Hanging Stays as Mode of Execution; SC Rejects Plea Seeking Alternative to Hanging, Leaves Door Open for Future Review

August 18, 2026

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging hanging as the method of executing death-row convicts, allowing the existing mode of execution to continue while leaving the door open for a possible future review based on developments in science and medicine.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta rejected the plea seeking an alternative and more humane method of carrying out death sentences. The petition had challenged hanging on the grounds that it could cause pain and undermine the dignity of death-row prisoners.

The court, however, clarified that dismissal of the petition should not be understood as permanently closing the issue. It said future constitutional scrutiny could take place if compelling scientific, medical or empirical evidence emerges showing that the basis of the earlier judicial decision has been materially changed.

SC keeps hanging as existing execution method

The Supreme Court’s ruling means that hanging will continue to be the prescribed method of executing death sentences in India for now.

The challenge was based on concerns over the pain and suffering associated with hanging. The petitioner had sought consideration of alternatives, including lethal injection and other methods of execution, arguing that the procedure should minimise suffering and preserve the dignity of condemned prisoners.

The court did not direct the government to replace hanging with any alternative method.

The issue concerns how a death sentence is carried out, rather than whether the death penalty itself is constitutionally valid. The Supreme Court has previously upheld the constitutional validity of the death penalty, which remains applicable in the “rarest of rare” cases.

Centre can examine alternative methods

While dismissing the plea, the court left the Central government free to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing method of execution and examine whether an alternative could better minimise suffering.

The court’s observations also leave scope for the issue to return for judicial consideration if new scientific, medical or empirical evidence establishes that another method is demonstrably less painful or more consistent with the dignity of death-row prisoners.

The petition was filed by senior advocate Rishi Malhotra, who had sought removal of hanging as the statutory mode of execution and argued for alternatives such as intravenous lethal injection. The matter had been pending before the Supreme Court since 2017.

For now, however, there is no change in India’s existing method of executing death sentences.