Despite more and more countries abolishing death penalty, the Supreme Court today justified the punishment for a person convicted in terror activities and heinous crimes like bride burning, brutal murder and killing innocent people.
"If the murder is committed in an extremely brutal or dastardly manner, which gives rise to intense and extreme indignation in the community, the court may be fully justified in awarding the death penalty.
"If the murder is committed by burning the bride for the sake of money or satisfaction of other kinds of greed, there will be ample justification for awarding the death penalty. If the enormity of the crime is such that a large number of innocent people are killed without rhyme or reason, then too, award of extreme penalty of death will be justified," the court said.
The bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, however, noted that the governments of about 140 countries have abolished the death penalty with a thought that "Human life is perhaps the most precious gift of the nature, which many describe as the Almighty. This is the reason why it is argued that if you cannot give life, you do not have the right to take it" and that capital punishment should not be imposed irrespective of the nature and magnitude of the crime.
It said others think that the death penalty should not be abolished as it acts as a strong deterrent against heinous crimes and there is nothing wrong in legislative prescription of the same as one of the punishments.
The observations came in the judgement that rejected the plea of Khalistani terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar for commutation of his death penalty into life imprisonment on ground of delay in deciding his mercy plea.
