Chief Justice of India may have sentenced convicts to death many a time. But, personally he is against sending a person to the gallows.
NEW DELHI: In an illustrious career spanning over 40 years, Chief Justice of India (CJI) YK Sabharwal may have sentenced convicts to death many a time. But, personally he says he is against sending a person to the gallows.
“The debate about death penalty is going on the world over. In Europe, there is no death penalty but it is there in America. The President is against it. I am personally against it,” he said, in a tete-a-tete with reporters on Saturday.
A day after confirming the death penalty for Mohd Afzal, the outgoing CJI said personal opinion of judges against capital punishment has no meaning and courts will have to give it as long as it existed in the statute.
He sought to dispel notions that the death sentence is awarded according to the personal preference of the judge hearing the case. “The decision to abolish death penalty rests with the government and as long as it will remain in the statute and if a case comes under the category of ‘rarest of rare’, the court has no option but to award capital punishment,” he said.
The CJI, who laid down his robes after 21 years of adjudication, also spoke on a wide range of topics, including his cases, the role of the law enforcing bodies, witness protection programmes and the current stand-off between the legislature and the judiciary.
Denying that there was any friction between the legislature and judiciary, Sabharwal said there cannot be a “cosy relationship” between the two wings in the interest of democracy. “There should not be a cozy relation between the two. That will be dangerous,” he said.
He also expressed concern over witnesses turning hostile and the delay in justice delivery system, and favoured strengthening it with time bound trials.
With inputs from Agencies
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