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
- MAY 11, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC DIVIDED ON SURAT RAPE AND MURDER CASE VERDICT
a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court pronounced a divided judgement in the 1999 rape and murder case of a 10-year-old girl in Surat, India.
- MAY 9, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC COMMUTES LIFE SENTENCE
a man sentenced to death for killing his wife and three children had his sentence commuted by the Delhi High Court in India
- MAY 6, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH FOR DOUBLE MURDER
a 27-year-old man was sentenced to death in India by additional sessions judge AM Tamboli for robbing and murdering his senior citizen employers
- MAY 5, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: CENTRE SENDS FINAL OPINION TO PRESIDENT ON 27 MERCY PETITIONS
the Indian government sent its final opinion to the President on 27 of the 29 mercy petitions of death row convicts.
- MAY 2, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC HANDS DOWN DEATH SENTENCE TO SIX FOR MURDERING FAMILY
Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma of the Indian Supreme Court sentenced six convicts to death for the murder of five family members on June 5, 2003.
- MAY 1, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF GIRL, 4
in Madanapalle, India, Second Additional District magistrate Ganesh Babu sentenced Golla Appaiah, 34, to death for raping and murdering a minor girl on August 29, 2007
- APRIL 30, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY IN NASIK MURDER CASE
the Indian Supreme Court upheld the death penalty of six convicts involved in the sensational Nasik murder case.
- APRIL 29, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE REFERRED TO SUPREME COURT BENCH
the Indian Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Ramesh Bhai Chandi Bhai Rathod for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Surat district of Gujarat in 1999.
- APRIL 29, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: FATHER-IN-LAW GETS DEATH
in Thrissur, India, District and Sessions Judge B Kemal Pasha sentenced Mammikutty, 60, to hang for murder.
- APRIL 28, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC REFERS BACK DEATH SENTENCE CASE TO LOWER COURT
the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court in India referred back a petition of death sentence to the lower court citing that the "convict failed to get enough chances to prove his credentials."
- APRIL 26, 2009Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: INDIAN SPARED DEATH SENTENCE, RETURNS HOME
Indian national Abu Rafe, 27, who was sentenced to death by the Abha Central Court in Saudi Arabia in 2007 for murder, was set free by the same court.
APRIL 22, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: APEX COURT CONFIRMS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KERALA MURDER
the Indian Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence of a Kerala man for