Capital punishment forecloses the chance for reformation...

Capital punishment forecloses the chance for reformation and hence should be repealed as has been done by most civilised nations, former Indian Supreme Court Judge, K.T. Thomas, said. Delivering the second K.S. Rajamani memorial lecture on `Capital punishment and human rights', Thomas said civilised nations had scrapped the provision for capital punishment and that India too should follow suit. Capital punishment was justified only in those cases in which life imprisonment was inadequate, he said. The dominating factor of punishment should be reformation, the vengeful thirst for blood is primitive, he added. He pointed out that capital punishment had been abolished in the Indian State of Travancore in 1940 only to be reintroduced in 1950. Studies revealed that the number of murders had doubled in the period between 1950 and 1960, compared to the previous decade when the death penalty was not used as punishment in the State. Capital punishment cannot prevent people prone to committing murder, he concluded.