The Law Commission of India submitted its 262nd report on the issue of ‘Death Penalty’ in India. The commission, in its report, discussed issues ranging from death penalty being a deterrent, to changing International & National scenario to arbitrariness in the decision making & existence of bias as some of the reasons for recommending abolition of death penalty except in cases of terrorism related offences. The Law Commission of India finally submitted its much publicized report on the contentious issue of ‘Death Penalty’. In this report, it recommended abolition of Death Penalty except in cases of Terrorism related offences. The commission received a wide range of suggestions from various quarters including from the likes of the former President Dr. Abdul Kalam. The commission recommended that the death penalty be abolished for all crimes except for terrorism related offences and waging war. The commission came to this conclusion based on the following reasons Background The Law Commission of India received a reference from the Supreme Court in Santosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar v. Maharashtra and Shankar Kisanrao Khade v. Maharashtra to study the issue of the death penalty in India to “allow for an up-to-date and informed discussion and debate on the subject.” But, this is not the first time that the Commission has looked into the issue of death penalty. The 35th Report of the Law Commission looked into the issue of Capital Punishment in 1967. That Report recommended the retention of the death penalty in India. The Supreme Court has also upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, but confined its application to the ‘rarest of rare cases’, to reduce the arbitrariness of the penalty. The Law Commission of India however felt that the social, economic and cultural contexts of the country have changed drastically since the 35th report in 1967. Arbitrariness has remained a major concern in the adjudication of death penalty cases in the 35 years since the precedent was laid down by the Supreme Court in 1980. The Issues The Law Commission mentioned the following six factors that necessitated a fresh look at this issue since the 35 report of the commission already dealt with this issue. History of Death Penalty in India During the debates of the constituent assembly, the main architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B R Ambedkar was personally in favour of the abolition of death penalty. After Independence, India retained several laws put in place by the colonial government including the Code of Criminal Procedure (1898) and the Indian Penal Code, IPC (1860). The IPC prescribed six punishments that could be imposed including death. The Code of Criminal Procedure was again enacted in 1973 and many notable changes were made to the then existing colonial law including the one to Section 354(3), that now required reasons to be stated whenever death penalty is imposed in cases where imprisonment for life could have been imposed. The Supreme Court also looked into the issue of death penalty in various cases. Most notably, it adopted the ‘rarest of rare’ guideline in the Bachan Singh case of 1980. The court noted that reasons to impose or not impose the death penalty must include the circumstances of the crime and the criminal. On various occasions, the court also expressed concern over the delay in execution. Laws on Death Penalty in India Under the IPC, the death sentence may be imposed for twelve different offences including Murder, Rape etc. Apart from IPC, several other laws also prescribe the death penalty as a possible punishment. As per the commission’s report, there are about 22 such laws in the country including The Air Force Act, 1950, The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act,1967 etc. International Trends Much has changed since the 35 report of the Law Commission report in 1967. More countries have abolished the death penalty since then. Internationally, countries are classified on their death penalty status, based on the following categories (as per standards of the United Nations) At the end of 2014, 98 countries abolished death penalty for all crimes. 7 countries have abolished it for ordinary crimes and 35 countries have abolished it in practice or de facto (executions did not take place). 58 countries have retained the death penalty including India. Three of the 98 countries (Suriname, Madagascar and Fiji) formally abolished the death penalty in 2015. Though the number of countries that still retain the death penalty is in a minority, the list includes the most populous nations of the world like India, China, USA & Indonesia.