In the name of proportional punishment, the death penalty essentially overlooks errors and arbitrariness in the process and its unfairness in targeting the poor. Analyse. (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
Most of the civilised world has abolished the death penalty. India certainly does not need it as it serves no purpose. No study has shown that the death penalty deters murder more than life imprisonment.
Errors and arbitrariness in death penalty
· The Supreme Court has repeatedly admitted that it has arbitrarily imposed this most extreme punishment. It depends overwhelmingly on the adjudicator’s personal beliefs.
· The death penalty is error-ridden. Between January 1, 2000 and June 31, 2015, the Supreme Court imposed 60 death sentences. It subsequently admitted that it had erred in 15 of them (25%).
· The death penalty unfairly targets the poor and marginalised. Persons with money have access to lawyers and remain untouched.
· Abolishing the death penalty will ease, not enhance, the tax-payer’s burden. The annual cost of maintaining a prisoner is about Rs 30,000.
Retention of Death penalty
· Creation of fear in the minds of perpetrators before committing a crime.
· Death penalty applied only in rarest of the rare cases.
· The state acknowledges that the sacredness of life can only be seen to be protected if those who take it away are proportionately punished.
· In 2015, the Law Commission called for abolition of the death penalty for ordinary crimes not for all crimes.
Conclusion is based on the interpretation of the candidates.
Tapasvi 6 years
Kindly review
IAS Parliament 6 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
