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Indian Supreme Court rejects plea to replace death by hanging
The bench, however, has clarified that the dismissal of this does not mean that this subject cannot be brought forth in the future
- PUBLISHED: Tue 18 Aug 2026, 5:18 PM
India's Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to issue any judicial mandate to replace hanging with another 'less painful or humane' way of execution.
Indian news agency PTI has said that the court further observed that nothing in its judgment prevented the Union government from reviewing the existing method.
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A bench of justices held that there were no grounds to reconsider the Supreme Court’s 1983 Constitution Bench judgement upholding hanging as a constitutionally valid method of executing a death sentence.
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The bench, however, has clarified that the dismissal of this does not mean that this subject cannot be brought forth in the future.
It also observed that this judgement will not prevent the Union government from taking another look at this method of execution or considering an alternative method that could reduce unnecessary of the prisoners and preserve their dignity.
How this judgement came about
According to Indian media reports, the judgment followed a petition filed by senior advocate Rishi Malhotra, appearing in person, challenging the constitutionality of execution by hanging under Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, now corresponding to Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The provision requires a death sentence to be carried out by hanging.
Malhotra argued that hanging was an archaic and painful method of execution that violated the right to life with dignity guaranteed under Article 21. He urged the court to either strike down or read down the provision and replace hanging with a more humane method, including by giving condemned prisoners a choice in how they are executed.
The issue has been pending before the Supreme Court since 2017. During the proceedings, the Union government informed the court that alternative methods of execution were being examined at the highest level by a committee constituted for the purpose.
During a hearing in January, the bench had questioned whether determining a less painful method of execution fell within the constitutional court’s domain, and whether the judiciary could direct the executive to change a method of execution prescribed by law.
The Union earlier said that hanging was the “safest and quickest” method of execution and had denied the lethal injections as alternative, bringing to light instances where executions could not be completely carried out in the US.
