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 5, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY TO 20-YEAR JAIL IN MINOR’S RAPE-MURDER CASE
The Supreme Court on 19 April 2022 commuted the death sentence of a man, who had sexually assaulted and killed a four-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh in April 2013, to 20-year imprisonment.
MAY 3, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 5 SENTENCED TO DEATH, 1 TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR 2015 DOUBLE MURDER
Five people were sentenced to death and one to life imprisonment on 25 April 2022 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, for murdering two persons over a land dispute in Aligarh, in 2015.
MAY 3, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BOMBAY HIGH COURT PERMITS 2 CONVICTS ON DEATH ROW TO PURSUE STUDIES WHILE IN PRISON
The Bombay High Court permitted 2 convicts sentenced to death in 2017 for raping and killing a minor girl to pursue their studies through open university while in prison.
APRIL 11, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: THREE GET DEATH SENTENCE IN ASSAM FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF TWO TRIBAL GIRLS
Three persons were awarded death sentence on 8 April 2022 by a fast-track court in Assam for the rape and murder of two tribal girls last year.
MARCH 23, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR HONOUR KILLING
A court in Ahmedabad on 15 March 2022 punished one Hardik Chavda (27) with death for killing his pregnant sister and brother-in-law in a case of honour killing in Sanand town in September 2018.
- MARCH 9, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDER, RAPE OF WOMAN AND DAUGHTER IN GUJARAT
A court in Gujarat on 7 March 2022 sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a woman and her 11-year-old daughter in 2018, a case that had triggered national outrage. His accomplice was given life imprisonment on the charge of murder.
MARCH 2, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN FROM PUNE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING, RAPING AND KILLING TWO-YEAR-OLD
The Pune court on 28 February 2022 pronounced the death penalty to a 38-year-old man in a case related to sexual assault and murder of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl.
- FEBRUARY 27, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: BOMBAY HIGH COURT SETS ASIDE DEATH PENALTY IN RAPE AND MURDER CASE; ACQUITS ACCUSED OF MURDER, UPHOLDS RAPE CHARGE
The Bombay High Court on 23 February 2022 quashed the death sentence of a man convicted of killing and raping a girl on the ground that the accusation of murder could not be proven.
FEBRUARY 20, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 38 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2008 BOMBINGS
A court in India on 18 February 2022 sentenced 38 people to death and ordered life in prison for 11 others over a series of bomb blasts in 2008 that killed dozens in the western city of Ahmedabad.
FEBRUARY 14, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF FOUR-YEAR-OLD
A POCSO court in Rajasthan has awarded death sentence to a man for raping and killing a four-year-old girl, police officials said in Jaipur on 11 February 2022.
FEBRUARY 1, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 488 CONVICTS ON DEATH ROW AT THE END OF 2021
There are about 488 convicts on death row across India at the end of December 2021, the highest since 2004.
- JANUARY 27, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: BIHAR POSCO COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR RAPE OF SIX-YEAR-OLD
A special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on 26 January 2022 sentenced a 48-year-old man to death for the rape of a six-year-old girl in Bihar’s Araria.