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
- NOVEMBER 16, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING BROTHER'S CHILDREN
in Jammu, India, Second Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Chatterji Koul sentenced Vijay Kumar to death for killing his brother's three children aged 8, 7 and 4 in front of their parents in 2000.
- NOVEMBER 13, 2009NepalDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TWO NEPALI RAPE-AND-MURDER CONVICTS GET DEATH SENTENCE
in Ambala, India, two Nepali youths were sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl
- NOVEMBER 12, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MURDER CASE
in Puducherry, India, Second Additional Sessions Judge Siddarthar sentenced S Sreekumar and K Kumaran, both from Madurai, to death for killing Sankar from Subramaniyapuram in January 2001 in a rouse to get money off a leisure centre owner.
- NOVEMBER 9, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: PLEA FOR ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
Justice Ajit Singh Bains, president of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation, appealed for the abolition of the capital punishment in India.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2009Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS 1 INDIAN, 2 LANKANS FOR MURDER
Two Sri Lankans, one of them a woman, and an Indian were beheaded by the sword in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for theft and murder, the Saudi interior ministry said.
- NOVEMBER 1, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MERCY FOR MAN ON DEATH ROW SINCE 1998
a man identified as Govindasami, who had been on death row in India since 1998, had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by President Pratibha Patil.
- OCTOBER 30, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: BAJRANGI'S AIDE GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDER
a sessions court in Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh, India...
- OCTOBER 30, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: COURT AWARDS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT TO THREE IN BIHAR
at a local court in Bihar, India, Additional Sessions Judge Upendra Bhushan Mishra sentenced Dipak Rai, Jagat Rai and Bacha Babu Rai to death
- OCTOBER 30, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC ALLOWS REVIEW OF ITS DEATH PENALTY DECISION
the Indian Supreme Court allowed a review after restoring the death penalty of a murder convict without giving him a hearing.
- OCTOBER 29, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE
at a local court in Ropar, India, Additional Sessions Judge Mandeep Pannu awarded the death sentence to Jagjit Singh for the murder of three members of a family.
- OCTOBER 28, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: PC RECOMMENDS CLEMENCY TO DEATH ROW CONVICT
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has recommended to the President commutation of the death sentence of a prisoner in Tamil Nadu, R Govindaswami.
- OCTOBER 18, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH PENALTY BY UNLF
the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) in Imphal, India, awarded the death penalty to Pukhrambam Mangoljao for killing Soram Prabhakar, alias Thoi, 5, after snatching gold earrings from him.