Death penalty: CPI leader Raja moves private member's resolution
As a debate rages over the hanging of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, the Rajya Sabha on Friday admitted CPI leader D. Raja's private member's resolution to abolish the death sentence in the country. A private member's resolution is moved by an individual member and not by the government. "Snatching away somebody's life for crimes committed is not in consonance with the evolving jurisprudence, which embraces in its scope measures to reform the person and transform psychology in tune with the values of compassion and humanism," the resolution by the Communist Party of India parliamentarian read. D. Raja's resolution cites a study by the National Law University students indicating that 94 percent of those awarded death sentences for terror-related cases belonged to the Dalit castes or religious minorities.