India has opposed a UN resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, saying it goes against Indian statutory law and the sovereign right of every country to determine their own legal system. But it supported an amendment reaffirming sovereign right to develop domestic legal systems.
India’s representative Mayank Joshi said every State had a sovereign right to determine its own legal system, which was why he had voted for the amendment.
But the counsellor at India’s UN Mission said he had voted against the resolution “because it contravened statutory law in India.”
The resolution was, however, adopted with 115 votes in favour to 38 against, with 31 abstentions following an “intense discussion,” said a statement on the UN website.