Abolishing The Death Penalty
- BY GOPALKRISHNA GANDHI
- RELEASE YEAR: 2016
- PUBLISHER: ALEPH BOOK CO.
The Author is a former administrator and a diplomat. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at Ashoka University.
“Murder extinguishes life; the death penalty annuls the right to stay alive”
The book deals with the distressing subject of where a State stands when it declares the time of one’s death as a punishment.
The book demarcates that in India the “rarest of rare” (established in Bacchan Singh v. State of Punjab) crime deals out the death penalty and that a lot of focus is laid on these cases. The entire process of how the death penalty is carried out and who all, including the President and the government, are involved is clearly explained. The author also tried to understand the response mechanism of those who are victims or are related to the victim.
Examining capital punishment around the world from the time of Socrates onwards, the author delves into how the penalty was applied in India during the times of Ashoka, Sikandar Lodi, the Peshwas and the British Raj, and how it works today. Of the 195 countries in the world, 140 are abolitionist and no longer have the death penalty in law or in practice.
