title: Capital punishment in India

text: In the case of Deena v Union of India, September 1983 the constitutional validity of execution by hanging was challenged on grounds that hanging as contemplated under Section 354(5) Cr.P.C was barbarous and inhuman and thereby infringed on the right to life of the person. The court discussed various historical influences as well as the reports of the law commission and held that execution by hanging was a fair, just and reasonable procedure within the meaning of Article 21 and hence is constitutional.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In the case of Rishi Malhotra v. Union of India, October 2017, hanging as a method of execution was challenged in a writ petition and it was argued that Section 354(5) CrPC was not only barbaric, inhuman and cruel but also against the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC). This case brought out the discussion around the shift from hanging to other advanced methods of execution in various developed countries. It was also discussed that as per international standard, execution should be as quick and as simple as possible and should produce immediate unconsciousness passing quickly into death.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Apart from hanging, the other method of execution allowed under the Indian law is shooting, which is provided for under the Army Act, Navy Act, and Air Force Act. Section 34 of the Air Force Act, 1950 empowers the court martial to impose the death sentence for the offences mentioned in Section 34 (a) to (o) of The Air Force Act, 1950. It is at the discretion of the court martial whether the method is by hanging or shooting. The Army and Navy Acts have similar provisions. Section 163 of the act provides for the form of the sentence of death as;


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Section 235(2) of the CrPC provides for a bifurcated trial, where the conviction and sentencing are meant to be separate proceedings.  This has been affirmed in the following judgments of the Supreme Court.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Supreme Court held that sentencing is an important stage in the process of administration of criminal justice and required an interdisciplinary approach. The words "hear the accused" in Section 235(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 were interpreted to mean that the accused had to be given an opportunity to place before the Court various circumstances relating to the sentence, and was not limited to just an oral hearing. It was further stated that non-compliance of Section 235(2) is not an irregularity curable under Section 465 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as it amounts to omitting an important stage of the trial. In his concurring opinion, Justice Fazl Ali stated that an opportunity to give evidence in respect of sentence may necessitate an adjournment; and to avoid delay, the adjournment ordinarily should be for not more than 14 days. The matter was remanded to the Trial Court for giving an opportunity to the accused to make a representation regarding the sentence.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Supreme Court held that the decision in Santa Singh v. State of Punjab, August 1976 cannot be read to say that failure on the part of the court to 'hear' an accused on the question of sentence must necessarily entail a remand to the trial court. After convicting an accused, courts must unquestionably hear him on the question of sentence but if they omit to do so, it would be open to the higher court to remedy the breach by giving a real and effective hearing to the accused on the question of sentence. The accused must be permitted to adduce before the Court all the data which he desires to adduce on the question of sentence. The Court may adjourn the matter in order to give to the accused sufficient time to make submissions on sentence. Consequently, the Supreme Court granted liberty to the accused persons to produce materials on the question of sentence.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: It was argued by the accused persons that the Trial Judge had not considered the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in respect of each individual accused. The Court went through the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Santa Singh v. State of Punjab, August 1976 and Dagdu v. State of Maharashtra, April 1977,  and held that there are two modes to cure sentencing defects- 1. to remand the matter; 2. to direct the accused persons to produce necessary data and advance the contention on the question of sentence. Following the second mode, the Court gave an opportunity to the accused persons to file affidavits along with documents stating the mitigating circumstances. The counsels for the accused were allowed daily visits to the prison in order to communicate with the accused persons and file the requisite affidavits and materials. The prosecution was also granted liberty to file affidavits in response to the ones filed by the accused. The final judgment in this case was delivered on 5 May 2017.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India while upholding the constitutionality of the death penalty in India, also laid down an elaborate sentencing framework, requiring sentencing judges to impose the punishment only in the 'rarest of rare' cases. The 'rarest of rare' doctrine developed in Bachan Singh requires judges to balance aggravating and mitigating circumstances while determining whether a death sentence is the appropriate punishment. Other landmark judgments which have elaborated on the 'rarest of rare' framework are as follows:


