Mandatory death penalty unconstitutional – Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory death penalty for an offender under the Arms Act was unconstitutional as it violated fundamental rights guaranteed to a citizen.A bench of Justices Asok Kumar Ganguly (since retd) and J S Khehar said Section 27(3) of the Arms Act, which imposed mandatory death penalty, was also “ultra vires and void” as it restricts the powers of the court in awarding sentences to an accused in such cases. “A law which is not consistent with notions of fairness while it imposes an irreversible penalty like death penalty is repugnant to the concept of...