Death penalty is an exception, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that life imprisonment is the rule to which the death penalty is the exception.

The death sentence must be imposed only when life imprisonment appears to be an altogether inappropriate punishment, having regard to the relevant facts and circumstances of the crime.

The SC in a judgment said sentencing is a difficult task and often vexes the mind of the court, but where the option is between life imprisonment and death, if the court itself feels some difficulty in awarding one or the other, it is only appropriate that the lesser punishment be given.