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
APRIL 27, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: FIVE GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR POISONING ILLICIT LIQUOR
A court in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai sentenced to death five persons who poisoned illicit liquor that left 13 people dead in 2000.
APRIL 27, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYUTTARAKHAND (INDIA): SOLITARY CONFINEMENT UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The Uttarakhand High Court declared the practice of solitary confinement unconstitutional.
APRIL 22, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: PRESIDENT SIGNS ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE DEATH PENALTY TO RAPISTS OF GIRLS BELOW 12 YEARS
President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated an ordinance that provides for stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.
APRIL 21, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA APPROVES DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILD RAPISTS
India’s cabinet approved the death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years amid outrage in the country after a string of horrific cases of sexual violence.
APRIL 13, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ODISHA COURT AWARDS DEATH SENTENCE TO NINE MEN IN GUNUPUR TRIPLE MURDER CASE
A Gunupur court in Odisha awarded capital punishment to nine men convicted of murdering three persons of a family in Gunupur in 2016.
APRIL 10, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 6-YR-OLD BOY
A court in Pilibhit (UP) sentenced a 35-year-old man to be hanged to death for killing a six-year-old boy in Amariya township last year.
MARCH 9, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: RAJASTHAN PASSES BILL FOR DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE OF GIRLS AGED 12 & BELOW
Rajasthan approved a bill providing for the death penalty to those convicted of raping girls under 12 years of age.
FEBRUARY 28, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN IN MP GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPING, KILLING MINOR
A court in Shahdol (Madhya Pradesh) awarded death sentence to a 22-year-old man for raping and killing a four-year-old girl last May.
- FEBRUARY 19, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 7-YEAR-OLD HASINI'S RAPIST AND KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH
The young engineer accused of raping and murdering 7-year-old Hasini in Chennai last February was sentenced to death by a Chengalpet Court, Tamil Nadu.
JANUARY 15, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDERING MINOR GIRL
The Ernakulam district court sentenced a man to death for murdering a four-year-old girl at Chottanikkara in 2013.
- JANUARY 1, 2018IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art. 21 of the Constitution
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art. 21 of the Constitution
- DECEMBER 12, 2017IndiaDEATH PENALTY
TAMIL NADU (INDIA): 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SUSPECTED HONOUR KILLING OF DALIT MAN
Six persons were sentenced to death by a court in connection with the suspected honour killing of a 22-year old Dalit man in full public view in nearby Udumalpet in March last year.