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Supreme Court attempted to explore the doctrine of rarest of rare in the Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, July 1983, three years after the Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980 judgment. The court reinstated and reemphasized the principles of sentencing policy propounded in the Bachan Singh case. Also, the Court listed the two question that needs to be answered prior to the imposition of death sentence on individual cases. Firstly, is the offence committed so exceptional that there is no scope for awarding any other sentence? Secondly, even when weightage is accorded to the mitigating circumstances does the circumstances still warrants death penalty? It was held that the judges must prepare a balance sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstance of the crime and criminal and analyze the factors prior to making up choice between death sentence and life imprisonment. However, the Supreme Court held that the death penalty may imposed on the ground where the collective conscience of the society is shocked that expect the judicial authorities impose the death sentence. Thereafter, it listed five categories of the cases, where the death sentence is appropriate. (i) Manner in which the crime was committed: Murder committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or drastic manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of the community; (ii) Motive behind the criminal act: Murder committed for a motive which evinces total depravity and meanness; (iii) The Nature of the crime: Murder that arouse social wrath (like homicide of a person belonging to SC/ST or a minority community, dowry-death etc.); (iv)The degree of the crime: Multiple murders of a family or a large number of persons of a particular caste, community, or locality; and (v) The Status of the victim: Murder of an innocent child or a helpless woman or a person rendered helpless by old age or infirmity; murder of a person by the murderer who is in a position of domination or trust or murder of a public figure generally loved and respected by the community for the services rendered by him and the murder is committed for political or similar reasons other than personal reasons. It focused more on the 'crime factors' or adopted 'crime centric approach' on the sentencing policy of the death sentence. Furthermore, it moved towards the practice of balancing aggravating and mitigating circumstances to impose death sentence, where Bachan Singh judgment mandated that death sentence be imposed where life imprisonment is unquestionably foreclosed. Thus, this precedent and subsequent line of cases had systematically permitted the justification of death sentence on the manner, nature and gravity of the crime, without taking into the account of circumstances of the criminal, in order to exercise judicial discretion on the death sentence.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The fundamental contribution of Bachan Singh was that the focus of sentencing policy in regards to the death penalty shifted from crime to crime and criminal both. However, this judicial contribution was drastically altered in the Ravji v. State of Rajasthan, December 1995. The two bench of Supreme Court held that the nature and gravity of the crime, not the criminal should be considered as an appropriate method, for opting between choice of life imprisonment and death penalty. Subsequently, the precedent in Ravji was relied on as authoritative precedent. These judgments confirmed the death sentence without considering any mitigating circumstances related to the criminal. This position was directly contradictory to Constitutional bench judgment of Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980. Finally,  the Ravji v. State of Rajasthan, December 1995 decision delivered by the Supreme Court of India was rendered as per incuriam by another bench of Supreme Court in Santhosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar v. State of Maharashtra, May 2009.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Santhosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar v. State of Maharashtra, May 2009 judgment holds an important position in the attempt of Supreme Court to principally regulate the judicial discretion and bring consistency in the sentencing discretion of the judiciary in regards to death penalty. The Supreme Court in Bariyar held that the exclusive focus on  the crime provided in the Ravji v. State of Rajasthan, December 1995 precedent is per incuriam, as it breaches the principles revolving around doctrine of rarest of rare propounded in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980. The Bariyar judgment again reemphasized that the aggravating and mitigating circumstances related to the sentencing discretion must not only be limited to crime alone, but both the factor crime and criminal should be taken into account. It has interpreted the Bachan Singh dictum in a radical manner, specifically on the sentencing aspect of death penalty.  The Court expressed concern that there is lack of consistency and coherence in the aspect of sentencing discretion in regards to death penalty. The first and foremost contribution of Bariyar judgment is that it undoubtedly rejected the strict channeling of discretion or classification of particular types of offences deserves death sentence. The Supreme Court emphasized that the weight accorded to the aggravating and mitigating circumstances must be decided on the case to case basis. Furthermore, it also deconstructed the notion of 'shock to the collective conscience' as standard to impose the death sentences. The Court categorically stated the relevance and desirability of 'public opinion', is no more important in the jurisprudence and adjudication of death sentences. It also disregarded the social necessity as criteria for the infliction of death sentence. The Court asserted that the judiciary is a counter-majoritarian institution and individual rights should be given more importance.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Supreme Court in Sangeet v. State of Haryana, November 2012, seriously expressed reservation regarding inconsistent and incoherent application of sentencing policy with respect to analyzing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The court critiqued the process of drawing a balance sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances and stated that they cannot be compared with each other as each of the factors are two distinct and different constituents of the incident. Moreover, the court itself admitted that the doctrine of rarest of rare is not followed properly and departed from the 'principled sentencing' to a judge-centric sentencing policy of the death sentence. Furthermore, the Supreme Court also critiqued the categorization of the crime (manner of commission of murder, motive for commission of murder, antisocial or socially abhorrent nature of the crime, magnitude of crime and personality of victim of murder) propounded in Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, July 1983. The Court noted that Machi Singh standardization of the crime considerably enlarged the scope of imposing death sentence, which was severely restricted in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980 and also affirmed that the standardization shall not be taken as absolute or inflexible rule in the sentencing policy of the death sentence.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Supreme Court in Shanker Kisanrao Khade v. State of Maharashtra, April 2013, acknowledged that the difficulty in the application of 'rarest of rare' since there is lack of empirical data for making twofold comparison between murder (not attracting death penalty) and murder (attracting penalty). The Court also envisaged a new triple test, while awarding the death sentence and it required 'crime test'. 'criminal test' and the 'rarest of rare test' and this test was not equivalent to 'balance test'. The Court stated that the death sentence can only be inflicted, once they satisfy the 'crime test 100%', 'criminal test 0%' (there must no mitigating circumstances favouring the accused) such as possibility of reform, young age of the accused, lack of intention to commit the crime, no antecedents of criminal record. Once the aggravating circumstances are the fullest extent and no mitigating circumstances, the court needs to be satisfied with the rarest of rare case. The rarest of rare must be depended on the 'society centric' instead of 'judge centric' as to whether society approve death sentence in the awarding of the death penalty.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In this case, the accused was convicted of the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl. In review, a three-judge bench commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. Invoking Bachan Singh, the Court observed that it was required to consider the probability of reform and rehabilitation and not its possibility or its impossibility... 'it is the obligation on the prosecution to prove to the court, through evidence, that the possibility is that the convict cannot be reformed or rehabilitated'. The Court also held that mere pendency of one or more criminal cases against a convict cannot be a factor for consideration while awarding sentence.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Supreme Court, through the majority opinion of Justice Nariman, upheld the sentence of death imposed upon the appellant. Justice Sanjeev Khanna dissented on the question of sentence and chose the lesser sentence of life imprisonment without remission. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Khanna noted that the Court in Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, July 1983 required two questions to be answered to determine if a case was rarest of rare. These were whether there was something uncommon about the crime which rendered life imprisonment inadequate and whether the circumstances of the crime were such that there was no alternative but to impose the death sentence. Justice Khanna opined that the five categories indicated by the court in Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, July 1983 (manner of commission of murder, motive of the murder, anti-social or abhorrent nature of the crime, magnitude of the crime and personality of the victim) related to the first question. The second question also has to be answered which could be done by reference to mitigating circumstances. He reiterated that the death sentence could be imposed only when the sentence for life is unquestionably foreclosed. In the facts of the case, Justice Khanna noted that the appellant had confessed to the crime before a magistrate without compulsion and this, he stated, was the first step back into society and should be treated as a mitigating circumstance. He therefore opined that the appropriate punishment in this case would be life imprisonment without remission.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The role of public opinion first gained prominence in the capital sentencing framework through the case of Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, July 1983, which allowed imposition of the death penalty in case of anti-social or socially abhorrent nature of the crime.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Subsequently,  in the case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee v. State of West Bengal, January 1994, the Supreme Court held that the punishment must befit the crime so that courts reflect public abhorrence of the crime. It held that courts must consider not only the rights of the criminal, but also the rights of the victim and society at large while considering the question of appropriate sentence.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Recently, in MA Antony v. State of Kerala, December 2018, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence into life imprisonment and noted that the trial court committed an error by taking into account the disturbance caused by the crime to the collective conscience of the society. It was held that reference to public opinion and what is perceived by the judges to be the collective conscience of the society must be avoided while sentencing a convict guilty of a brutal crime.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: However, public opinion and collective conscience have played a major role in imposition of the death penalty in several cases in India, including Mukesh v. State of NCT Delhi, May 2017, which resulted in the execution in March 2020 of four persons convicted of gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In Ashok Debbarma v. State of Tripura, March 2014, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment with a minimum of twenty years. It introduced the concept of 'residual doubt' as a mitigating circumstance in Indian sentencing jurisprudence. The court stated that there could be a state of lingering uncertainty that exists, beyond 'reasonable doubt' but below 'absolute certainty'.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In 2019, the Supreme Court reiterated the 'residual doubt principle' of Ashok Debbarma in Ravishankar v. State of Madhya Pradesh, October 2019 and held that it creates a higher standard of proof over and above the 'beyond reasonable doubt' threshold in order to sentence someone to death.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: One of the questions involved the validity of the special category of sentence as created by Swamy Shraddhanada @ Murli Manohar Mishra v. State of Karnataka, July 2008. The court held that the special category of sentence created by Swamy Shraddhanada @ Murli Manohar Mishra v. State of Karnataka, July 2008 was valid in law. It further added that such a sentence could only be imposed by the high courts or the Supreme Court. However, the constitutional powers of remission under Articles 72 and 161 would be unaffected by such a sentence. The dissenting judges, Lalit and Sapre, speaking through Lalit held that such a sentence was not valid in law as it would amount to legislating a new sentence, and it was also trenching into the domain of the executive.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The law provided for certain persons to be exceptions to the liabilities imposed by Criminal law. The law assumes persons such as children below the age of 7 and insane persons to be incapable of understanding the consequences of their act and therefore does not hold them accountable for any of the offences. The rule further extends to death penalty as well, i.e. persons who are insane and declared so by a competent court, cannot be given death penalty. The legality of the death sentence and its relation with the mental illness of the accused was discussed in various cases by the Indian Judiciary.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In the case of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar (Navneet Kaur v. NCT of Delhi, March 2014),  the Court commuted the death sentence of the convict on the ground of inordinate delay in the execution of sentence and mental health problems faced by the petitioner.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In the case of Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of India, January 2014, while discussing various other supervening circumstances which would lead to the sentence of death being commuted, it was held that mental illness of the prisoner would be a factor which would lead to a commutation and that no mentally ill person may be executed.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In Accused X v. State of Maharashtra, April 2019, the Supreme Court in this case recognized post conviction mental illness as a mitigating factor to convert death penalty to life imprisonment. The SC noting that there appear to be no set disorders or disabilities for evaluating the 'severe mental illness' laid down 'test of severity' as a guiding factor for recognizing those mental illnesses which qualify for an exemption. The court noted that these disorders generally include schizophrenia, other serious psychotic disorders, and dissociative disorders with schizophrenia. Therefore, the test envisaged herein predicates that the offender needs to have a severe mental illness or disability, which simply means that a medical professional would objectively consider the illness to be most serious so that he cannot understand or comprehend the nature and purpose behind the imposition of such punishment. The notion of death penalty and the sufferance it brings along causes incapacitation and is idealised to invoke a sense of deterrence. If the accused is not able to understand the impact and purpose of his execution because of his disability, the purpose for the execution itself collapses.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The infamous and brutal gang rape case also known as the Nirbhaya rape case brought the issue of sexual violence into the notice of public, media and the Government of India. Responding to the protests and campaigns the government formed a committee headed by former Chief Justice of India, Justice J.S. Verma, Justice Leila Seth, and Mr Gopal Subramanium, former Solicitor General of India. The Committee submitted its report on 23 January 2013.  It made recommendations on laws related to rape, sexual harassment, trafficking, child sexual abuse, medical examination of victims, police, electoral and educational reforms.  The committee did not recommend the death sentence for sexual offences. The committee proposed "life imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life" as the punishment for repeat offenders. In its conclusion on capital punishment for sexual offences, the committee held:


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In consonance with the recommendations made by the Justice Verma Committee, the Government of India enacted the amending Act on 02.04.2013. Amendments were introduced in the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 through the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The amendment has led to the insertion of four new sections and recognised certain acts as offences. New offences like acid attack, , voyeurism, and stalking were incorporated into the Indian Penal Code under Sections 326A, 326B, 354A, 354B, 354C and 354D. The amendment brought some significant changes to the sections governing rape laws in IPC by enlarging the meaning of rape under Section 375. Further Section 376A was added which states that if a person committing the offence of sexual assault, ""inflicts an injury which causes the death of the person or causes the person to be in a persistent vegetative state, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean the remainder of that person's natural life, or with death."" The amendment has also introduced the death penalty as a punishment in Section 376E for cases of repeat offences of rape.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Capital punishment for these specific offences was introduced through the Verma Committee categorically recommended against the punishment of death for the offence of rape.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In the wake of public resentment over Kathua and Unnao rape cases, the laws dealing with sexual assault and rape underwent a major change. It started with several states like Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh passing bills in their respective assemblies prescribing the death penalty for those convicted of raping girls less than 12 years. Later,  Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 was brought about in April, 2018. The bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament by 6 August 2018 and received Presidential assent. During review, it was opposed by some of the MPs in the Rajya Sabha. The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018, amended the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The Act amends the IPC to allow for the death penalty as punishment for rape of girls below the age of 12 years. The deadline for the completion of trial in all rape cases will be two months. A six-month time limit for disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed. There will also be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gang rape of a girl less than 16 years. In 2019, an amendment to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2013 (POCSO) sought to cover all children under this law.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The abolition of the death penalty has been a debatable question all across and has been called upon for discussion in various international forums.  According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) capital punishment has been regulated as one part of right to life in the international human rights treaty. The covenant does not abolish death penalty but under Article 6 it states that death sentence may be imposed only for most serious crimes in accordance with the law and other provisions in the covenant. Further the convict sentenced with death shall have right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence and death sentence cannot be imposed on a person below 18 years of age or pregnant women. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) also lays down provisions on similar lines stating that no child (person below eighteen years of age) can be subjected to torture or other cruel treatment such as life imprisonment without possibility of release. The Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or the Torture Convention itself does not declare death penalty as torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment but addresses the methods of execution and the process of death row. Among the above-mentioned treaties and conventions India has ratified the ICCPR and CRC and is only a signatory of the Torture Convention. But according to Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Laws of Treaties the state is bound to refrain from acts which would defeat the purpose of a treaty. Under the domestic laws, The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1994 in Section 2(1)(d) states that, "human rights" means the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India. Additionally Section 2(1)(f) states that, "International Covenants" means the ICCPR. Reading together Sections 2(1)(d) and 2(1)(f) it can be said the ICCPR has been incorporated into the given statute protecting human rights.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: UN General Assembly has called for a moratorium on the use death penalty through several resolutions. In 2007, the General Assembly called for taking a progressive step by restricting the use of the death penalty, minimizing the number of offences imposing death penalty and imposing a moratorium on the executions to respect for the human dignity and enhance the development of the human rights. These resolutions for moratorium were reaffirmed by the general assembly again in the subsequent years of 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014. India has voted against these resolutions stating that it shall go against the statutory law of the land which states that death sentences can be imposed in rarest of the rare cases.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The first report of the Law Commission considering the issue of abolition of capital punishment was released in 1967. The commission recommended the retention of capital punishment. The factors considered for arriving at the conclusion were based mainly on general elements of cultural and social life as it existed then. The Law Commission observed that the subjective discretion of the court in deciding the matters satisfactorily practised and was within the purview of judicial principles. The report observed that the exercise of discretion may depend on local conditions, future developments, and evolution of the moral sense of the community, state of crime at a particular time or place and many other unforeseeable features. Furthermore, the report of the law commission does not discuss in detail the apprehensions regarding the arbitrary use of the Court's discretion in capital sentencing. The report also suggested retention of Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code, which provides for mandatory death penalty which was further upheld unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case of Mithu v. State of Punjab, April 1983.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: On the matters of irrevocability of capital punishment and erroneous convictions, the report observed that the constitutional and statutory safeguards such as the mercy, the power of appeal and review as well as legal assistance shall ensure that chances of error are kept to the minimum. The conclusions arrived by the commission are predated to the landmark judgment of Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980 and also to the various amendments made in 1973 to the Code of Criminal Procedure.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: In its 187th report, the Law Commission dealt with the matter on capital punishment under but under the theme "Mode of Execution of Death Sentence and Incidental Matters". The issue was taken "suo moto" by the commission examining "technological advances in the field of science, technology, medicine, anaesthetics" and thus did not answer or present views on the debate of abolishing capital punishment.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Law Commission of India submitted its 262nd report in 2015 on the issue of the death penalty in India. The issue came up to the Law Commission chaired by Justice A.P Shah in the case of Santosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar v. State of Maharashtra, April 2009 and Shankar Kisanrao Khade v. State of Maharashtra, April 2013. The commission extensively studied various aspects of death penalty such as a role of deterrence, uniform applicability of guidelines, victim justice and concluded that the punishment should be abolished except for in the matters of terrorism. The Commission concluded after studying the issue extensively that the death penalty does not serve the penological goal of deterrence any more than life imprisonment. It was opined that it fails to achieve any constitutionally valid penological goals. The Law Commission also concluded that in focusing on the death penalty as the ultimate measure of justice to victims, the restorative and rehabilitative aspects of justice are lost sight of.[18] The discretionary power of judges and uneven application of Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980 in these cases goes against the constitutional principles and principle of equality making the whole process arbitrary and subjective to whims of the judges. The commission also identified some systematic impediments such as lack of resources, outdated modes of investigation, over-stretched police force, ineffective prosecution, and poor legal aid making the administration of the death penalty vulnerable to errors. The commission also concluded that constitutional and statutory safeguards such as Article 72 and Article 161 have also failed to safeguard the rights from these impediments. With relation to supporting death for those convicted in terror cases and for waging war against the country, the Report admitted that there is no valid penological justification for treating terrorism differently from other crimes, but the concern of the times seems to be that removing of the death penalty for these offences will affect national security.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: There are divergent views on which the death penalty in being currently debated over in India. It has been argued by many academicians and many research groups that the presence of such inhumane punishment serves no purpose in the current times. India certainly does not need it as it serves no purpose.  It is argued that no study has shown that the death penalty deters murder more than life imprisonment and that evidence is to the contrary. For deterrence to work, the severity of the punishment has to coexist with the certainty and swiftness of the punishment.[19] It has been argued that the death penalty targets the poor and marginalised who do not have support from the society or power of money. The death penalty is subjective in nature and is near to impossible deciding each case fairly or rationally. The Courts have in various cases worked on their fancies and arbitrarily imposed this most extreme punishment. It is also argued that the concept works in contrast to the rehabilitation criminal justice system adopted by India [19].  Further, it has also been argued that it is per se cruel, irrespective of its utility or its deterrent effect.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: On the other hand, it has been argued that state-sanctioned death penalty acts as a catalyst to promote the law and the fear of law which acts as a deterrent to future offenders. There is also a push to help the victims and to follow the retribution model of punishment.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The concept of the death penalty as understood by a layman is sentencing and execution. By what goes unnoticed is the wide gap between the provisions of law and the realities of its enforcement. The whole process is vulnerable to a large number of systematic and structural impediments. The flagrant violations of even the most basic protections like those against torture and self-incrimination, along with the systemic inability to provide for competent representation or to undertake effective sentencing procedures in capital cases make it extremely clear that the crisis in our criminal justice system has translated. The quality of legal representation has emerged as an extremely serious concern. The absence of any real communication with their lawyers, courtroom proceedings that they do not understand, and no real knowledge of progress in their case at the appellate stages increase the suffering of prisoners on death row.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Constitutional and legal protections such as The Constitution of India, The Code of Criminal Procedure, The Evidence Act protect an individual from arbitrary powers of the state. However, despite these the rights are unchecked and are repeatedly violated. Few forms of such violation are custodial torture, fabrication of evidence, abuse of Section 27 of the Evidence Act.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: It has been acknowledged by the judges that the legal aid system has not satisfactory and expressed concerns about the disparate impact of the system on socio-economically marginalised persons. There exists a strong connection between poverty and the quality of legal representation. This deepens the crisis of the criminal justice system. The legal aid system developed by the justice system fails to achieve its objective and fails to fulfil its constitutional promises.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The easy manipulation of agencies of the criminal justice system is rampant in India. The stages of investigation such as obtaining pieces of evidence testimony lead to wrongful conviction demonstrate significant crisis points in the criminal justice system. Use of torture, fabrication of evidence, poor legal representation puts a question mark on the criminal justice system and makes the reliance on evidence doubtful for hanging a person or to put him on death row.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Lethal Lottery: Death Penalty in India is a report submitted by Amnesty International with contribution of The People's Union for Civil Liberties. The report puts forth the view that India's Death Penalty System works under fatal flaws and should be abolished. As indicated by the name the report after analysing 700 Supreme Court judgements on death penalty of over 50 years (1950-2006) suggest that the fate of the death row prisoners depends upon the lottery as the Indian judicial system over the years has failed to meet its own uniform standards and the other internationally accepted standards. The golden rule in respect to death penalty "rarest of rare cases" has not been adhered to in the cases. Various administrative flaws such as errors in consideration of evidence, inadequate legal representation, and arbitrariness in sentencing indicate that the punishment of death penalty has been arbitrary, imprecise and abusive means of punishing convicts which goes against the spirit of the constitution.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Prisoner Voices from Death Row by Reena Mary George discusses the demographic profile of the prisoners and the duration spent on death row. It also notes the process of the individual cases, from arrest to conviction and finally being sentenced to death. It also documents in detail the impact of the death penalty on families of prisoners on death row.  The study finds that poverty, marginalization and exclusion are antecedent to the death penalty.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The Death Penalty India Report (DPIR) by Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi which was released in May, 2016 contains the findings of the Death Penalty Research Project (DPRP). The DPIR contains quantitative information regarding the number of prisoners sentenced to death in India, the average duration they spend on death row, the nature of crimes, their socio-economic background and details of their legal representation, narratives of the prisoners on their experiences in police custody, through the trial and appeal process, incarceration on death row and impact on their families. 373 out of the 385 prisoners who were on the death row at the time and their families were interviewed. The project also documented accounts of prisoner experiences with the police investigation, access to legal representation, experience at the trial courts, life on death row, relationships with family through the years in prison, and other associated aspects. It found that 74.01% of the prisoners interviewed were economically vulnerable. It also found that a high percentage of prisoners sentenced to death had not completed their secondary education. Another major finding was that 76% of the prisoners belonged to a backward community. The Report also found that of over 1700 prisoners who were sentenced to death by trial courts in the period 2000–2015, the appellate courts ultimately confirmed only 4.5% of the sentences. Nearly 30% of the prisoners went from being sentenced to death to being acquitted of all charges while nearly 65% of the death sentences were commuted to life sentences.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Matters of Judgment is an opinion study on the criminal justice system and the death penalty with 60 former judges of the Supreme Court of India. The study was conducted by Project 39A at the National law University, Delhi and was published in November 2017. The 60 former judges adjudicated 208 death penalty cases between them at different points during the period 1975–2016. The study was an attempt to understand judicial thought and adjudicatory processes that govern the administration of the death penalty within India's criminal justice system.Former judges were interviewed on main broad themes which included, investigation and trial processes, sentencing in death penalty cases, and judicial attitudes towards the death penalty. It was clear from the study that there is no uniform understanding of the requirements of the 'rarest of rare' doctrine which has led to the systemic issue of judge-centric sentencing.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: This study by Project 39A, National Law University, Delhi contains findings from a study of all capital cases decided by trial courts of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra between 2000 and 2015. Analysing 215 judgments (43 from Delhi, 82 from Madhya Pradesh, and 90 from Maharashtra), the study demonstrates the normative and procedural gaps in death penalty sentencing framework that have been the legacy of the Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, May 1980  judgment.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Since 2016, Project 39A at the National Law University Delhi annually releases a death penalty statistics report. The report covers movements in the death row population in India as well as political and legal developments in the administration of the death penalty and the criminal justice system. The 162 death sentences imposed by trial courts in 2018 is the highest in a calendar year since 2000. The number dropped to 102 in 2019.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Prisons and other government departments don't have accurate records of the number of persons executed in India. An absolute lack of coordination among different official sources has hindered the collection of accurate data on the subject. Despite these limitations, Project 39A has attempted to curate a list of people executed in India. This number is, however, significantly lower than the actual number of people executed, as per data from the Law Commission of India's 35th Report which states a number above 1000 between the years 1947 to 1967.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: This fact speaks to larger concerns with data on the criminal justice system in India, when the country doesn't even have the records of the number of people on whom has been sentenced to death.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: On 27 April 1995, Auto Shankar was hanged in Salem Central Jail at Salem, Tamil Nadu for murder of 6 people.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: On 27 May 1997, Kamta Pasad Tiwary was hanged in Jabalpur Central Jail for raping and murdering an 8-year-old girl in 1991.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: On 14 August 2004 at Alipore Central Jail, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged for the murder (following a rape) of 14-year-old Hetal Parekh at her apartment residence in Bhowanipore, West Bengal on 5 March 1990. While the mercy petition of Chatterjee was pending before President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, support for the rejection of the mercy petition as well as his execution was drummed up in West Bengal by various political groups and organizations. The mercy plea was rejected on 4 August 2004.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Before the execution of Ajmal Kasab due to his role in 26/11 terrorist attacks, people from across the globe wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee to inform his family and the public of the rejection of the mercy petition and about any scheduled date of execution. Kasab was hanged in secret on 21 November 2012 in Yerwada Central Prison.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Afzal Guru was convicted of conspiracy in connection with the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and was hanged on 9 February 2013 at Delhi's Tihar Central Prison. The Supreme Court of India upheld the sentence on 4 August 2005, ruling that the attack "shocked the conscience of the society at large." Afzal was scheduled to be executed on 20 October 2006, but the sentence was stayed.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Yakub Memon, convicted of 1993 Bombay bombings, was hanged in Nagpur Central Jail at Nagpur on 30 July 2015. On 21 March 2013 the Supreme Court confirmed Memon's conviction and death sentence for conspiracy through financing the attacks. On 30 July 2013 the Supreme Court rejected Memon's application for an oral hearing and dismissed his review petition by circulation. President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Memon's petition for clemency on 11 April 2014. Memon then filed a curative petition to the Supreme Court, which was rejected on 21 July 2015.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: The four adult perpetrators Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder who survived the trial were hanged at 5:30a.m. on 20 March 2020 at Tihar Central Prison in Delhi, after a lengthy legal battle.


