Law Commission to recommend death penalty only for terror convicts

The Law Commission of India will soon recommend abolition of death penalty in the country, said a report on Friday.

Law Commission to recommend death penalty only for terror convicts
Representational image / Pic courtesy: Thinkstock

New Delhi: The Law Commission of India will soon recommend abolition of death penalty in the country, said a report on Friday.

The Law Commission has prepared a 272-page draft report that has been circulated among its members and will likely be submitted to the government next week.

As per The Indian Express, the report recommends speedy abolition of the death penalty.

It, however, makes exception for those convicted of involvement in terror cases.

India is among 60-odd countries in the world where courts still award capital punishment.

Just recently, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon was hanged till death on July 30.

As per the daily, the draft report expresses hope that the “movement towards absolute abolition will be swift and irreversible”.

In its draft report, the Commission observed that “the death penalty has no demonstrated utility in deterring crime or incapacitating offenders, any more than its alternative — imprisonment for life. The quest for retribution as a penal justification cannot descend into cries for vengeance.”

In its 35th report submitted way back in 1962, the Law Commission had recommended retention of death penalty.

The Supreme Court had last year asked the Commission to study the issue of death penalty.

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