The four convicts who were found guilty of gang rape and murder in Delhi in 2012 are scheduled to be hanged together on Friday morning. This will mark the first time that four convicts will be executed simultaneously on the same platform in India. The last execution carried out in India was in 2015. Crimes punishable by death under Indian law include certain types of murder, rape, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and acts of terrorism. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that death penalty should only be given in the 'rarest of rare' cases.

1. The fourconvicts in the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case are set to be
hanged together at 5.30 am Friday, more than seven years after the
gruesome incident stunnedthe country and provoked street protests
demanding justice.
This is the first time that fourconvicts will be hanged together on the same
platform.
The last death sentence executed by the justice system in India was the 30
July 2015 hanging of terrorist Yakub Memon, who was convicted in the
1993 Mumbai blasts.
Of the six men convicted in the Delhi gang rape and murder case, Ram
Singh allegedly committed suicide on 11 March 2013 in Tihar jail. Another
convict, a minor at the time the crime was committed, was released after
three years at a reform home.
The remaining four — Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and
Akshay Kumar Singh — are scheduledto be hanged in Tihar jail Friday.
Death penalty in India
Hanging and shooting are the two methods of death penalty in India.
According to the Criminal Procedure Code, hanging is the method of
execution in the civilian court system. The Army Act, 1950, however, lists
both hanging and shooting as official methods of execution in the military
court-martial system.
According to a study by National Law University in Delhi, 755 people have
been hanged in independent India until now.
Prior to the hanging of Memon in 2015, MuhammadAfzal — who was
convicted of plotting the 2001 attack on Parliament — was hanged on 8
February 2013.
MohammadAjmal Amir Qasab — convicted in the 2008 Mumbai terror
attack — was hanged on 21 November2012, and Dhananjoy Chatterjee —
charged and convicted with the murder and rape of a 14-year-old girl — was
hanged in 2004.

2. Among the most talked about death sentences before this was that of Auto
Shankar, aka Gowri Shankar, a serial killer hanged in 1995.
Data for death penalties in India varies from one source to another.
According to a 1967 law commission report, at least 1,400 prisoners were
executed in just 10 years, between 1954 and 1963. After Dhananjoy
Chatterjee’s death sentence, however, there were reports citing government
data that he was only the 55th person to be hanged since 1947.
A 2016 study conducted by the National Law University (NLU) in Delhi put
this numberat 755.
The discrepancy in the figures arises mainly due to lack of official figures
and very little data available in public domain on the death sentences
carried out in India.
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Crimes punishable by death
Crimes punishable by death in India include aggravated murder, other
offences resulting in death, terrorism-related crimes resulting in death,
terrorism-related cases not resulting in death, rape not resulting in death,
kidnapping not resulting in death, drug trafficking not resulting in death,
treason, espionage and military offenses not resulting in death.
The judgments in the Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab play a crucial role in
deciding whether any crime deserves death penalty or not.
For example, under the Indian Arms Act, 1959, using, carrying,
manufacturing, selling, transferring, or testing prohibited arms or
ammunition had a mandatory death sentence in case of casualty.
But a Supreme Court order in February 2012 had ruled this provision
“unconstitutional in light of the judgments in Bachan Singh v. State of
Punjab and Mithu v. State of Punjab”.

3. This suggests that offences resulting in death are punishable by death only
when they meet the “rarest of rare” standard laid out in the Bachan Singh
case.
Following the 2012 gang rape and murder, the Supreme Court amended the
law in April 2013 to make it more stringent by adding new categories of
offences regarding violence against women and minor girls.
“Such legislation has come to India for the first time and the Parliament has
given its approval,” then home minister SushilkumarShinde had said.
Is death penalty constitutional?
The Mithu vs State of Punjab judgment states that death penalty is not a
mandatory punishment forthe above listed crimes. The Supreme Court had
also ruled that mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional.
Section 416 of the CrPC says if a woman sentencedto death is foundto be
pregnant, the high court shall order the execution of the sentence to be
postponed and may, if it thinks fit, commute the sentence to imprisonment
for life.
The Supreme Court has also held that mental illness is a “mitigating factor”
sparing those with such disorders from the gallows.
Also read: 16 December convict moves Delhi court, seeks FIR against
police for alleged prison assault
Mercy petition process
For a convict to file a mercy petition, his/her death sentence must be
confirmed by a high court first.
The law says: “The death sentence convict has an option to appeal to the
Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court either refuses to hear the appeal or
upholds the death sentence, then the convict or his relatives can submit a

4. mercy petition to the President of India (Articles 72) or the Governor of the
State (161).”
Grounds to seek mercy appeal range from physical fitness, age, law was too
harsh, or the convict is the sole breadwinner of the family.
According to Article 72 of the Constitution, the power to pardon —
philosophy of which is “every civilised country recognises and provides for
the pardoning power as an act of grace and humanity in course of law” —
lies with the President.
The Article also states that he/she can grant pardons, reprieves, respites or
remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the convict.
The mercy petition is reviewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which
consults the state involved, before going to the President.
While former President Pranab Mukherjee hadrejected 24 mercy pleas, his
predecessor, Pratibha Patil, granted a record 30 pardons, some of which
were cases of brutal crimes.
President Ram Nath Kovind, who came to power in July 2017, has rejected
at least two mercy petitions — that of Jagat Rai, who burnt alive seven
people, five of them children, and the most recent being 2012 gang-rape
convict Akshay.
The powers of the governor of state are very similar to that of the President.
According to Article 161, the governorcan “grant pardons, reprieves,
respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the
sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to
a matter to which the executive power of the state extends”.
This report has been updated to accurately reflect that Dhananjoy
Chatterjee (2004) was not the first convict to be hanged after Auto
Shankar (1995). According to NLU Delhi’s Project 39A, there have been a
few more hangings between 1995 and 2004.