India: Appeal to Parliament to Abolish Death Penalty

PEOPLE’S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES (PUCL—Delhi)
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Date: 3rd September,2011

PRESS STATEMENT

APPEAL TO PARLIAMENT TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY

In the wake of ongoing controversy on the justification of death penalty, it is high time that Parliament takes appropriate steps to abolish such provision from our statue books. The provision of Death Penalty had been introduced by the British in the Indian Penal Code in 1860 but the same has itself been abolished by the British from their own statue books- being incompatible with the values of a civilized society, as done by large number of other countries.

Judgments of the courts are not always correct. Supreme Court itself has stated that its judgments are correct not because they always may be correct but because they are final. Recognizing ‘ the fallibility of human judgment being undeniable even in the most trained mind’ the five judges bench of the Supreme Court in the matter of ‘Kehar Singh & another Vs. Union of India and others’ as reported in AIR 1989 SC 653, while examining powers of the President and Governors under article 72 and 161 of the Constitution of India, has quoted with approval the following classic exposition of law stated in Ex parte Philip Grossman (1924) 267 US 87 : 69 Law ed 527 :-

“Executive clemency exists to afford relief from undue harshness or evident mistake in the operation or the enforcement of the criminal law. The administration of justice by the courts is not necessarily always wise or certainly considerate of circumstances which may properly mitigate guilt. To afford a remedy, it has always been thought essential in popular governments, as well as in monarchies, to vest in some other authority than the courts power to ameliorate or avoid particular criminal judgments…….â€

Thus in a situation where Supreme Court itself has given due consideration to the fact that courts judgments may not necessarily be always correct, to deprive a person of his life would be nothing short of a barbarous act.

The people of India, including the Government of India, have appealed to Pakistan on humanitarian grounds to commute death sentence of an Indian, namely Sarabjit Singh, facing the death penalty in that country. Can we make such appeal when we are blind to such appeals within our own country?

We, therefore, on behalf of PUCL appeal to the members of Parliament to take immediate appropriate steps to abolish the provisions of death penalty from our statue books.

N.D.Pancholi
 President
 PUCL (Delhi unit)