Supreme Court of India

Bachan Singh Etc. Etc. v. State of Punjab Etc. Etc.

Neutral citation

Reported as [1983] 1 S.C.R. 145

Bench Y.V. Chandrachud, P.N. Bhagwati, R.S. Sarkaria, A.C. Gupta and N.L. Untwalia JJ.

Decided 9 May 1980

INSC stands for INDIAN SUPREME COURT. A neutral citation scheme assigned by the Court itself, so a judgment can be cited without depending on a commercial law reporter. INSC is the neutral citation scheme assigned by the Supreme Court, so a judgment can be cited without depending on a commercial law reporter.

9 Supreme Court benches have cited this judgment.

What the Court ordered

We are of the view that the theory that the object. . and form of the .State action determine the extent of pro- I , , - .. ; i J 1 , BACHAN SINGH v.

Judgment, page 224

From the headnote

Death Penalty, whether' -constitutionally valid ?-Right to live, whether the provisions of section 302, Penal Code, offends Article 19 of the Constilution-' Distinctiop between "Public order" and "Law and Order''-Whether section 302, Penal Code, violates Article 21, the basic structure of the Constitution and Article 6( I) of the lnternatlona_/ Covenant on Civil .and Political Rights as adoPted by the General Assembly of the United Nations and reiterated in the Stockholm Declara tion. ( ) Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, section 354(3)-1/ section 302, Pertal Code, is constitution(ll,

Authorities it was built on

1958 Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia v. Shri Justice S. R. Tendolkar & Others cited by 108
1974 Ediga Anamma v. State of Andhra Pradesh cited by 28
1978 Charles Sobraj v. The Suptd., Central Jail, Tihar, New Delhi cited by 14

Where later benches applied it

2025 Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh v. Bihar Legislative Council (through Secretary) and Ors. relied on
2013 Sanaullah Khan v. State of Bihar relied on
2025 Dashwanth v. State of Tamil Nadu referred to
2025 Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India & Ors. referred to
2025 Sukhdev Yadav @ Pehalwan v. State of (nct of Delhi) & Others referred to
2023 Vikas Chaudhary v. The State of Delhi referred to
2022 In Re: Framing Guidelines Regarding Potential Mitigating Circumstances to Be Considered While Imposing Death Sentences v. In Re: Framing Guidelines Regarding Potential Mitigating Circumstances to Be Considered While Imposing Death Sentences referred to
2015 Devi Das Ramachandra Tuljapurkar v. State of Maharashtra& Ors. referred to
2013 Gudda @ Dwarikendra v. State of Madhya Pradesh referred to

Of those, 2 relied on · 7 referred to

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