India, Oct. 16 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Union government to consider whether a condemned prisoner could be given the option of choosing between hanging and lethal injection, observing that methods of execution across the world have undergone significant change since the colonial-era practice of death by hanging was codified in India.

A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra, who has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which mandates that a person sentenced to death "shall be hanged by the neck till he is dead." This provision has been replaced by Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya...