LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought assistance from a petitioner’s counsel on modes of executing “death penalty” in international laws and in different Islamic countries as well.

Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh was hearing a petition by Dr Muhammad Irfan Ghani challenging execution of a convict by hanging from neck for being “against Islamic injunctions”.

The petitioner’s counsel argued before the court that the Constitution allowed the capital punishment but it should not be executed in a painful manner.

He contended that the mode of hanging from neck was not only a painful way to kill a convict but also a violation of Islamic teachings.

He said there were several other methods being exercised in different countries of the world to execute death penalty.

The counsel asked the court to restrain the jail authorities from executing convicts by hanging from the neck and also order the federal and provincial governments to legislate for introducing more simple and painless modes of execution.

After hearing initial arguments, Justice Sheikh instructed the counsel to assist the court, on next hearing, on methods of execution being exercised by other countries, particularly the Islamic ones.

The Council of Islamic Ideology had also been made a party to the petition in addition to federal and provincial governments.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2020