title: Capital punishment in India

text: Since 2000, eight executions have been carried out in India, all executions have been carried out by hanging.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: The Strangers: Prey at Night is a 2018 American slasher film directed by Johannes Roberts, with a script co-written by Bryan Bertino and Ben Ketai, is a sequel to "The Strangers" and the second installment of "The Strangers" film series. Starring Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman, Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, and Damian Maffei, the plot follows a family vacationing to a secluded mobile home park, where they are attacked by three masked strangers.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Development of the film began in August 2008, with Rogue Pictures had confirmed that a sequel was in the works, with Bertino co-writing the screenplay with Ketai. It was originally slated to enter principal photography in 2009, during which time it was tentatively titled "The Strangers: Part II". Directors Laurent Briet and Marcel Langenegger were considered to direct, but landed eventually to Roberts. After a troubled development period, filming to the sequel began on May 30, 2017.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: "The Strangers: Prey at Night" was released in the United States on March 9, 2018, and grossed $32.1 million worldwide on a budget of $5 million. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with some considering it to be more entertaining than its predecessor and appreciated its satire of horror films, while others noted it as inferior to the original and called it clichéd.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Ten years after the events of the first film, in a secluded trailer park in Kalida, Ohio, the three masked thugs arrive in their pickup truck at night to a couple's trailer. Dollface wakes a sleeping female occupant by knocking at the front door. When she investigates, she sees the intruder already in the house, who kills her offscreen and then lies down in bed next to the woman's sleeping husband.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Sometime later, Mike and his wife Cindy take a trip with their children, Luke and Kinsey, to their aunt and uncle's trailer park to spend time together before Kinsey leaves for boarding school. After arriving, Dollface (unmasked) knocks at their front door and asks for Tamara, but is turned away by Cindy. Kinsey leaves the trailer annoyed and Luke is asked to go after her.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Back at the family trailer, Dollface knocks a second time and is again turned away. Troubled by the encounter, Mike and Cindy decide to look for the kids. During their walk, Luke and Kinsey come upon a trailer with the door open. Inside, they find their aunt and uncle's dead bodies (the couple killed in the opening scene). Mike and Cindy find the kids, who are in hysterics. Mike follows Luke back to the trailer to find the bodies, while Cindy and Kinsey return to the trailer. They find their cell phones smashed to pieces before Dollface appears and kills Cindy, who aids Kinsey's escape through a skylight in the bathroom. Mike and Luke find the voicemail that Cindy left for their uncle in the trailer, realizing that the thugs were waiting for them to arrive. After fending off the masked man with a gun, they head back to the family trailer, where they find Cindy dead. Mike and Luke search for Kinsey in the family's minivan, before the masked man throws a brick at the windshield, causing the van to crash. Kinsey is pursued by the three strangers, namely the Pin-up Girl and the masked man. Luke awakens and discovers Mike has been impaled by a board from the wreck and is unable to move. Mike gives Luke his gun and instructs him to find Kinsey and escape. After Luke leaves, Mike is killed by the masked man with an ice pick.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Kinsey enters a trailer, where she is stabbed by the Dollface, but Luke arrives and holds her at gunpoint. The siblings flee and hide in a different trailer, where Luke tends Kinsey's wound, before the strangers drive their truck through the front of the trailer. The two escape and Luke hides Kinsey under a porch, while he goes to the main office to call for help. He manages to call 911, but quickly finds outs he is not alone and is attacked by Pin-Up Girl in the park's pool area. He manages to wrestle her knife away from her and stabs her to death, before the masked man appears and attacks him with an axe. Luke and the masked man fall into the pool during their struggle and fight for the knife, leading to Luke being stabbed. Kinsey finds Luke and rescues him before setting off to find help.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: A deputy finds a disheveled Kinsey, but before he can assist, Dollface kills him by slicing his throat. Kinsey is able to use the deputy's shotgun to overpower and kill Dollface. But before Dollface dies Kinsey asks her why they are doing all this to which Dollface responds, "Why not?". The masked man arrives in the truck and totals the police SUV to prevent Kinsey from escaping. She uses her cigarette lighter to ignite a gasoline leak from both trucks, blowing them both up. The masked man survives the explosion and continues pursuing her in his truck engulfed in flames. He exits and falls to the ground. Kinsey flags down a passing truck for help, but they attempt to flee when they see the masked man appear, still alive, behind Kinsey. She climbs into the bed of the truck with the masked man following close behind her. Kinsey bashes him on the head with a baseball bat, knocking him out of the truck bed and seemingly killing him.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Some time later, Kinsey is at a hospital with Luke recovering from his injuries. As Kinsey awakens from a nightmare, she hears the jack-in-the-box toy noise she heard earlier when encountering the strangers, along with a knock at the door as the film ends.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Rogue Pictures' producers announced that a sequel to "The Strangers" was in development in August 2008, tentatively titled "The Strangers: Part II". In a 2009 listing published by Bloody Disgusting, it was reported that the script would be written by Bryan Bertino and the film directed by Laurent Briet. In 2010, the horror website "Shock Till You Drop" reported that Relativity Media put "The Strangers: Part II" on hold because they decided the film might not be in their interest, despite the fact that Universal Pictures was willing to distribute it. However, Rogue Pictures confirmed in January 2011 that the sequel was again in production, and was then scheduled to begin filming as early as April 2011; in a press release, Rogue revealed the plot would concern "a family of four who have been evicted from their home due to the economy, and are paid a visit by the same three strangers from the first film."


