Dark green cover titled "Death Penalty Sentencing In India's Trial Courts (2018-2020)" with a dotted wavy line design. Logos include NLU Delhi and Project 39A at the bottom, evoking a serious and analytical tone.
AUTHORS
Hrishika Jain
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RESEARCH:
2018-2020
|
PUBLISHED
2022

Death Penalty Sentencing in India’s Trial Courts (2018-2020)

Death Penalty
Criminalisation & Punishment

Recognising the inconsistent manner in which capital sentencing takes place after studying a select sample of three states, the study looked at all death sentences across a three year period to facilitate evidence-based conversations about fairness and the constitutionality of capital sentencing in India.

Process

The study is a quantitative study to understand the duration of trials, conduct of sentencing hearings, procedural improprieties, bases of sentencing, outcomes and sentencing in case of sexual violence involving minors. 

  • 306 death sentences imposed by trial courts across 221 cases were analysed as part of the study. 
  • The data analysed for this study was first extracted from High Court websites, scraping news sources, and filing Right to Information applications. The data was then analysed to gain insight into the processes of the trial courts and the sentencing outcomes.

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