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
- MARCH 15, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH FOR DRUG PEDDLING CHALLENGED
the Indian Harm Reduction Network, a consortium of NGOs for humane drug policies, filed a petition with the Gujarat high court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 31A of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which prescribe
- MARCH 15, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TWO GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING FOUR PEOPLE
an Additional Sessions Judge (II) in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, India, sentenced Durgadeen and Ishwardas, from Natarra village, to death for murdering four people over a family dispute on December 5, 2000.
MARCH 15, 2011Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: PHILANTHROPIST PAYS BLOOD MONEY, FOUR INDIANS ON DEATH ROW PARDONED
an Indian father pardoned four Indian expatriates who were found guilty of murdering
- MARCH 11, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED FOR 5
Justices Mittal and Jeyapaul of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in India commuted five death sentences to 20 years imprisonment each. Manoj, 23, and Babli, 19, were murdered in June 2007 after they married against their families' wishes
- MARCH 9, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC STAYS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE MURDER
Justices Reddy and Nijjaar of the Indian Supreme Court stayed the death sentence of B A Umesh of Karnataka, for raping and murdering widow Jayashri in 1998.
- MARCH 3, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: FIVE IN GUJARAT WAITING FOR THE GALLOWS
“So far there are five different people from Gujarat state who have been ordered to be hanged and their applications are pending in courts,” additional director-general of police (prisons) PC Thakur said in India. However, sources said that the exact stat
- MARCH 3, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: PARDON FOR DEATH ROW CONVICTS
Indian President Pratibha Patil pardoned four people on death row.
- MARCH 2, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: CONVICTS ON DEATH ROW NOT TO BE KEPT IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT: HC
from now, convicts facing the death penalty and confined in various jails of Punjab, Haryana and UT, Chandigarh in India must not be kept in solitary confinement.
- MARCH 2, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE FAVOURS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR HIJACKERS
in India, the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture on the Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill 2010 favoured the death penalty for hijackers
- MARCH 2, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: JUDGE SLAMS GOVT FOR DELAY IN HANGING AFZAL GURU
Indian Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra, who sentenced the December 13, 2001...
- MARCH 2, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF KILLER OF WIFE, 4 DAUGHTERS
Justices Harjit Singh Bedi and C K Prasad of the Indian Supreme Court commuted the death penalty of Vishweshwar Kol for killing his second wife Leelawati Bai and four daughters on October 19, 2003, in Madhya Pradesh, to life imprisonment.
- MARCH 1, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 6 GET DEATH PENALTY AFTER 15 YRS OF TRIAL
in India, Kathua Principal Sessions Judge Jang Bhadur Singh Jamwal sentenced six people to death for killing Yash Paul Singh alias Boolla, a royalty contractor, on April 7, 1995.