Supreme Court Rejects Plea To Replace Death By Hanging With 'Less Painful' Methods

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition seeking to replace death by hanging with other "less painful" alternatives such as lethal injection. The ruling was passed by a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. A Bench also declined to refer earlier judgments to a larger Bench.

"We are not persuaded that a case has been made out for referring the decision of the three-judge bench in Dina to a larger bench for reconsideration of the constitutional validity of Sections 354 of the CrPC/ 393(5) of the BNSS (provisions dealing with death penalty by hanging)," the apex Court said.

The bench, however, added that its judgment today is not the final word on the subject, and that the issue may be examined again in future if compelling scientific evidence is produced regarding alternative ways to carry out the death sentence, Bar and Bench reported.

The Bench said that the Central government is also free to examine the issue further in a scientific manner.

Petition describes hanging as cruel

Lawyer Rishi Malhotra, in his petition filed in 2017, described hanging as extremely painful, inhuman, and cruel and suggested alternatives such as lethal injection, shooting, electrocution or gas chamber, which can cause the death of the convict within a few minutes. The petition also stated that it takes around 40 minutes to declare death after hanging, while the process is completed in about 5 minutes through shooting or lethal injection.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, had earlier told the apex court that the government had constituted a committee to consider the issue.

During the hearing on October 15, 2025, the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure that the Central Government was not willing to change the practice.

"The problem is that the government is not willing to change," the bench orally remarked. It also said that this is a very old procedure and things have changed with time.