Supreme Court's 1980 Death Penalty Safeguards Reviewed After 40 Years

The Hindu · india

On the Day Against the Death Penalty, the Supreme Court's 1980 safeguards for capital punishment cases were reviewed. In Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, the court upheld the death penalty but established guidelines for judicial discretion. Life imprisonment is to be the norm, with death sentences reserved for "special reasons." Courts must weigh crime and accused circumstances, imposing death only when life imprisonment is "unquestionably foreclosed." These conditions aim to ensure careful consideration before the ultimate punishment is administered.