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 25, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 12 MEMBERS OF NOTORIOUS ROBBER-GANG SENTENCED TO DEATH
A local court in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, on 24 May 2021 sentenced 12 members of a notorious gang to death and seven others to life imprisonment for highway robberies and murders.
MAY 24, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: PATNA HIGH COURT ACQUITS 13 ACCUSED IN SENARI MASSACRE CASE
The Patna High Court on 21 May 2021 acquitted 13 accused persons in the Senari massacre case in which 34 persons were killed on 18 March 1999 by an erstwhile Maoist group in Senari village in central Bihar.
MAY 8, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN AWARDED DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDERING WIFE, RAPING DAUGHTER
In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, The Pudukkottai Mahila Court on 6 May 2021 awarded death penalty to a man for murdering his wife and sexually assaulting his daughter.
- APRIL 28, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MADRAS HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF CONVICT TO LIFE
The Madras High Court on 26 April 2021 reduced the death sentence awarded by a lower court to life term in a sensational rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Coimbatore in 2019, which sent shock waves in Tamil Nadu.
APRIL 20, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: TRAIN BLAST CONVICT DIES OF COVID-19
Kamal Ansari (51), a death row convict of 2006 Mumbai serial train blast case, died of Covid-19 in a Nagpur hospital on 19 April 2021.
- APRIL 10, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING PREGNANT WIFE
Mahila Sessions Court Judge G. Prathibha Devi on 8 April 2021 awarded the death penalty to Bathula Nambiar alias Sujith, who killed his wife, Sailaja (29) by setting her ablaze.
APRIL 3, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A special POCSO court in Firozabad (UP) on 1 April 2021 sentenced a man to death for raping a 10-year-old girl in December 2020, disposing of the case in a “record” three and a half months.
- MARCH 29, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: FOUR GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR HONOUR KILLING IN JHARKHAND
The district court in Jharkhand’s Koderma on 25 March 2021 awarded death sentence to four people convicted in an honour-killing case. The four convicts include the victim’s parents and her uncle and aunt.
MARCH 23, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE IMPOSED ON YOUNGSTER CONVICTED FOR MURDERING NEIGHBOUR
The Madras High Court on 17 March 2021 commuted from death to life sentence the punishment imposed by a trial court on an unemployed youngster convicted for murdering his 54-year-old woman neighbour in a residential complex.
MARCH 20, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH 26 DAYS AFTER RAPING 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A special POCSO court in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district on 17 March 2021 awarded death penalty to a man for raping a 5-year-old girl 26 days ago and appreciated the swift action by the police in the case.
MARCH 17, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ARIZ KHAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF INSPECTOR MOHAN CHAND SHARMA
A Delhi court on 15 March 2021 awarded the death penalty to convict Ariz Khan for the murder of inspector Mohan Chand Sharma in the 2008 Batla House encounter case.
MARCH 11, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MIGRANT WORKER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2018 RAPE & MURDER CASE IN KERALA
A migrant worker from Assam on 8 March 2021 was sentenced to death in Kerala by the District and Sessions Court for raping and murdering a 60-year-old woman at Puthenvelikkara in 2018.