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
AUGUST 4, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF MINOR GIRL
The Vijayawada Special POCSO Act Court in Andhra Pradesh on 4 August 2020 awarded death penalty to an accused, Barlapudi Pentaiah, 43, alias Aaya, who raped and murdered an eight-year-old girl in Bhavanipuram area.
JULY 8, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BENGAL’S SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN RAPE AND MURDER CASE
A 38-year-old man was sentenced to death on 6 July 2020 in a rape and murder case by a district court in south Bengal’s East Burdwan district, police said.
JUNE 23, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MADRAS HC SETS ASIDE DEATH SENTENCE OF FIVE ACCUSED IN TAMIL NADU HONOUR KILLING CASE; GIRL'S FATHER ACQUITTED
The Madras high court acquitted on 22 June 2020 a man found guilty of the daylight killing of his son-in-law, a Dalit, and commuted the death sentence handed to five others in connection with the gruesome crime that sparked public outrage in Tamil Nadu ov
JUNE 17, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO AWARD DEATH PENALTY RETROSPECTIVELY
The Supreme Court on 15 June 2020 refused to award death penalty to a convict, who committed rape and murder of a nine-year-old child last year in Telangana.
- JUNE 3, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ALLAHABAD HC ACQUITS MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY LOWER COURT
The Allahabad High Court on 2nd June 2020 acquitted a man, who was awarded death penalty by a local court for murdering his mother, wife and a four-year-old son in Tanda, Ambedkar Nagar, in 2013.
MAY 23, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR KILLING SIX PEOPLE
A court in Uttar Pradesh on 21 May 2020 awarded death sentence to a person in connection with the murder of six members of a family seven years ago over a property dispute.
- APRIL 26, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR KIDNAPPING, MURDER OF MINOR COMMUTED
The Supreme Court on 24 April 2020 commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to two men for murdering an eight-year-old son of a dentist couple in Nagpur in 2014 after kidnapping him for ransom.
APRIL 1, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ONE GETS DEATH, 11 LIFE TERM IN TRIPLE MURDER CASE
A court in Assam on 13 March 2020 sentenced one man to death and sentenced 11 others to life imprisonment for killing three members of a family in Majuli district on suspicion of practising witch-craft in 2012.
MARCH 31, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GUJARAT MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPING, KILLING 3-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A court in Rajkot in Gujarat on 17 March 2020 sentenced a man to death for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in February 2018.
MARCH 20, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: FOUR MEN EXECUTED FOR BRUTAL 2012 DELHI BUS RAPE AND MURDER
India hanged four men on 20 March 2020 who were convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012, in a case that shocked the world and shamed the country over its appalling record for crimes against women.
- MARCH 17, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 3 CONVICTS GET DEATH PENALTY FOR GANG RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR GIRL IN 4-DAY TRIAL
A Jharkhand court on 3 March 2020 sentenced three persons to death for the gangrape and murder of a six-year-old girl, in a judgement that came in less than a month after the crime was committed.
- MARCH 10, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY CITING CONVICT’S MENTAL STATE
The Supreme Court on 5 March 2020 commuted the death sentence of a man who murdered three children aged between eight and four, concluding that he was suffering from “extreme mental disturbance” at the time of the “abominable crime”.