VICTIM JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL MORALITY: REASSESSING THE LEGITIMACY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA

Oviya Ravichandran Rajeswari

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.78996

VICTIM JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL MORALITY: REASSESSING THE LEGITIMACY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA

Author(s)	Ms. Oviya Ravichandran Rajeswari
Country	India
Abstract	Capital punishment remains one of the most contested forms of punishment in India, situated at the intersection of criminal justice, constitutional law, and human rights. While the death penalty is often defended as a necessary response to heinous crimes and as a means of delivering justice to victims and their families, its continued legitimacy has increasingly come under scrutiny. This paper examines the tension between victim justice and constitutional morality in assessing the constitutional validity and normative desirability of capital punishment in India. Victim justice, in this context, refers to the expectation that the legal system should acknowledge and respond meaningfully to the suffering of victims through proportionate punishment, participation, and recognition. Constitutional morality, by contrast, requires that all exercises of state power conform to the foundational values of the Constitution of India, including dignity, equality, fairness, and the right to life under Article 21. The study adopts a doctrinal and analytical methodology, relying on constitutional provisions, statutory law, landmark judgments of the Supreme Court of India, reports of the Law Commission of India, and comparative international developments. It critically evaluates the theoretical justifications for capital punishment, including retribution and deterrence, and analyzes the judicial evolution of the “rarest of rare” doctrine established in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab . The paper argues that although the suffering of victims warrants substantial recognition and support, the irreversible and inconsistently imposed nature of the death penalty renders its constitutional legitimacy increasingly difficult to sustain. It concludes that a constitutional democracy committed to dignity and due process should prioritize victim-centered restorative measures and consider a gradual movement toward abolition.
Keywords	Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Victim Justice, Constitutional Morality, Human Dignity, Right to Life ,Rarest of Rare Doctrine ,Victimology, Restorative Justice, Supreme Court of India
Field	Sociology > Administration / Law / Management
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-05-19
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.78996

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VICTIM JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL MORALITY: REASSESSING THE LEGITIMACY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA

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