A private members Bill advocating to abolish capital punishment in the country evoked mixed views from members of the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Moving the Abolition of Capital Punishment Bill 2016 in the Upper House, Pradeep Tamta said, ”There is no place in modern society for the principle of ‘an eye for an eye’. There is a need to take a fresh look on capital punishment.”
While AAP member Sanjay Singh supported the idea of abolition of the capital punishment except in ‘rarest of rare’ cases, members of the BJP opposed the Bill and called for making the provision in this regard more stringent.
Speaking during a debate on the bill, H S Dungarpur of the BJP said, ”Support for capital punishment is increasing in India after many incidents of rape in the country, including the Nirbhaya rape case. I do not support the Bill.”
Chaya Verma of the Congress, supporting the Bill, said, ”The concept of capital punishment is a relic of the British era. Human life is attained after a long wait and no body has a right to take it away.”
Supporting the Bill, Bishambar Prasad Nishad of the Samajwadi party said,”Barring exceptions, death penalty should not be awarded in the country.”
DP Vats of the BJP , opposing the Bill, said that the existing provisions are for giving death penalty for the rarest of the cases.
”The ratio is low,” he said.
In fact, he advocated that the capital punishment should not only stand but also be enhanced.
