New Paradigms of Death Sentencing in India: An Analysis of Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh

Authors

  • Mohit Pise MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAGPUR.

Keywords:

Capital punishment, murder, mitigating circumstances, rarest of rare

Abstract

Human life is significant and causing or leading to cause human life to cease to exist by another human being is one of the gravest offences in the world. In other words, a person who voluntarily causes the loss of life of another person commits an offence of ‘murder’ and the punishment which reserves for such offence since time immemorial is the ‘death penalty’ which is also commonly known as ‘Capital Punishment’. The Supreme Court of India broadened the scope of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution's protection of the right to life when it ruled that, “Right to Life may include any aspect of life which makes it dignified but not that which extinguishes it and, therefore, any act or activity inconsistent with the continued existence of life shall be Constitutionally void.” The Indian Penal Code, 1860 states in Section 302 that anybody found guilty of murder faces the death penalty or life in jail in addition to a fine.” However, the doctrine of ‘rarest of rare’ has been evolved by the Indian judiciary through its experience over the years, which makes capital punishment an exception and emphasizes balancing the aggravating circumstances equally with the mitigating circumstances of the offender for the commission of the offence. In other words, it focuses on ‘individualised, principled sentencing’ based both on the crime as well as the criminal. The present case of Manoj & Ors. v. the State of Madhya Pradesh is one such, wherein the Hon’ble Apex Court of India tried to strike the balance between the aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances by invoking the ‘rarest of rare’ doctrine and evolved some new practical guidelines to collect mitigating circumstances, keeping in view the contemporary relevance and status of the death penalty in India. This is an attempt by the author to critique this conclusion.

Published

2023-03-18

How to Cite

Pise, M. (2023). New Paradigms of Death Sentencing in India: An Analysis of Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh. National Journal of Criminal Law, 6(1), 27–38. Retrieved from https://lawjournals.celnet.in/index.php/njcl/article/view/1247