How Justice Bhagwati’s 44-year-old dissent mirrors the state of death penalty in India

Source: Supreme Court Observer

There has been significant empirical work demonstrating the inefficacy of the death penalty. In its 75th year, the Court must engage with it. In 1980, a majority of four judges upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty in Bachan Singh v State of Punjab. The sole dissenter was Justice P.N. Bhagwati, who wrote only two paragraphs in his opinion, noting that he would provide the reasons for his view on the day the Court reopened after the summer break. The detailed dissent is a classic for the way it emphasised the inherent arbitrariness and inhumanity of the death penalty. To read more please go to the following link:

https://www.scobserver.in/75-years-of-sc/how-justice-bhagwatis-44-year-old-dissent-mirrors-the-state-of-death-penalty-in-india/