262th report of the Law Commission of India

262 th report of the Law Commission of India

Ques: Recently Indian Law Commission released its 262th report on The Death Penalty. Who is the chairperson of this commission? a. Justice D. K. Jain
b. Justice Ajit Prakash Shah
c. Justice Ashok Ganguli
d. Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra

Ans: b

Related facts:

  • On 1 August, 2015, Law Commission chairperson Justice A P Shah presented the Commission’s 262nd Report, titled ‘The Death Penalty’, to the law minister.
  • The Law Commission of India has recommended the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes except terrorism-related offences and waging war.
  • It is important that the recommendation on the death penalty has recommended differently from its earlier stance.
  • It is known that the 35th Report (“Capital Punishment”, 1967), notably, is a key report in this regard which recommended the retention of the death penalty in India.
  • The Supreme Court has also, in Bachan Singh v. UOI [AIR 1980 SC 898], upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, but confined its application to the ‘rarest of rare cases’, to reduce the arbitrariness of the penalty.

Reference:

http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report262.pdf
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/deterrence-is-a-myth-says-law-commission/article7600854.ece