Open Access Research Article

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA: PENAL THEORY, HISTORICAL EVOLUTION AND JUDICIAL DOCTRINE

Author(s):
AKHIL SHARMA
Journal IJLRA
ISSN 2582-6433
Access Open Access
Volume 3
Issue 7

Abstract

Capital punishment remains one of the most contested instruments of the criminal law. This paper examines the death penalty in India by tracing its theoretical foundations, its historical development in England, America and India, the arguments advanced by retentionists and abolitionists, and the constitutional and judicial framework that governs it today. It argues that Indian law has moved from an unstructured, discretion-driven practice towards a regulated one, anchored in the “rarest of rare” doctrine, yet continues to suffer from arbitrariness, uncertain empirical justification and irreversible risk of error. The paper concludes that the death penalty should be treated as an exceptional measure, hedged by strict safeguards, with serious consideration given to life imprisonment as a more reformative and less error-prone alternative.

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Author Details

Authors: AKHIL SHARMARegistration ID: 1013414 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13414Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, IndiaPage No.: 1885-1898

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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis

  • AbbreviationIJLRA
  • ISSN2582-6433
  • AccessOpen Access
  • LicenseCC 4.0

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