CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA – Adv. Suyog Chandulal Shah

  v  CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA – Adv. Suyog Chandulal Shah  

   Maharashtra's Kopardi Gang-Rape & Murder Case

The 15-year-old innocent girl was raped by the three men on July 13 last year at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district, they also inflicted injuries all over her body and broke her limbs before killing her.  All three accused in the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi village in July 2016 have been found guilty by a court in Ahmednagar. The crime had triggered massive protests across Maharashtra last year.

The crime proved the trigger for the silent marches taken out by Maratha community across the state. Though their campaign also raised long-pending demands like reservation in education and jobs, the Kopardi case was highlighted in the marches, which had evoked overwhelming response, compelling all political parties to take the movement seriously.

Public Prosecutor Adv.Ujjwal Nikam was appointed by the government to handle the case as it was sent to a fast-track court.

 
Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume were charged with gang-rape, criminal conspiracy and murder under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Sessions court on 29/11/2017 awarded death sentence to three men convicted for the brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi village in 2016. Additional Special Judge Suvarna Kevale awarded the death sentence to Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume.

The Entire Maharashtra and the victim's mother welcomed the verdict of the court and said that justice has been delivered, while demanding capital punishment for the culprits.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA – Adv. Suyog Chandulal Shah

 

Ø               INTRODUCTION

All punishments are based on the same proposition i.e. there must be a penalty for wrongdoing. There are two main reasons for inflicting the punishment. One is the belief that it is both right and just that a person who has done wrong should suffer for it; the other is the belief that inflicting punishment on wrongdoers discourages other from doing wrong.

The capital punishment also rests on the same proposition as other punishments. The capital punishment debate is the most generally relevant debate, keeping in mind the situation that has been brought about by today. Capital punishment is an integral part of the Indian criminal justice system. Increasing strength of the human rights movement in India, the existence of capital punishment is questioned as immoral. However this is an odd argument as keeping one person alive at the cost of the lives of numerous members or potential victims in the society is unbelievable and in fact, that is morally wrong.

Ø              MEANING OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital punishment, also called death penalty, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law for a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law.

The term death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution (even when it is upheld on appeal), because of the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment.

 

The term "Capital Punishment" stands for most severe form of punishment. It is the punishment which is to be awarded for the most heinous, grievous and detestable crimes against humanity. While the definition and extent of such crimes vary from country to country, state to state, age to age, the implication of capital punishment has always been                                                        the death sentence. By common usage in jurisprudence, criminology and penology, capital sentence means a sentence of death.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: THE CURRENT STATUS

     Ø    Supreme Court on Validity of Capital Punishment in India

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution ensures the Fundamental Right to life and liberty for all persons. It adds no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. This has been legally construed to mean if there is a procedure, which is fair and valid, then the state by framing a law can deprive a person of his life. While the central government has consistently maintained it would keep the death penalty in the statute books to act as a deterrent, and for those who are a threat to society, the Supreme Court too has upheld the constitutional validity of capital punishment in “rarest of rare” cases. In Jagmohan Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh (1973),then in Rajendra Prasad vs State of Uttar Pradesh (1979), and finally in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980), the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional validity of the death penalty. It said that if capital punishment is provided in the law and the procedure is a fair,just and reasonable one, the death sentence can be awarded to a convict. This will, however, only be in the “rarest of rare” cases, and the courts should render “special reasons” while sending a person to the gallows

Ø               Criteria for Rarest of Rare

The principles as to what would constitute the “rarest of rare” has been laid down by the top Court in the landmark judgment in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980).

                                                           

Supreme Court formulated certain broad illustrative guidelines and In the past few years, the Government has brought a number of legal advancements, policy reforms for protection of women from various sources of violence and atrocities and schemes for launching women helpline, prevention of trafficking and sexual exploitation, for setting up of one stop centres to assist women affected by violence, etc. The courts have also awarded stringent punishments to offenders who commit offences against women including death penalty in the rarest of rare cases.

The Supreme Court, in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab 1980, had laid down that life imprisonment is the rule and death sentence is an exception and thus, certain guidelines should be followed before a court may award death penalty:

1]         Only in the gravest cases of extreme culpability, this extreme penalty of death may be awarded;

2]         The circumstances of the offender along with the circumstances of the crime have to be taken into consideration.

3]         When the sentence of life imprisonment seems inadequate having regard to the nature and circumstances of the crime, only then death sentence may be awarded; and

4]         The aggravating and the mitigating circumstances have to be balanced.

Ø                Methods of execution for Capital punishment :

   v  Hanging :- Hanging is the method of execution in the civilian court system, according to the Indian Criminal Procedure Code[viii].

   v  Shooting :-Under the 1950 Army Act, hanging as well as shooting are both listed as official methods of execution in the military court-martial system[ix].

   v  Cons of capital punishment : Some of the important points due to which capital punishment is opposed by most of the human rights organisation in the world are discussed in the text below:

    v  Unlike many other punishments, loss suffered by death penalty irreversible, but can never     ignore high risk of convicting the wrong person and executing the innocent. Well such cases are almost very rare when innocents are convicted for a crime which they had not done.

Death penalty is actually deprivation of person from the fundamental right provided by constitution to the accused,, which is right to life. Death punishment is absolutely more expensive in comparison to other punishments provided by legal system. These extra expenses are due to additional time takes by the body to actually execute the person for the crime committed by him. And yes this is the fact that if any criminal is given death penalty, they are also kept in special cabins which causes extra expenses to be suffered by the government.

A murder trial normally take more time and money than any other trail, and when such trial has chances of death penalty then courts takes even more time to be sure for the real conditions and these expenses are paid up actually by taxes that are paid by the taxpayers of the country.

The Cases of death penalty causes extra appeals and consumes more time that normally required deciding a case and this is caused due to endless appeals and additional procedures that are being followed up by the court.

ü                                   Conclusion :

We cannot lose sight of the enormity and gravity of a criminal’s crime. A criminal has to pay for his crime. But as a society we want to kill the crime and not the criminal. But when serious offences and heinous crimes takes place in our country Death sentence serves as deterrent for other criminals.

A guilty must be punished proportionate to the severity of the crime. Death sentence in India should be there in the statute books to contain terrorism. Death penalty provides a closure for the victims' families. Capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society and should prove much safer for the rest of us than long term or permanent incarceration. It is self evident that dead criminals cannot commit any further crimes, either within prison or after escaping or after being released from it. Hence I support the Capital punishment in India and a day will come in this country where each individual will have to think of the results before committing any heinous and serious offence which will shake the Humanity.

Friends I have tried my best to give you the information on the above topic in detail and covering all the aspects in respect of Capital Punishment.

          Adv.Suyog Chandulal Shah

      Adv.Suyog Shah & Associates,

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