New Delhi, Aug. 19 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to issue any judicial mandate for replacing hanging with another "less painful or humane" method of execution, holding that no case had been made out for reconsidering its 1983 judgment upholding hanging as constitutionally valid. At the same time, a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made it clear that its dismissal of the challenge would not foreclose a future constitutional examination if compelling scientific, medical or empirical evidence were to emerge showing that the factual and scientific basis of the 1983 ruling had been materially displaced. The Supreme Court bench also left it open to the Union government to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing method through an expert body comprising specialists in law, forensic medicine, neuroscience, penology and allied disciplines to examine whether an alternative could better minimise unnecessary pain while preserving the dignity of condemned prisoners.P4...