India
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- January 26, 1950; amended several times
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law; partial review of legislative acts by the judiciary
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and People's Assembly (Lok Sabha)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court, judges appointed by the President and serve until 65 years of age
RELIGIONS
80% Hindu; 11% Muslims; 2% Christians; 2% Sikhs; Buddhist minorities and others
From the country
- MAY 18, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN WHO RAPED AND KILLED GIRL SENTENCED TO DEATH
a court in Gujarat, India, sentenced Ramesh Rathod to death for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in 1999.
- MAY 17, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. AIMB DEMANDS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR US SOLDIERS WHO INSULTED KORAN
the All India Minority Board (AIMB) asked the US President George W Bush to award capital punishment to those soldiers who had insulted the holy Koran and seek public apology for their ''shameful acts''.
- MAY 11, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. NO CONSENSUS ON ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY, HOME MINISTER
in the absence of a consensus on whether the death sentence should be abolished, Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the law would continue to be put into practice in its current form.
- MAY 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR UNION LEADER MURDER
the Jharkhand High Court, India, sentenced Shiv Shankar Singh and Umesh Singh to death in connection with the murder of trade union leader Gurudas Chatterjee on April 14, 2000.
- APRIL 30, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FAMILY MEMBERS
the Additional Sessions court in Champua, in the Indian state of Orissa, sentenced Sukra Munda to death after convicting him of killing his parents and one of his sisters with an axe.
- APRIL 28, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH PENALTY TOO HARSH JUDGMENT, LAWYER FOR SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN AMERICAN CENTRE ATTACK
the following are transcripts of an interview with Anirban Roy, lawyer for Aftab Ansar and six others condemned to death on April 27 for the attack on Calcutta’s American Centre on January 22, 2002.
- APRIL 28, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. AWARD DEATH PENALTY TO POACHERS, MINISTER
creating environmental awareness and awarding death penalty to poachers were essential if adventure tourism was to succeed in India, Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhary said.
- APRIL 26, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER AMERICAN CENTRE ATTACK
a court in Calcutta, India, sentenced seven men to death over the killing of five policemen guarding US government offices in the city on January 22, 2002.
- APRIL 25, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS WIVES
it was reported that Saibanna, facing trial for murdering his first wife Malakawwa, married another woman, Nagamma.
- APRIL 25, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. YOUTH SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF GIRL
first Additional Sessions Judge, K. Sasidharan Nair, sentenced a 27-year-old youth, Thomas alias Shikhamani, to death
- APRIL 20, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India abstained from the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
India abstained from the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- APRIL 17, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CHILDREN'S MURDER
for the first time in recent history, a sessions court in Bangalore, India, sentenced to death three youths for kidnapping and murdering two children at Eklaspura village in Raichur.