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: According to Liv Tyler, star of the original film, "Part II" was slated for release in 2014, but that did not occur. In 2015, "The Wrap" reported that the sequel was in production, and that Relativity Media and GK Films had scheduled the film for a December 2, 2016, release date, though it was later removed from the schedule.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Roberts said that while he was in Los Angeles, the producers of "47 Meters Down" met him for dinner and asked if he could read a script called "Prey At Night". He liked the script and wondered if he wanted to get involved in a sequel despite having released the first film years before but finally accepted and decided to add his personal touch.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: In February 2017, it was announced that Johannes Roberts would be the sequel's new director, and that filming would commence during the summer of the same year. In May 2017, Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, and Lewis Pullman were reported as the film's stars, and production began in Los Angeles on May 30. In June 2017, it was announced Martin Henderson had also joined, along with the other main cast members.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Filming began in June 2017 in Covington, Kentucky, Kincaid Lake State Park in Falmouth, Kentucky and lower Cincinnati which concluded on July 10, 2017.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: On October 12, 2017, "Collider" reported the film would be released on March 9, 2018, by Aviron Pictures. A teaser trailer for the film was released on November 16, 2017. The official trailer debuted on January 5, 2018.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: In the United States and Canada, "The Strangers: Prey at Night" was released alongside "The Hurricane Heist", "Gringo" and "A Wrinkle in Time", and was projected to gross around $7 million from 2,464 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $4 million on its first day, including $610,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $10.4 million, finishing third at the box office behind "Black Panther" and "A Wrinkle in Time".


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads: ""The Strangers: Prey at Night" may appeal to fans of the original who've been jonesing for a sequel, but its thin story and ironic embrace of genre tropes add up to a bloody step back." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "B−" given to the first film.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: It received mostly positive reviews from fans of the genre. Bloody Disgusting gave the film a positive review, saying, ""The Strangers: Prey At Night" really takes "The Strangers" to the next level, and serves as a perfect introduction to "The Strangers" for new horror fans. You can go back and watch "The Strangers" and be just as happy for their previous relentless onslaughts”. IGN also praised the film, writing that "Skillfully made, spooky, stylish, and featuring some quite good character work, "The Strangers: Prey at Night" stands much taller than the 2008 original. The central killers are plenty scary, and some of the images on display would make John Carpenter proud." Writing for /Film, Candice Frederick also gave the film a positive review with a 7/10 rating, writing that "Though its characters may fumble and its winks to the first film may not be as slick as I’d like them to be, "Prey at Night" does maintain the original commitment of presenting horror to the most mundane. It doesn’t just disrupt an innocent setting of a quiet suburb...It is that relentless seclusion, heightened by a haunting soundtrack of otherwise harmless songs."


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Brian Douglas from "The Hollywood Reporter" praised the tone of the film, writing, "While the original Strangers was devoid of any sense of the 80s, instead opting for a kind of timeless modern quality, Roberts’ sequel boasts its stylistic debts, with everything from camera shots, and music choices culled from the 80s, forming an impressionistic collage of a time period that feels made for the big-screen." Staci Wilson writing for Dread Central also praised the film, writing “Aside from the quick setup introducing the targets, "The Strangers: Prey at Night" really is a nonstop thrill ride. I know it’s a cliché, but sometimes you’ve just got to call it as you see it. I was breathless from start to finish. Kudos to Roberts on his best movie yet! He was wise to amp up the atmosphere with a kick-ass original score and flawless cinematography."


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Glenn Kenny of "The New York Times" gave the film a mixed review and compared sequences of the film to Lucio Fulci's "Zombi" and the slasher film "The Mutilator", adding: "If you recognize those films, you might find yourself mildly diverted by this tawdry, occasionally effective shock-delivery device. Watching it with a demonstrative crowd in a Times Square theater proved to this former grindhouse devotee that sometimes you can go home again, at least momentarily. That said, the movie’s ludicrously drawn-out finale sapped the good will out of some of my fellow audience members." Kimber Myers of the "Los Angeles Times" also gave the film a mixed review and wrote that “...although the film is as slim and poorly balanced as a cheap knife, "The Strangers: Prey at Night" is a stylish 1980s throwback that packs plenty of terror into its short running time. This isn't a horror movie that will take up residence in your nightmares for weeks, but the sequel to the solid 2008 original "The Strangers" is nonetheless just as effective in the short term as its well-made counterparts”. Owen Gleiberman, writing for "Variety", described the film as ""Friday the 13th" with four victims and three Jasons... [it's] shameless in its bluntly misanthropic family-of-lambs-to-the-slaughter violence, its blithe depravity that’s more fetishized than felt. It doesn’t take much, though—as it didn’t in the '80s—to create a one-weekend horror hit."


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: "The Guardian"s Benjamin Lee gave the film more of a negative review, rating the film 2/5 stars despite praising Hendricks' performance, noting: "...it’s just difficult to really invest in what happens to any of them. Before long, characters are all making stock horror movie decisions, and there’s no amount of effective craftsmanship that can sell stupidity. Audience members will be too busy sighing at the screen to be scared."


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: News of a sequel arose in February 2022 when fan website, IsTamaraHome, announced news of a possible third instalment as revealed by a hidden source.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: In August 2022, producer Roy Lee announced that three sequels would consecutively enter production beginning in September of that year. Though the director was not announced at the time, the producer stated that the filmmaker attached to the projects, is well known to horror movie fans. After discussing the projects with "Bloody Disgusting", they stated that the only other time a number of horror films had been completed like this with their sequels, was when "The Fear Street" film series was created.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: Shortly thereafter, it was announced that at least one of the sequels would be directed by Renny Harlin. Reports indicated that one of the movies, may be a redeveloped script from a project that was written in 2018. Producer Roy Lee had been impressed with a music video directed by Benjamin Howdeshell and written by Mike Doyle for Parcels' song "Withorwithout", where the plot was based on "The Strangers" film series; though the story diverged with a twist at the end. Milla Jovovich starred as the woman who's home is invaded. At that time, Lee began developing a movie inspired by Howdeshell's music video. The latter alongside Doyle, wrote a script and pitched the project to the associated studios. Jovavich expressed interest in reprising her role from the video.


title: The Strangers: Prey at Night

text: In September 2022, it was announced that Madelaine Petsch was set to lead the new trilogy, billed as a remake, starring alongside Gabe Basso and Froy Gutierrez. The trilogy follows Petsch who travels cross country with her boyfriend where they are forced to spend a night in an Airbnb when the three Strangers come to terrorise them. Production is currently underway in Bratislava, Slovakia.


title: Benedictines

text: The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as OSB), are a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedict. They are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule of Saint Benedict.


title: Benedictines

text: Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy but are instead organised as a collection of autonomous monasteries. The order is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation, an organisation set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have a superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction, but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to the Vatican and to the world.


title: Benedictines

text: The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Benedict of Nursia 529, was the first of the dozen monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino. There is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. When Monte Cassino was sacked by the Lombards about the year 580, the monks fled to Rome, and it seems probable that this constituted an important factor in the diffusion of a knowledge of Benedictine monasticism.


title: Benedictines

text: Copies of Benedict's Rule survived; around 594 Pope Gregory I spoke favorably of it. The Rule is subsequently found in some monasteries in southern Gaul along with other rules used by abbots. Gregory of Tours says that at Ainay Abbey, in the sixth century, the monks "followed the rules of Basil, Cassian, Caesarius, and other fathers, taking and using whatever seemed proper to the conditions of time and place", and doubtless the same liberty was taken with the Benedictine Rule when it reached them. In Gaul and Switzerland, it gradually supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually entirely displaced the earlier codes.


title: Benedictines

text: By the ninth century, however, the Benedictine had become the standard form of monastic life throughout the whole of Western Europe, excepting Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where the Celtic observance still prevailed for another century or two. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire.


title: Benedictines

text: Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium. As a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. An anonymous writer of the ninth or tenth century speaks of six hours a day as the usual task of a scribe, which would absorb almost all the time available for active work in the day of a medieval monk.


title: Benedictines

text: In the Middle Ages monasteries were often founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. The abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, through appointed priors.


