The Supreme Court of India dismissed a PIL challenging hanging as the statutory method of execution of the death penalty under Section 354(5) CrPC. The petitioner argued that hanging causes excessive suffering and violates Article 21, particularly the right to life and dignity. The Court held that declaring the existing statutory method unconstitutional would require compelling medical and scientific evidence demonstrating that hanging necessarily causes impermissible suffering. It noted that alternative methods, including lethal injection, are themselves subject to concerns regarding failed or botched executions. The Court also recognised that a death-row prisoner retains the constitutional right to dignity. However, determining the most humane method of execution involves scientific and technical considerations better examined by an expert committee. The Court therefore declined to prescribe an alternative method itself, while leaving the Union Government free to consider a change if supported by expert evidence.