Guwahati, Aug. 18 -- The Supreme Court has declined to replace hanging as the prescribed method for carrying out death sentences in India, while allowing the issue to be reconsidered if future scientific or medical evidence points to a less painful alternative.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta rejected a plea seeking a change in the existing execution procedure, finding that there was insufficient ground to reopen the Supreme Court's earlier ruling that upheld hanging.

The petition, filed by senior advocate Rishi Malhotra, challenged the use of hanging under Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It argued that the method could subject condemned prisoners to prolonged suffering and raised questions about thei...