INDIA: NO PLAN TO REVIEW LAWS ON DEATH SENTENCE - CHIDAMBARAM

May 9, 2012: There were no plans to review laws on death sentence in India, Home Minister P. Chidambaram clarified and said the present government had disposed of a large number of mercy petitions.
Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram said there were different views pertaining to capital punishment, but none of the commissions were in favour of abolishing the death sentence.
"There are two views on death sentence, some countries have totally abolished it, some countries have kept it for certain cases... In India, death sentence is awarded in rarest of rare cases," Chidambaram said.
"None of the reports have favoured abolition of death sentence," he said, adding that the government was presently not taking any view on whether or not the time had come to reconsider abolishing death sentence.
The minister also added that there are windows for those awarded death sentence through the mercy petition, which either the state governor or the president can consider.
"In the last three-and-a-half years we have disposed of 16 mercy petitions," Chidambaram said, adding that the procedure was faster than before. (Sources: IANS, 09/05/2012)