The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed January 21, 2026, for final hearing on a long-pending plea seeking to replace the practice of executing death row convicts by hanging with less painful alternatives such as lethal injection, shooting, electrocution, or gas chamber.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing the petition filed in 2017 by senior advocate Rishi Malhotra, who has sought the abolition of hanging as the mode of execution, arguing that it violates human dignity and causes undue suffering.
During the brief hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani requested the bench to list the matter in January next year. Responding humorously to the prolonged pendency of the case, Malhotra remarked, “This has been hanging like hanging.”
Venkataramani replied, “Nobody is going to be hanged now. There is no worry at all,” adding that he would verify the status of the government’s consideration to appoint a committee to examine the issue.
On October 15, the apex court had observed that “the problem is that the government is not ready to evolve,” after the Centre submitted that it may not be “very feasible” to offer condemned prisoners a choice of execution by lethal injection.
Malhotra had argued that convicts should at least be given an option between hanging and lethal injection. The Supreme Court had, in March 2023, suggested that it might consider forming an expert committee to examine whether hanging was a proportionate and least painful method, while seeking more data from the Centre.
However, the bench had made it clear that the Court could not direct Parliament to change the mode of execution prescribed under law.
In 2018, the Union Home Ministry had defended hanging as the sole mode of execution, calling it “quick, simple, and free from anything that would unnecessarily sharpen the poignancy of the prisoner.” The affidavit—filed in response to the PIL—also referred to the 187th Law Commission Report, which had recommended reconsideration of hanging as a mode of execution.
The Attorney General informed the bench that certain proceedings on the government’s side had taken place regarding the possible review of execution methods but was uncertain about the outcome. He assured the Court that he would follow up and report back.
The matter will now be taken up for detailed hearing on January 21, 2026.
