The World Psychiatric Association in the General Assembly of its 23rd World Congress in Vienna on 30 September 2023 approved a Position Statement recommending that the death penalty should not be.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita introduced last month make some major changes to the provision regarding mercy petition. Som of these, however, go against what the SC has said in the past.
Article 72 of the Constitution empowers the president to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of anyone convicted of any offence.
Under the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill (BNSS), a death-row convict whose mercy petition has been rejected by the president will not have the right to appeal the decision in court. The Bill states that the president s decision under Article 72 of the Constitution will be final and cannot be challenged in court.