Need to rethink death penalty – SushilKumar Shinde

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the government needs to “rethink” its policy on capital punishment. Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme organised by Loksatta, the Marathi newspaper of The Indian Express Group, Shinde said: “We need to rethink. We (the government and Rashtrapati Bhavan) received a representation from 13-14 eminent Indian persons demanding a ban on death penalty. There should not be cruelty. They said these convicts (should) be made to serve in jail and need not be released on parole.” Shinde’s statement comes just days after 26/11 terror attack convict Ajmal Amir Kasab was hanged. The Home Minister, however, added that in Kasab’s case, the question of “cruelty” did not arise as he was part of the team that killed 166 people in Mumbai.