title: Benedictines

text: One of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community. The Cistercians branched off from the Benedictines in 1098; they are often called the "White monks".


title: Benedictines

text: The dominance of the Benedictine monastic way of life began to decline towards the end of the twelfth century, which saw the rise of the Franciscans and Dominicans. Benedictines took a fourth vow of "stability", which professed loyalty to a particular foundation. Not being bound by location, the mendicants were better able to respond to an increasingly "urban" environment. This decline was further exacerbated by the practice of appointing a commendatory abbot, a lay person, appointed by a noble to oversee and to protect the goods of the monastery. Often, however, this resulted in the appropriation of the assets of monasteries at the expense of the community which they were intended to support.


title: Benedictines

text: The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations. Through the influence of Wilfrid, Benedict Biscop, and Dunstan, the Benedictine Rule spread rapidly, and in the North it was adopted in most of the monasteries that had been founded by the Celtic missionaries from Iona. Many of the episcopal sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines, and no fewer than nine of the old cathedrals were served by the black monks of the priories attached to them. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak and homeless. The monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of the sick.


title: Benedictines

text: During the English Reformation, all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing the members to flee into exile on the Continent. During the 19th century they were able to return to England.


title: Benedictines

text: St. Mildred's Priory, on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent. Currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns. Five of the most notable English abbeys are the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, The Abbey of St Edmund, King and Martyr commonly known as Douai Abbey in Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berkshire, Ealing Abbey in Ealing, West London, and Worth Abbey. Prinknash Abbey, used by Henry VIII as a hunting lodge, was officially returned to the Benedictines four hundred years later, in 1928. During the next few years, so-called Prinknash Park was used as a home until it was returned to the order.


title: Benedictines

text: St. Lawrence's Abbey in Ampleforth, Yorkshire was founded in 1802. In 1955, Ampleforth set up a daughter house, a priory at St. Louis, Missouri which became independent in 1973 and became Saint Louis Abbey in its own right in 1989.


title: Benedictines

text: As of 2015, the English Congregation consists of three abbeys of nuns and ten abbeys of monks. Members of the congregation are found in England, Wales, the United States of America, Peru and Zimbabwe.


title: Benedictines

text: In England there are also houses of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation: Farnborough, Prinknash, and Chilworth: the Solesmes Congregation, Quarr and St Cecilia's on the Isle of Wight, as well as a diocesan monastery following the Rule of Saint Benedict: The Community of Our Lady of Glastonbury.


title: Benedictines

text: Since the Oxford Movement, there has also been a modest flourishing of Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church and Protestant Churches. Anglican Benedictine Abbots are invited guests of the Benedictine Abbot Primate in Rome at Abbatial gatherings at Sant'Anselmo. There are an estimated 2,400 celibate Anglican Religious (1,080 men and 1,320 women) in the Anglican Communion as a whole, some of whom have adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict.


title: Benedictines

text: In 1168 local Benedictine monks instigated the anti-semitic blood libel of Harold of Gloucester as a template for explaining later deaths. According to historian Joe Hillaby, the blood libel of Harold was crucially important because for the first time an unexplained child death occurring near the Easter festival was arbitrarily linked to Jews in the vicinity by local Christian churchmen: "they established a pattern quickly taken up elsewhere. Within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France."


title: Benedictines

text: The forty-eighth Rule of Saint Benedict prescribes extensive and habitual "holy reading" for the brethren. Three primary types of reading were done by the monks during this time. Monks would read privately during their personal time, as well as publicly during services and at meal times. In addition to these three mentioned in the Rule, monks would also read in the infirmary. Monasteries were thriving centers of education, with monks and nuns actively encouraged to learn and pray according to the Benedictine Rule. Section 38 states that ‘these brothers’ meals should usually be accompanied by reading, and that they were to eat and drink in silence while one read out loud.


title: Benedictines

text: Benedictine monks were not allowed worldly possessions, thus necessitating the preservation and collection of sacred texts in monastic libraries for communal use. For the sake of convenience, the books in the monastery were housed in a few different places, namely the sacristy, which contained books for the choir and other liturgical books, the rectory, which housed books for public reading such as sermons and lives of the saints, and the library, which contained the largest collection of books and was typically in the cloister.


title: Benedictines

text: The first record of a monastic library in England is in Canterbury. To assist with Augustine of Canterbury's English mission, Pope Gregory the Great gave him nine books which included the Gregorian Bible in two volumes, the Psalter of Augustine, two copies of the Gospels, two martyrologies, an Exposition of the Gospels and Epistles, and a Psalter. Theodore of Tarsus brought Greek books to Canterbury more than seventy years later, when he founded a school for the study of Greek.


title: Benedictines

text: Monasteries were among the institutions of the Catholic Church swept away during the French Revolution. Monasteries were again allowed to form in the 19th century under the Bourbon Restoration. Later that century, under the Third French Republic, laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. Thus in 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901.


title: Benedictines

text: Saint Blaise Abbey in the Black Forest of Baden-Württemberg is believed to have been founded around the latter part of the tenth century. Between 1070 and 1073 there seem to have been contacts between St. Blaise and the Cluniac Abbey of Fruttuaria in Italy, which led to St. Blaise following the Fruttuarian reforms. The Empress Agnes was a patron of Fruttuaria, and retired there in 1065 before moving to Rome. The Empress was instrumental in introducing Fruttuaria's Benedictine customs, as practiced at Cluny, to Saint Blaise Abbey in Baden-Württemberg. Other houses either reformed by, or founded as priories of, St. Blasien were: Muri Abbey (1082), Ochsenhausen Abbey (1093), Göttweig Abbey (1094), Stein am Rhein Abbey (before 1123) and Prüm Abbey (1132). It also had significant influence on the abbeys of Alpirsbach (1099), Ettenheimmünster (1124) and Sulzburg (ca. 1125), and the priories of Weitenau (now part of Steinen, ca. 1100), Bürgel (before 1130) and Sitzenkirch (ca. 1130).


title: Benedictines

text: Kloster Rheinau was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778. The abbey of Our Lady of the Angels was founded in 1120.


title: Benedictines

text: The first Benedictine to live in the United States was Pierre-Joseph Didier. He came to the United States in 1790 from Paris and served in the Ohio and St. Louis areas until his death. The first actual Benedictine monastery founded was Saint Vincent Archabbey, located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1832 by Boniface Wimmer, a German monk, who sought to serve German immigrants in America. In 1856, Wimmer started to lay the foundations for St. John's Abbey in Minnesota. In 1876, Herman Wolfe, of Saint Vincent Archabbey established Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. By the time of his death in 1887, Wimmer had sent Benedictine monks to Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Illinois, and Colorado.


title: Benedictines

text: Wimmer also asked for Benedictine sisters to be sent to America by St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt, Bavaria. In 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp and two other sisters founded St. Marys, Pennsylvania. Soon they would send sisters to Michigan, New Jersey, and Minnesota.


title: Benedictines

text: By 1854, Swiss monks began to arrive and founded St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana, and they soon spread to Arkansas and Louisiana. They were soon followed by Swiss sisters.


title: Benedictines

text: There are now over 100 Benedictine houses across America. Most Benedictine houses are part of one of four large Congregations: American-Cassinese, Swiss-American, St. Scholastica, and St. Benedict. The congregations mostly are made up of monasteries that share the same lineage. For instance the American-Cassinese congregation included the 22 monasteries that descended from Boniface Wimmer.


title: Benedictines

text: The sense of community was a defining characteristic of the order since the beginning. Section 17 in chapter 58 of the Rule of Saint Benedict states the solemn promise candidates for reception into a Benedictine community are required to make: a promise of stability (i.e. to remain in the same community), "conversatio morum" (an idiomatic Latin phrase suggesting "conversion of manners"; see below) and obedience to the community's superior. This solemn commitment tends to be referred to as the "Benedictine vow" and is the Benedictine antecedent and equivalent of the evangelical counsels professed by candidates for reception into a religious order.


title: Benedictines

text: Much scholarship over the last fifty years has been dedicated to the translation and interpretation of ""conversatio morum"". The older translation "conversion of life" has generally been replaced with phrases such as "[conversion to] a monastic manner of life", drawing from the Vulgate's use of "conversatio" as a translation of "citizenship" or "homeland" in Philippians 3:20. Some scholars have claimed that the vow formula of the Rule is best translated as "to live in this place as a monk, in obedience to its rule and abbot."


title: Benedictines

text: Benedictine abbots and abbesses have full jurisdiction of their abbey and thus absolute authority over the monks or nuns who are resident. This authority includes the power to assign duties, to decide which books may or may not be read, to regulate comings and goings, and to punish and to excommunicate, in the sense of an enforced isolation from the monastic community.


title: Benedictines

text: A tight communal timetablethe horariumis meant to ensure that the time given by God is not wasted but used in God's service, whether for prayer, work, meals, spiritual reading or sleep. The order's motto "Ora et Labora" ("pray and work") may be said to summarize its way of life.


