POSITION OF DEATH SENTENCE OF WOMEN IN INDIA

 

POSITION OF DEATH SENTENCE OF WOMEN IN INDIA

WRITTEN BY: JANNAT CHUCHRA

2nd Year BA LLB(HONS)

THE UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND ENERGY STUDIES, DEHRADUN.

 

EDITED BY: VAISHNAVI PARATE

3rd Year LLB

 SHRI NATHMAL GOENKA LAW COLLEGE, AKOLA

 

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the year there are many crimes that occur in our society, and certain punishments are awarded in response to it. That can be life imprisonment, fine, forfeiture of property, and also DEATH PENALTY. However, sentencing someone death penalty, which means not giving that person chance to reform and take away his/her life, happens in rare scenarios. As it was laid down by the Supreme Court of our nation, the exception between the death penalty and life imprisonment (LI) would be the death penalty whereas LI would be regarded as a rule. Currently, there are many countries across the globe sentencing, someone, the death sentence is not an option such as Germany, Norway, Poland, Iceland, Austria, and Australia. But in certain developed nations like the USA and Japan still, the death sentence can be given. Also, in the case of India, a person can be sentenced to death irrespective of his/her gender is, but, only in exceptional or rare cases. As our constitution states Right to equality under Art. 14, one has to keep in mind that between criminals there cannot be discrimination done on a gender basis. To date, women have also been subjected to death sentences in grievous cases.

DEATH PENALTY AND ITS LEGALITY

A convict can be sentenced to several punishments as stated in Section 53 of IPC, 1860 but the severity of them all is the death penalty which is also known as capital punishment. So, As a matter of fact, it is legal in India to sentence a criminal to death. In December 2007, India protested the UN General Assembly's resolve to ban the death sentence. India voted against the draft resolution to outlaw the death sentence in the UN General Assembly in November 2012, reaffirming its position on the practice. According to the Indian Penal Code, certain crimes such as murder (S. 302), dacoity with murder (S. 396), criminal conspiracy (S.120B), Rape (S. 375), and waging war against the Government of India or attempting to do so may result in a death sentence.

 

IMPORTANT JUDGEMENTS FRAMING DEATH PENALTY IN INDIA

The Supreme Court outlined the two issues that must be resolved before imposing the death penalty in specific cases.

First off, is the crime committed so unusual that no other penalty can be given?

Second, do the circumstances still call for the death penalty even when the mitigating factors are given weight?

In Different cases, the supreme court has stated important concepts related to capital punishment or the death penalty in India:

In Jagmohan Singh’s case of 1973[1], the Supreme Court determined that, in terms of Article 21, the taking of a person's life is constitutionally lawful if done by the procedure established by law as it has been stated expressly in Article 21 itself. In one of the landmark cases of Bachan Singh (1979), it was ruled by the apex court of India that capital punishment should only be sentenced in the rarest of rare cases and after that, this doctrine has been further upheld by the court in other cases too. In Another landmark case of Machhi Singh[2] (1983), The Supreme Court specified specific criteria to decide whether a case qualifies as the rarest of the rare or not. While giving judgement about honour killing Apex Court has also stated that in 'Rarest of the rare case doctrine', prescribed capital punishment must be stretched out to those seen as at fault for committing "honor killings". The Supreme Court likewise prescribed capital punishments be levied on police authorities who commit police ruthlessness in the form of encounter killings.

The Apex Court ruled in Mannan v. State of Bihar[3] (2019) that the severity, gore, or heinousness of the crime are not the only factors to consider. The court must evaluate the criminal's character, mental state, social background, and other factors in addition to the crime because imprisonment for life is the rule rather than the death penalty. In Mofil Khan v. State of Jharkhand[4] (2021), the SC ruled that the State is required to provide proof that the accused cannot be changed and rehabilitated. 

 

FIRST WOMEN EXECUTED IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

To date, there haven’t been many cases in which women have been sentenced to death, but by committing one of the heinous crimes Rattan Bai Jain became the first woman ever to be sentenced to death after India gained its independence; she was hung at Tihar Jail on January 3, 1955. In 1955, Rattan Bai Jain was hanged for poisoning and killing three girls. She was the manager of a sterility clinic, and she had killed the girls who worked there because she thought they were having relationships with her husband.

 

RATAN KIRAN SHINDE V. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS

Both the Sessions Court and the High Court sentenced Seema Gavit and Renuka Shinde to death. They were convicted guilty of kidnapping and murdering 9 out of the 13 children they took, by S. 302 r.w S. 120 B of the IPC, 1860. In 2014, former President Pranab Mukherjee likewise rejected their plea for mercy.   The Bombay High Court modified and commuted the half-sisters' death sentence to imprisonment for life on January 18, 2022.[5]

 

SHABNAM V. STATE OF U.P.
In Uttar Pradesh, Shabnam Ali is on death row. There aren’t many executions room for women made in India but The Mathura jail has one and it is where Shabnam is scheduled to be hanged. Salim's relationship with Shabnam was not approved by her family. Therefore, Shabnam and Salim were found to have killed Shabnam's family members on April 14, 2008.[6]

 

CAN PREGNANT WOMEN GET DEATH SENTENCES?

This question answer has been provided in, Section 416[7] of CrPC, 1973, which states that if a woman who has been given a death sentence is discovered to be pregnant, the High Court must order a stay of execution and may, if necessary, commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.

REMEDIES AVAILABLE FOR DEATH SENTENCE

If a person has been convicted of the death penalty there are some alternatives that the convicted person can avail.

·       The Session Court's ruling must then be affirmed by a high court before the death penalty could be carried out.

·       After the High Court has confirmed the death sentence, a Special Leave Petition governed by Article 136 of the Constitution may be filed to the Apex Court.

·       If the conviction was upheld by the SC, a review petition may be submitted. The next option available to convicts is the curative petition. The Supreme Court may approve a curative petition to revisit its decision if it is proven that natural justice standards were broken or there is suspicion of bias in the position of a judge.

·       There are provisions made in the Constitution for the mercy petition, which a convict can seek from the President as well as from the Governor of the state.

 

CONCLUSION

We can hereby conclude that it’s the convict that is getting a sentence of the death penalty for the offence committed by him/her irrespective of gender. The focus of granting the death penalty is to give the right and appropriate justice to the victim, in cases where any other punishment wouldn’t have sufficed the ambit of punishment that should have been given to the criminal in rare cases, also in the wider sense is to make our society more orderly and ensure safety and Welfare of our citizens. In cases of the death penalty, the focus now is on reformation more than deterrence because it has been strictly upheld that it can only be given in rare cases and this amply aligns with the Death penalty being an exception and Life imprisonment however being Rule.

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[1] Jagmohan Singh v. State of UP, (1973) 1 SCC 20.

[2] Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, (1983) 3 SCC 470.

[3] Mohd. Mannan v. State of Bihar, (2019) 16 SCC 584.

[4] Mofil Khan v. State of Jharkhand, (2015) 1 SCC 67.

[5] Renuka v. Union of India, 2022 SCC OnLine Bom 111.

[6] Shabnam v. State of U.P., (2015) 6 SCC 632.

[7] The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, § 416, No. 2, Acts of Parliament, 1973 (India).