A LLB School of Legal Studies (L.N.C.T UNIVERSITY) ABSTRACT Capital Punishment is famously known as death penalty, it is considered as one of the Supreme punishment awarded to an offender. Death penalty is a punishment in which a person is deprived from his life by the due process established by law means its a lawful act by which a person’s life is taken away and this crucial act is a consequences of his offence that has been committed by him. Many countries and societies still uses this punishment for punishing various offenders who has committed serious crimes while many countries have abolished this because they thought that it is an evil practice. There were many debates on the topic of capital punishment. Whether it is right or wrong, whether it is needed or not, capital punishment is an ancient phenomenon that has been going on for ages, and this punishment is used to deter individuals from doing offenses in society and to make peace, law, and order in society. 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1 OVERVIEW Capital punishment is also known as the death penalty; this is the most severe punishment that can be awarded to a person for committing a crime. The death penalty is only given to those offenders who have committed a very heinous crime; otherwise, there are many other ways in which a person can be punished by the law. To maintain law and order in society, it’s important to punish the offender according to the crime that he has committed. If the crime is not that grave in nature, then the offender may only be subjected to imprisonment or a fine, or in some cases, both can be awarded to the offender with respect to the circumstances of the case. Its a debatable topic whether capital punishment is immoral, unnecessary, or needed for securing society’s interest when someone has performed an atrocious crime. There were many cases that came before the apex court of the nation about the constitutionality of capital punishment, and the court said that capital punishment is constitutionally a valid punishment, but it has to be served to the offender in the rarest of the rare scenarios. There were many crimes listed in many acts of our nation, and every crime has its own consequences according to the law when committed. Some of the crimes listed in the act’s are not that grave in nature; they are more likely to be ordinary in nature, while some crimes that have been discussed in our penal code are of very high intensity, such as murder, rape, etc. The intensity of the crime here is the most important factor that is responsible for the punishment that has been awarded to the offender. If the offense that has been committed is ordinary in nature, then it will amount to a simple punishment such as a very short term of imprisonment, a fine, or both, but if the offense is severe in nature, then it is up to the courts to decide the intensity of the punishment with respect to the prevailing laws of the nation. 1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND When we talk about the historical background of capital punishment, it can be traced back to the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, wherein the king “Hammurabi” codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. This is all the codification of capital punishment, made just to deter the public from committing various crimes that were taking place in Babylon at that time. The death penalty can also be outlined in the Draconian Code in Athens, which made the death penalty compulsory for all types of crimes committed. If we talk about the historical background of the death penalty with respect to India, then it can be traced back to the period where our present India is divided into many princely states and territories of various kingdoms. Each of the kingdoms has its own rules and regulations that help the kings govern their princely states. Many of the kingdoms have the death penalty, which is to be given to the offender in various ways, but after the invasion of Britishers, the scenario changed, and there was the establishment of the first law commission during colonial rule in India by the East India Company under the Charter Act of 1833. The first law commission was presided over by Lord “Thomas Babington Macaulay.” The first law commission drafted the Penal Code for India, which is Indian Penal Code 1860 Act Number 45 of 1860, which contains the codified provision of the death penalty.The death penalty is not a new punishment; it has been in the law for ages. Many rulers have various methods of giving the death penalty to those who have committed offenses that amount to capital punishment. Many people agree that it is an inhumane practice, while many others are in favor of it. The death penalty is a punishment that has a severe impact on society, as it is not an easy task to take someone’s life, but on the other hand, it is important to punish the offender because there are crimes that are too severe in nature, such as genocide, terrorist attacks. Here, we can’t compromise the security of the people living in society, and for delivering justice, it’s important to implement harsh punishment on the offender who has performed a very serious crime. 2.LEGAL FRAME WORK 2.1 LAWS GOVERNING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA Any type of punishment or penalty that is being imposed on the offender is imposed on him by the courts, and these courts impose the penalty or punishment according to the procedure established by law. There was much legislation passed by the parliament, and there was also much legislation being introduced by the British. The