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Death Penalty For Sex Offences

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NAME OF PARTICIPANT: Garima Parakh
NAME OF INSTITUTION: Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow
YEAR OF STUDY AND BATCH: IInd year, Batch of 2018
CONTACT INFORMATION:
E-mail id – garima.bossini@gmail.com
Phone number – 8953529743

Unique Submission No. RRSA/RNSNLEC14/000130

DEATH PENALTY FOR SEX OFFENCES: TOWARDS A BALANCED APPROACH

ABSTRACT
The recent spate of violent sexual crimes that rocked the country is a subject of passionate discussion. It has resulted in a nation-wide demand for the execution of sex offenders as they believe that such heinous crimes deserve nothing less than the maximum penalty. However, that would amount to equating the crime with murder which can lead to further unpleasant consequences. …show more content…

The unending conundrum between the retentionists and the abolitionists has no resolution as the subject involves subjective moral considerations which differ from society to society. India has adopted a novel mid-path where the judiciary has considerably restricted the scope of death penalty without expressly declaring it unconstitutional. This balanced model, however much criticized, is working reasonably well in the current scenario. INTRODUCTION
Right to life is the most basic requirement for human existence and means much more than mere animal existence. It includes the right to liberty as well, since without possessing the liberty to do what one must in order to realize one’s full potential, the grant of right to life would only be an empty promise. But, however fundamental a right may be, it does have certain exceptions. For instance, the right to life can be taken away by the State “through due procedure established by law ”. The death penalty awarded by the courts for certain grave offences is a facet of this exception. But that would mean saying that capital punishment is an exception to the right to life doctrine which is contrary to what the Indian courts have laid down on the subject while justifying the award of death penalty. However, the Indian courts have established the principle of ‘rarest of the rare ’ to restrict the meting out of capital

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