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
JULY 28, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES RAPIST'S DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT REMISSION
The Supreme Court of India on July 16, 2025 commuted a man's death penalty in a minor's rape and murder case to life in prison without remission.
JULY 23, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HIGH COURT ACQUITS 12 MEN IN MUMBAI TRAIN BOMBINGS THAT KILLED 187
A court in India has acquitted 12 men who had been convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed 187 people and injured more than 800.
- JULY 17, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC ACQUITS MAN ON DEATH ROW, ISSUES NATIONWIDE GUIDELINES ON DNA EVIDENCE HANDLING
The Supreme Court of India on July 15, 2025 acquitted a man on death row in a murder case, outlining the gaps in forensic evidence and issued countrywide directions on handling of DNA samples.
JULY 7, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING SIX MEMBERS OF A FAMILY
The IV additional district and sessions court in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) on June 27, 2025 sentenced 50-year-old Battina Appalaraju to death for killing six members of a family, including two children, in a revenge killing in April 2021.
JUNE 25, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 11-YEAR OLD GIRL
A special Pocso court in Jalpaiguri sentenced 31-year old Haripada Roy to death for the rape and murder of an 11-year old girl, categorising it as a "rarest of rare" case, Times of India reported on June 11, 2025.
JUNE 12, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KOLKATA HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF EX WHO STABBED GIRL 45 TIMES
Calcutta High Court on June 11, 2025 commuted the death penalty awarded to a 24-year-old, for stabbing his ex-girlfriend 45 times, to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years.
JUNE 4, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 2 MEN GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING MINOR SISTERS
A special SC/ST court in Hathras (Uttar Pradesh) has sentenced two men in their 30s to death for murdering two minor sisters in their sleep and attempting to kill their parents over a property dispute, Times of India reported on May 30, 2025.
JUNE 3, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 2 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 8-YR-OLD GIRL
A special court in Madhubani (Bihar) on May 31, 2025 sentenced two men, Sushil Rai and Om Prakash Jha, to death for the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old dalit girl.
MAY 28, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE IN CHILD MURDER CASE
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man convicted of abducting and murdering his six-year-old nephew, instead sentencing him to life imprisonment until his last breath.
- MAY 20, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT FREES MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 2013 RAPE-MURDER CASE
The Supreme Court of India has acquitted a man accused of raping and murdering a child in 2013 in Maharashtra’s Thane, citing the probe agency’s “shabby investigation” and the “overzealous” approach of the court that sentenced him, First Post reported on
MAY 12, 2025IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GET THEM LEGAL ASSISTANCE, SAYS HC ON 3 INDIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN INDONESIA
The Delhi high court on May 2, 2025 directed the Indian Consulate in Indonesia to take urgent steps to ensure proper legal representation and assistance for three Indian nationals sentenced to death by an Indonesian court.
MAY 6, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GUJARAT COURT HANDS DOWN 'DOUBLE DEATH SENTENCE' TO MAN FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF 7-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A sessions court in Gujarat on April 25, 2025 sentenced a man, 30, to a double death penalty in the case of raping and strangulating a 7-year-old girl to death in October 2019 in a village in Anand.