title: Benedictines

text: Although Benedictines do not take a vow of silence, hours of strict silence are set, and at other times silence is maintained as much as is practically possible. Social conversations tend to be limited to communal recreation times. But such details, like the many other details of the daily routine of a Benedictine house that the Rule of Saint Benedict leaves to the discretion of the superior, are set out in its 'customary'. A ' customary' is the code adopted by a particular Benedictine house, adapting the Rule to local conditions.


title: Benedictines

text: In the Roman Catholic Church, according to the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a Benedictine abbey is a "religious institute" and its members are therefore members of the consecrated life. While Canon Law 588 §1 explains that Benedictine monks are "neither clerical nor lay", they can, however, be ordained.


title: Benedictines

text: Some monasteries adopt a more active ministry in living the monastic life, running schools or parishes; others are more focused on contemplation, with more of an emphasis on prayer and work within the confines of the cloister.


title: Benedictines

text: Benedictines' rules contained ritual purification, and inspired by Benedict of Nursia encouragement for the practice of therapeutic bathing; Benedictine monks played a role in the development and promotion of spas.


title: Benedictines

text: Benedictine monasticism is fundamentally different from other Western religious orders insofar as its individual communities are not part of a religious order with "Generalates" and "Superiors General". Each Benedictine house is independent and governed by an abbot.


title: Benedictines

text: In modern times, the various groups of autonomous houses (national, reform, etc.) have formed themselves loosely into congregations (for example, Cassinese, English, Solesmes, Subiaco, Camaldolese, Sylvestrines). These, in turn, are represented in the Benedictine Confederation that came into existence through Pope Leo XIII's Apostolic Brief ""Summum semper"" on 12 July 1893. Additionally, Pope Leo established the office of Abbot Primate as the abbot elected to represent this Confederation to the Vatican and to the world. The headquarters for the Benedictine Confederation and the Abbot Primate is the Primatial Abbey of Sant'Anselmo built by Pope Leo XIII and located in Rome, Italy.


title: Benedictines

text: In 1313 Bernardo Tolomei established the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet. The community adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict and received canonical approval in 1344. The Olivetans are part of the Benedictine Confederation.


title: Benedictines

text: The Rule of Saint Benedict is also used by a number of religious orders that began as reforms of the Benedictine tradition such as the Cistercians and Trappists. These groups are separate congregations and not members of the Benedictine Confederation.


title: Benedictines

text: Although Benedictines are traditionally Catholic, there are also some communities that follow the Rule of Saint Benedict within the Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lutheran Church.


title: Benedictines

text: Members of the Congregation of Saint Maur, a prerevolutionary French congregation of Benedictines known for their scholarship:


title: Benedictines

text: Benedictine Oblates endeavor to embrace the spirit of the Benedictine vow in their own life in the world. Oblates are affiliated with a particular monastery.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The 2022 season is the Philadelphia Eagles' 90th in the National Football League (NFL), their 20th playing home games at Lincoln Financial Field, their second under head coach Nick Sirianni, and seventh under general manager Howie Roseman since he returned to the position (twelfth overall). The team looks to win the NFC East for the first time since 2019. The Eagles started 8–0 for the first time in franchise history before their winning streak was snapped with a 32–21 upset loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 10. They improved on their 9–8 record from last year after a 40–33 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 12. With a 48–22 road win over the division rival New York Giants in Week 14, the Eagles clinched their second straight playoff berth, and their fifth in six seasons. After a close 25-20 road win over the Chicago Bears in Week 15, the Eagles matched their franchise-best 13-1 start in the 2004 season and their third 13+ win in franchise history 2004 and 2017 prior.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: For the third straight year, the Eagles were on the road to kick off the season. After the Lions scored on their opening drive, the Eagles would score 21 unanswered points. The Lions would try and rally with 21 points in the second half, but the Eagles would hang on and defeat the Lions for the second straight year. With the win, the Eagles started 1–0 for the ninth time since 2010 and for the second time under head coach Nick Sirianni.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: This week 2 matchup was thought to see two high powered offenses go at it in a possible high scoring affair. However, only the Eagles would show off their high powered offense. The Eagles would receive the ball and march down the field finishing with a 3 yard Jalen Hurts touchdown. Kicking off the second quarter, Jalen Hurts would connect with Quez Watkins on a 53 yard touchdown to double Philadelphia's lead to 14–0. The Vikings would counter that with a touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Irv Smith Jr. Later in the second quarter, Jalen Hurts would scramble and power his way in for a 26 yard touchdown (the longest from an Eagles QB since Donovan McNabb in 2002). The Eagles would close out the second quarter with a Jake Elliott 38 yard field goal. In the second half, the Eagles defense would step up and shut down the Vikings offense. The only glimmers of hope for Minnesota were a blocked field goal in the third quarter and a fourth-quarter intereception by former Eagle Jordan Hicks; in both instances, however, each of the ensuing Vikings drives ended in Eagles interceptions. Despite no second half points from either team, the Eagles looked to be the dominant team. The Eagles would go on to win and have their first 2–0 start since 2016. Furthermore, this game was by far Jalen Hurts' best performance throwing the ball and claimed by many media members his possible "breakout game." Jalen would finish 26 of 31 for 333 yards 3 total touchdowns and 1 interception with a passer rating of 108.7.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: In his first time facing the Eagles since being traded away from them, Carson Wentz was sacked 9 times and the Commanders only had 47 total yards of offense in the first half. Jalen Hurts threw for 300 yards in back-to-back games and threw touchdown passes to Dallas Goedert, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith in the second quarter. The third touchdown to Smith to make the score 24–0 was on the last play of the 1st half on 4th and Goal from the 1-yard line. Smith finished with 8 receptions for 169 yards, and the Eagles won 24–8. They became the first NFC team to hit the 3–0 mark and was the first time they accomplished that feat in six years.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars in a reunion with former Eagles head coach, Doug Pederson. Philadelphia entered the game as the lone unbeaten team in the league following the Miami Dolphins' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals the previous Thursday. The Jaguars jumped out to a quick 14–0 lead following a pick six by Andre Cisco and a 4 yard touchdown reception by Jamal Agnew. The Eagles rebounded with a dominant second quarter to take a 20–14 lead on touchdown runs by Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, and Kenneth Gainwell. The defense would also stymie Jacksonville throughout the game, forcing an interception and four Trevor Lawrence fumbles, including one that snuffed out any hope of a Jaguars comeback. With the 29–21 win, the Eagles improved to 4–0 for the first time since the 2004 season.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: Also with this win, Philadelphia defeated Jacksonville for the fourth straight time. The Eagles took their first-ever lead in their all-time series with the Jaguars: now leading 4–3 after initially trailing 0–3.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles withstood a late rally by the Cardinals and improved to 5–0 on the season. This was Philadelphia's first win in Arizona since the 2001 season, as well as their first ever win at State Farm Stadium.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles continued their 2nd quarter dominance, scoring 20 points on four consecutive drives. The Cowboys offense battled back in the 2nd half scoring touchdowns on two long drives to cut the deficit to 20–17, but DeVonta Smith scored a touchdown to make it a two-score game again. Cooper Rush threw his third interception, with the following drive leading to a missed field goal attempt. The Eagles ran out the clock and won 26–17. This was the Eagles' first win against the Cowboys since 2020, their first with Hurts at starting QB and Sirianni as head coach. They also started 6–0 for the third time in franchise history.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: This was played the same day as Game 5 of the 2022 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies, moved back by one day due to rain in Philadelphia earlier in the week. Estimates from Nielsen Media Research show the baseball game drew an average of five million more viewers, with a share of at least 50 in both Philadelphia and Houston. Meanwhile, the football game, originally scheduled to air on the Fox affiliates in both markets per NFL rules, moved to the MyNetworkTV affiliates in both markets.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles welcomed the surging Washington Commanders to Philadelphia for a rematch of their Week 3 meeting. Philadelphia started strong early, but the tables would turn in the second quarter once Washington got their run game going. The Commanders rallied behind a dominant ground attack and a lights-out defense, outscoring the Eagles 25–7 over the final three quarters to hand Philadelphia its first defeat of the season in a 32–21 upset. With the stunning loss, the Eagles fell to 8–1 and failed to become the first NFL team to start a season 9–0 since the Steelers did two seasons ago, who coincidentally also faced their first loss to Washington, who were then the Washington Football Team. Despite this loss, Philadelphia still tied a franchise record for their best start at 8–1.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: This was head coach Nick Sirianni's first return to Indianapolis since leaving the team in January 2021 to become the Eagles' head coach. Sirianni previously served as the Colts' offensive coordinator under then-head coach Frank Reich from 2018 to 2020, appearing in the playoffs twice in that span, and Sirianni's last game was the 2020 AFC Wild Card game, which was a 27–24 loss to the Buffalo Bills. After trailing 13–3 through three quarters, the Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter to stun the Colts 17–16. This victory marked the first time the Eagles won a game after trailing by 10 or more points entering the fourth quarter since 2010. The Eagles improved to 9–1, matching their win total from 2018, 2019, and 2021, and matching their best record through 10 games set in 1949, 1960, 1980, 2004, and 2017.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles put up 363 rushing yards against Green Bay, with both Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders rushing for over 100 yards each. While the Eagles defense gave up 33 points to the Packers, they intercepted Aaron Rodgers twice. Rodgers exited the game in the third quarter due to an injury and was replaced by Jordan Love, who threw a 63-yard touchdown to rookie wide receiver Christian Watson. The Eagles would clinch the victory with a 54-yard field goal from Jake Elliott. With the win, the Eagles improved to 10–1 (their first double digit win season since 2017) and maintained their lead in the NFC.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: A.J. Brown, against his former team, put up 119 yards and 2 touchdowns on 8 receptions. Philadelphia's defense held Titans running back Derrick Henry to just 30 yards on the day. With the win, the Eagles improved to 11–1, their best start in 12 games since 2004.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles improved to 12–1, clinching their second consecutive playoff berth, and their best start since 2004. The 48 points scored by the Eagles were the most since 2017 versus the Broncos.


