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 25, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS WIVES
it was reported that Saibanna, facing trial for murdering his first wife Malakawwa, married another woman, Nagamma.
- APRIL 25, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. YOUTH SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF GIRL
first Additional Sessions Judge, K. Sasidharan Nair, sentenced a 27-year-old youth, Thomas alias Shikhamani, to death
- APRIL 20, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India abstained from the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
India abstained from the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- APRIL 17, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CHILDREN'S MURDER
for the first time in recent history, a sessions court in Bangalore, India, sentenced to death three youths for kidnapping and murdering two children at Eklaspura village in Raichur.
- APRIL 14, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER
the Supreme Court of India upheld the death penalty imposed by a trial court in Assam on Holiram Bordoloi, “a village leader who killed three people to show his supremacy among others”.
- APRIL 13, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. THREE FAMILY MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TRIPLE MURDER CASE
a local court in Sonepat, India, sentenced three members of a family to death in a triple murder case.
- APRIL 12, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. CAMPAIGN AGAINST DEATH PENALTY GAINS SUPPORT
the film actors Murali and K.B. Ganesh Kumar, MLA, were among those who had signed the human rights memorial mass memorandum against death penalty in India.
- MARCH 29, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 11-YR-OLD GIRL
the second fast track court in Cooch Behar, India, sentenced Nepal Mandal to death for raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1999.
- MARCH 13, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. 'INDIA CARRIED OUT 1,422 EXECUTIONS IN A DECADE', RIGHTS GROUP
the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), a leading Indian civil rights group, said that 1,422 executions were carried out in a single decade (1953-63) across the country.
- MARCH 10, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. END TO BEHEADING OF NATIONALS IN SAUDI ARABIA URGED
the Gandheeya Navasakthi Sanghom party urged the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to take immediate steps to end the beheading of Indian citizens by the Saudi Arabian authorities on charges of drug trafficking.
- MARCH 9, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH PENALTY FOR TWO CONVICTED OF RAPING AND KILLING 8 YEAR OLD
the Kamrup District and Sessions Court in Guwahati, India, sentenced to death two people in connection with the rape and murder of a minor girl.
- MARCH 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. HIGH COURT CONVERTS TIKA RAM'S DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
the High Court in New Delhi, India, commuted into life imprisonment the death penalty passed on Tika Ram for the 1994 murders of five members of the Sharmas family in the city's Vasant Kunj area.