Death penalty for heinous crimes not inhuman: Supreme Court

In the light of the debate over death penalty triggered by the execution of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, the Supreme Court has said that a death sentence in case of heinous crimes is not inhuman and barbaric and will not violate right to life and liberty.

A three-bench judge made this observation while hearing an appeal from a murder case convict who was awarded the death sentence. The convict Vikram Singh had challenged the death penalty arguing that capital punishment is applicable only for terrorists, reports NDTV. 

But the judges, Justices TS Thakur, RK Agrawal and AK Goel said, "A sentence of death in a case of murder may be rare, but if the courts have found it is the only sentence that can be awarded, it is difficult to revisit that question..." 

The SC also said that sentencing should be proportionate to crime committed. "Death penalty in a case of kidnapping or abduction will not qualify to be described as barbaric or inhuman so as to infringe the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution," the judges said.

Death penalty is awarded in rarest of rare cases. High profile cases of capital punishment includes 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab and 2001 Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru. The recent execution of Afzal Memon set off a debate on death penalty.

Singh was arrested for abducting and murdering a school student, Abhi Verma in 2005 and was awarded death sentence by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. which was confirmed by the apex court. He was awarded death penalty for kidnapping for ransom (Section 364A) and he had challenged the death sentence under this section. 

With inputs from agencies