title: 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season

text: The Eagles would go on to win their 13th game for the third time in franchise history (2017, 2004 prior) and their best start since 2004. After a shaky start with 2 interceptions, Jalen Hurts would settle in throwing for 315 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns. Those touchdowns would tie the most total touchdowns (35) by a quarterback in a season. A day after the game, it was revealed that Jalen Hurts had sprained his shoulder late in the third quarter. Impressively, Jalen went 6/9 for 102 yards and 104.9 rating with a sprained shoulder.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written-directed by Harish Shankar. Produced by Dil Raju, the film stars Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde. Devi Sri Prasad composed the music. It was released on 23 June 2017 and became one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of 2017, collecting approximately 115.10 crore ($17.67 million) in its theatrical run.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Duvvada Jagannadham Sastri is a cook working as a caterer from Vijayawada along with his Brahmin family. He also masquerades as DJ, a stylish and altruistic vigilante, who kills wrongdoers with the help of his mentor CI Puroshottam. At his friend Vignesh's wedding, he meets Pooja and falls for her independent nature.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Royyala Naidu is an actor and a builder, who also runs two fraud company called Agro Diamond and Naidu Constructions. Naidu appointed his secretary, Stephen Prakash to be the chairman of Agro Diamond, but Sameer Chandra, the CEO of Agro Diamond, learns that Stephen has transferred the money elsewhere and files a case against the company. After the wedding, Jagannadham finds out that his uncle had committed suicide and reads the suicide note which explains that his uncle booked an 1800-sq foot flat from Agro Diamond by spending all his savings but when he went to pay his final installment, he found that the company is bogus. Due to depression and the beratement from his own daughter, he committed suicide.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Jagannadham finds out from Purushottam about the scam of 900 crore ($138 million) orchestrated by Stephen. When Sameer, who agrees to become the witness in the court is about to get killed by hitmen hired by Stephen, DJ defeats Stephen and tells him at gunpoint to call his hitmen to abort the mission. Pooja's father who is the State Home Minister Pushpam, and also involved with Royyala Naidu in his crimes gets a marriage proposal from Naidu's son Avinash. When she meets Avinash at Abu Dhabi, she starts disliking him for his behaviour and learns that he suffers from Schizophrenia. Pooja realizes Jagannadham's love when she returns to India and confesses her love for Jagannadham to her father, who disapproves citing his status issues in society.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Pushpam and Naidu plan to kill Jagannadham. Naidu hires Stephen to do the job. Stephen lures Jagannadham with the help of his henchman, but Jagannadham overpowers them and kidnaps Stephen. DJ challenges Naidu that he'd find him and make him pay for his crimes; Naidu, who doesn't know about DJ hires an officer to find out about DJ. Jagannadham forcefully tries to interrogate Stephen about his allies but in vain. Pooja eventually arrives in Vijayawada to confess her love to Jagannadham and sends photos of her and Jagannadham to her father. He shows it to Naidu who gets shocked (Naidu was hiding in the car when Stephen was threatened at gunpoint by DJ). Naidu tells Pushpam to act like he agreed to the proposal. Naidu dresses up as one of the bodyguards of Pushpam where Pooja and Jagannadham's families meet each other, and Naidu finally recognizes that Jagannadham is DJ.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: The next day, Jagannadham's sister and Vignesh get attacked by Naidu's henchman where they're interrogated about the whereabouts of Stephen, and Jagannadham's family are also troubled by them. Jagannadham finally decides with Purushottam that he will put an end to Royyala Naidu. Jagannadham sends his family on a pilgrimage to keep them safe. Naidu's henchmen break into the house and ask Jagannadham whereabouts of Stephen. They beat him up when Jagannadham asks about their boss. When he's about to get killed, Jagannadham asks Naidu's henchman to remove the holy "rudraksha" (which is a penance to his father to not be involved in violence). When the "rudraksha" is removed, DJ kills all the goons who then reveal that Naidu is their boss. Jagannadham calls Pooja and reveals himself as DJ and asks her for information about Naidu's son Avinash.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Jagannadham goes to Abu Dhabi and uses Avinash with his mental disability to find out where Royyala Naidu is. Naidu kidnaps Purushottam. Avinash arrives at the hideout and beats up Jagannadham for cheating him. Jagannadham shows them the money and turns Avinash against his father. Jagannadham, with the help of Avinash's mental disability, shoots Naidu dead. Stephen Prakash announces to the scam victims to provide them with their houses and their lost income, but Avinash is taken away for police interrogation.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: After the success of "Sarrainodu" (2016), Allu Arjun announced that he will be collaborating for a Tamil-Telugu bilingual directed by N. Linguswamy, which was excpected to go on floors. Meanwhile in June 2016, he announced that his next film will be directed by Harish Shankar, and produced by Dil Raju. The film marks the second collaboration of Raju, with Arjun after "Arya" (2004) and "Parugu" (2008). While the makers are yet to finalise the cast and crew members, Devi Sri Prasad announced that he will compose music for the film. Shruti Haasan and Kajal Aggarwal were approached to play the lead actress but Pooja Hegde was eventually finalized for that role. Rao Ramesh is signed to play Royyalu Naidu, which is based on the character played by Ramesh's father Rao Gopal Rao in "Aa Okkati Adakku" (1992).


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: On 28 August 2016, the film makers announced the title of the film as "Duvvada Jagannatham". The film was launched on 29 August 2016, at the office of the production house in Hyderabad.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Principal photography of the film was supposed to commence on 21 October 2016. However, the first leg of the shoot began on 4 November 2016. The filming briefly delayed after Arjun took a break, to spend some quality time with his wife Sneha Reddy, who is expecting her second child. The shooting was later resumed in January 2017.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: The production crew also chose Abu Dhabi as a filming location, as they would benefit from the Emirate's 30% film production rebate. The film was shot across Abu Dhabi Global Market, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Intercontinental Hotel, Yas Links Golf Club and Galleria Mall.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: The film team placed a statue of Lord Shiva in Chennakeshava Temple in Belur, which was found against the custom and tradition of the temple and was opposed by the temple priests, which led to stall the shoot. The makers planned to shift the shoot to Mysore, until the film team obtained permission from the Department of History and Archaeology for the shoot and resumed it. The film completed the shooting of major action episodes at the aluminum factory in Hyderabad on 21 April 2017. On 15 May 2017, it was announced that the principal shoot of the film got wrapped.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: The film's music is composed by Devi Sri Prasad, who is collaborating with Harish Shankar for the second time and with Allu Arjun for the seventh time. The album consists of five tracks with Jonnavittula Ramalingeswara Rao, Sri Mani, Bhaskarabhatla, Sahithi and Balaji penning the lyrics.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: On 3 May 2017, the first single of the film "DJ Saranam Bhaje Bhaje" was released through the YouTube channel of Aditya Music, the music label which bought the film's audio rights. The promo of the song "Gudilo Badilo Madilo Vodilo" was unveiled on 15 May, and two days later, on 17 May 2017, the full song was released and got wide reception. The film's audio was released on 21 May 2017, at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: The film's release was originally scheduled for 19 May 2017, but it was postponed to 30 June 2017, due to the delay in the film's production. In April 2017, a new release date was scheduled as 23 June 2017, coinciding with the Ramzan weekend. The theatrical rights of the film were sold to . The film's dubbed versions were released in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Bengali.


title: DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham

text: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" stated "The film could have been much more gripping but for being punctuated with a handful of songs, quite a few high-decibel ones at that. At 156 minutes, "DJ" is bloated and loses its tempo now and then. While some of the dialogues are fun, others make you cringe." She compared the film with S. Shankar directorial Gentleman (1993 film) where a Brahmin protagonist moonlights as a thief, steals from the rich and gives to the poor.