Domain experts who appeared before the parliamentary committee examining the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill (BNS) have made a strong pitch for the abolition of death penalty, citing global trends, research discounting its deterrent effect, and a number of Supreme Court judgements distancing from the death sentence. The experts highlighted the potential for errors in the judicial system and the need to prevent an innocent person from being wrongly sentenced to death.
As many as 19 domain experts, including senior advocates of the Supreme Court and high courts, vice-chancellors and professors of law universities, retired judges, Law Commission of India chairman, retired DGPs, former law officers of the government, and the head of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), were invited by the standing committee on home affairs to present their views on the BNS. During the panel meetings, it was pointed out that BNS had expanded the number of crimes attracting the death penalty to 15 from 11.

The experts referred to the increasing number of countries abolishing the death penalty and highlighted research by social scientists, which found no deterrent effect of capital punishment on heinous crimes. They also mentioned Supreme Court judgements setting aside or commuting death penalties awarded by lower courts. The experts suggested the need to clarify the role of sessions courts and high courts in cases where there is evidence but inadequate defense planning, and to consider provisions for mistrial on account of media trials.

Despite the overwhelming sentiment against the death penalty among the experts, the parliamentary panel’s draft report left the decision to the government. The panel acknowledged the concerns about potential errors in the judicial system and the desire to prevent wrongful convictions.