Court seeks govt's stand on hanging by the neck

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to explain, within a deadline of three weeks, why hanging by the neck should not be done away with as a mode of execution. The court is hearing a petition seeking a more dignified capital punishment than the one currently used in the country.

The petition says that an individual's right to life includes the right to die with dignity. It seeks replacement of hanging by lethal injection or shooting. Internationally, there has been an increase in the number of countries where hanging to death has been done away with or replaced with different modes of execution.

The court indicated it might review its decision of 1984 upholding hanging. Under section 354(5) of the CrpC, the only mode prescribed for execution of a death sentence is hanging by the neck till death.