The Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted the death penalty of a convict accused of killing three people, including two women, and questioned if the punishment had proved to be deterrent enough for heinous crimes in society, PTI reported. In a 2:1 majority judgement, however, the bench upheld the constitutional validity of the death penalty.

Death penalty in India

• In India, punishment for death is given for some serious crimes. The Supreme Court of India has given death sentence in 5 incidents after Whereas its total number is 26 since 1991.
• In the case of Mithu v. State of Punjab, the Supreme Court has considered illegal penalties for any person who is serving life imprisonment for life imprisonment under section 303 of the Indian Penal Code, as unlawful.
• In India, the number of people convicted of death after independence in 1947 is disputed; According to official government statistics, only 52 people have been sentenced to death after independence.
• According to a research from National Law University, Delhi, a total of 1617 prisoners have been sentenced to death by the lower courts in India since According to National Law University Delhi, since year 1947, 755 people have been given death penalty in India.
• In December 2007, India voted against United Nations General Assembly resolution to stop the death penalty.