Supreme Court Rejects Plea to Abolish Hanging as Method of Execution

18 Aug 2026, 16:53 by Himanshu · KalingaTV

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking to replace hanging with less painful methods like lethal injection for executing death sentences.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta rejected the plea that sought to do away with hanging as the mode of execution.

The petition had argued that as per current law, a person sentenced to death is hanged by the neck until death. It takes nearly 40 minutes for death to be declared. The petitioner contended that instead of prolonged suffering, methods like shooting, lethal injection, firing squad or electric chair should be adopted, which could cause death within 5 minutes.

Rejecting the plea, the court said the Centre is not barred from setting up an expert committee to examine alternative methods.

The Supreme Court observed that if any strong medical or scientific evidence emerges in the future, the matter can be reconsidered. The Centre, if it wishes, can constitute a committee of legal, forensic medicine and neuroscience experts to review alternatives to hanging or other methods of execution.

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Supreme Court Rejects Plea to Abolish Hanging as Method of Execution

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