Representative image

NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that hanging by neck is the most viable option to execute death sentence for condemned prisoners and it could not be replaced by alternative methods like lethal injection , electrocution or firing squad as they are more painful with higher rates of botch-up in some.

Responding to a PIL seeking the court’s direction to replace the prevailing mode of execution of death sentence by other less painful procedures, the Centre in its affidavit said the government had examined all other procedures and came to the conclusion that hanging by neck ensured death “more quickly, painlessly and decently.”

“Given the present modes of execution of death sentences, if any of them is bungled, it leads to results that could be called barbaric, inhuman and cruel. The procedure followed for execution by electrocution or lethal injection or firing squad could be just as inhuman or barbaric to another person. As far as likelihood of execution getting botched is concerned, statistics show that hanging with more advanced procedures is far safer than techniques such as lethal injections,” the affidavit said.

The Centre said there was no scientific evidence to prove that other procedures of executing death sentence were less painful and data collected from other countries showed hanging had been a safer and more reliable method.

“Further, making the entire process of death penalty overly comfortable, serene and painless for the convict may substantially reduce its effectiveness in acting as a deterrent against abhorrent criminal acts as was intended by the legislature and may not be able to serve its social purpose,” it said.

The Centre filed its response after the apex court had on October 6 agreed to examine whether execution of death sentence by hanging could be done away with and to be replaced by other less painful procedures. While hearing a PIL, the court had said that a convict facing death must die in peace and not in pain.

The PIL filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra contended that the present system for execution of death sentence is not only barbaric, inhuman and cruel but also against the Resolutions adopted by the United Nations Economic Social Council (ECOSOC), which says capital punishment must be carried out so as to inflict minimum possible suffering to condemned prisoners.

Referring to the petitioner’s contention that shooting was legal in the country under Army Act, Navvy Act and Air Force Act, the Centre said, “The primary mode of execution under those Acts is still being hanged by the neck till death. Being shot to death has been provided as a second alternative. The same parallel cannot be drawn for execution of a condemned prisoner in civilian life.”

