A Study of Legal Framework and Capital Punishment in India

Over the last decade, India has witnessed a fluctuating but consistently high number of death sentences awarded by session courts, reflecting ongoing tensions between retributive justice and judicial restraint. Between 2016 and 2023, trial courts imposed capital punishment in significant numbers: 153 in 2016, 110 in 2017, 163 in 2018, 104 in 2019, 78 in 2020, 146 in 2021, peaking at 167 in 2022, and dropping slightly to 120 in 2023. Despite this high frequency at the trial level, higher judiciary particularly the Supreme Court has shown increasing reluctance to confirm such sentences. The appellate courts have emphasized the “rarest of rare” doctrine, reinforcing the need for individualized sentencing and consideration of mitigating factors. This reflects India’s cautious, evolving approach to capital punishment, grounded in constitutional morality, procedural fairness, and human rights jurisprudence. This paper aims to study the legal framework having punishment of death sentences and also the crimes for which death penalty awarded in India.