Death Penalty

India has retained the death penalty on the ground that it will be awarded only in the 'rarest of rare cases' and 'for special reasons'. In fact, India is one of 78 retentionist countries and has even retained the death penalty for political offences. The Supreme Court also has refused to lay down a clear distinction of what constitutes 'rarest of rare cases' and left it to the discretion of judges hearing the case, knowing that this would lead to a differing set of results. But as this article argues, the death penalty needs to be opposed on just not moral grounds but also because of the political economy of crime and punishment.