Ethics · 21 Aug 2026
With reference to the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the constitutional validity of execution by hanging, which one of the following statements is NOT correct?
The Supreme Court dismissed a PIL arguing hanging is scientifically unreliable and undignified under Article 21, holding that the petitioners' evidence did not displace the 1983 Deena precedent, while leaving room for future challenges.
This tests precise recall of what two landmark cases (Deena and Gian Kaur) actually held - a classic UPSC trap is inverting a precedent's holding, which candidates must catch through careful reading rather than topic familiarity alone.
Deena v. Union of India (1983) upheld hanging's constitutional validity; Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab (1996) held Article 21 includes the right to die with dignity. The Court held that new scientific material did not meet the threshold to unsettle Deena, while leaving room for future evidence-based challenges.
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