With a view to eliciting views from a cross section of civil society on the question of abolition of capital punishment, the Law Commission organised a consultation with lawyers, jurists, academics, political leaders, eminent citizens and journalists in New Delhi on July 11.
The consultation, inaugurated by former West Bengal Governor and eminent author and columnist Gopalkrishna Gandhi, brought together politicians of different hues on the same platform. Manish Tiwari of the Congress party and Ashish Khaitan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spoke about the arbitrariness and discrimination in the application of the death penalty.
Tiwari Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) explained her party’s position on the state of the criminal justice system and the possibility of error in adjudicating capital offences. Shashi Tharoor of the Congress and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) participated in the panel on the penological purposes of the death penalty and its alternatives. Varun Gandhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also said abolition of the death penalty was the way forward. Such consensus among political leaders belonging to different streams on the issue augurs well for the success of the campaign against capital punishment.
Although a few participants, like the senior Supreme Court advocate Dushyant Dave and noted academic Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon, supported retention of the death penalty, most participants suggested that the Commission recommend abolition of the death penalty through an amendment of law. When the Commission releases its report, it will become a valuable component in the national campaign against the death penalty and a useful instrument for those who wish to make a fresh attempt in the Supreme Court to challenge its constitutionality.
この記事は FRONTLINE の August 21, 2015 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は FRONTLINE の August 21, 2015 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.