On Tuesday, the Indian government told the Supreme Court it's looking into if a less painful way to carry out executions can replace hanging, but no choice has been made yet.

Attorney General R Venkataramani informed judges Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that discussions were happening, and the government needed more time to give a clear answer.

The attorney general said he was aware of the matter and that some progress had been made, but no decision had been reached. He said this while replying to a request asking that people sentenced to death be allowed to pick between hanging and a deadly injection. Venkataramani also said there was no rush since no executions were currently happening and asked for more time.

The court agreed to the request and moved the case to January 21, 2026, saying a full hearing would happen then. Rishi Malhotra, a senior lawyer who has questioned if execution by hanging is legal, asked the government to tell the court about the committee's work.

Malhotra asked the attorney general to update the court on the committee's actions. The judges then said they would have a full hearing on January 21, 2026.

The lawsuit disputes the part of criminal law (now Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, previously Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure) that says death sentences must be carried out by hanging. The petitioner claims this method is old-fashioned, causes a lot of pain, and goes against the right to a dignified life as protected by Article 21.

Over 40 nations, he noted before, use lethal injection or other less painful execution methods.

On October 15, the court said that execution methods worldwide have greatly changed since hanging became law in India under British rule. The court suggested the government think about letting prisoners on death row choose how they are executed. "This is an old way. Many things have changed globally since then. Think about Mr. Malhotra's ideas," the court told the government.
In its previous statement to the court in May 2023, the government stated that hanging is still the "safest and fastest" execution method, saying it prevents a slow death. The statement refused lethal injection as a good option, referring to US information showing that chemical executions have the most mistakes, and that skilled medical staff would likely not take part in such acts.

However, the government informed the court at that time that it was willing to re-evaluate the current system and was creating a group to explore other ways to carry out death sentences. The court then stated it was interested in looking into if hanging, as the chosen method, upheld the constitutional right to a dignified death, and if scientific proof pointed to a less painful execution method.

The court is looking closely at this issue, following its comment in March 2023 that the 1983 decision in Deena @ Deena Dayal vs Union of India, which said hanging was a legal way to carry out executions, did not check if it was fair or compare how much pain different methods caused.

Malhotra's lawsuit from 2017 claimed that hanging someone is harsh, inhumane, and shameful, going against the right to live with respect, which is guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. Malhotra used examples from other countries and the Law Commission's 187th report, which also suggested changing the method of execution, to argue that when the government takes a life, it should do so in a way that causes the least amount of pain possible.

The lawsuit asked the court to tell the government to use a more modern, kinder way to carry out executions, such as lethal injection, anesthesia given through a vein, or a firing squad, or at least to let the prisoner who is sentenced to death choose how they die.