Speaking at the UN Commission on Human Rights during...

Speaking at the UN Commission on Human Rights during the vote on the resolution on the death penalty, a representative of India said that the international community had thus far not reached a consensus on the issue of capital punishment. India agreed with some of the goals of the draft resolution relating to the need to resort to capital punishment only for the most serious crimes and through the due process of law in strict accordance with the international human rights standards. In India, the death penalty was imposed only in the rarest of rare cases, where the crime committed was so heinous so as to shock the conscience of society. It was therefore an exception rather than the rule. Death sentences in India must be confirmed by a superior court. The accused had the right to appeal to the High Court or the Supreme Court and to file a mercy petition before the Governor of the State concerned or the President of India.India abstained from the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68).