Police personnel involved in fake encounters should be hanged, supreme court judge Markandeya Katju has remarked, because “it is nothing but a cold-blooded murder”. True, the so-called fake encounters are human rights violations and the last couple of decades have seen a rise in their number. Some police personnel kill the accused believing they are delivering instant justice, some do it for other motives and very rarely there is a genuine ‘encounter’. There can be no leniency in dealing with such crimes committed by police, but is hanging them the only option – especially when we are not hanging those sentenced to death?