The Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) judgment reshaped India’s capital punishment jurisprudence by introducing the "rarest of rare" doctrine. Here’s an analysis in IRAC format:
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Whether the death penalty under Section 302 IPC (punishment for murder) and Section 354(3) CrPC (requiring "special reasons" for imposing death) violates Articles 14 (equality), 19 (fundamental freedoms), and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.
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Whether judicial discretion in sentencing leads to arbitrariness.
