- INTRODUCTION
“The gallows is not a machine of death but a symbol, symbol of terror, cruelty and irreverence for
life; a common denominator of primitive savagery, medieval fanaticism and modern totalitarianism.
Its stands for everything that mankind must resist, if mankind is to survive its present crisis.”2
Prolong palaver of the death penaltyand various issues attached to it have been a topic of
heated debate across the world from time to time. With myriad intricacies and aspects such as very
constitutionality of death penalty and its various methods, the viability, ethical basis, retention or
abolition, various human rights issues, the crucial phenomenon of ‘death row’ etc. the death penalty
has become a crucial enigma in various legal systems. However, the core aspect lyingbeneath whole
debate is the very process of sentencing of capital punishment. The precedents by the Hon’ble
Supreme Court of India have guided the judicial process and the case to case basis approach by the
inception of ‘rarest of rare’ doctrine under Bachan Singh’s3 verdict. This doctrine can be said to be
a benchmark of sentencing capital punishment. Therefore, in order to understand the judicial ethos
of capital punishment a cross section into the very judicial process itself becomes highly warranted.
JUDICIAL TRENDS OF SENTENCING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA :A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS
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