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 9, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UTTARAKHAND MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR SODOMISING AND MURDERING 5-YEAR OLD
A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court of Uttarakhand on 6 March 2021 awarded death penalty to a man for sodomising and murdering a 5-year-old child in US Nagar. His parents were also sent to prison for concealing the crime, said an o
MARCH 6, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BIHAR COURT SENTENCES 9 TO DEATH IN HOOCH TRAGEDY CASE
Nine persons were sentenced to death and four women to life imprisonment in Bihar by Gopalganj Additional District Judge-2 Luv Kush Kumar on 5 March 2021 after they were convicted in the Khajurbanni locality hooch tragedy.
FEBRUARY 25, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HIGH COURT ACQUITS MAN FROM DEATH SENTENCE, ORDERS PROBE AGAINST INVESTIGATING TEAM
The Bombay High Court while acquitting a man from a death sentence for raping and killing a minor girl, on 25 February 2021 ordered a probe against the investigating team for misplacing a vital piece of evidence.
FEBRUARY 24, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP COURT AWARDS DEATH SENTENCE TO ACCUSED IN RAPE AND MURDER CASE OF MINOR GIRL
The Additional District Judge (ADJ) of Hardoi, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on 22 February 2021 awarded death sentence to an accused for rape and murder of a one-and-half year old minor girl.
- FEBRUARY 22, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ‘PRESIDENT UNCLE, PLEASE FORGIVE MY MOTHER’, DEATH ROW CONVICT SHABNAM'S SON SEEKS MERCY
The son of a death row convict in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha on 18 February 2021 appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to commute her death sentence.
FEBRUARY 22, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BIHAR MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPING, MURDERING MINOR GIRL
A court in Bihar’s Gopalganj district on 20 February 2021 sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl in August last year.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING, KILLING MENTALLY RETARDED MINOR BOY
The Mahila Court on 18 February 2021 awarded death penalty to a 34-year-old man hailing from Gujarat for sexually assaulting and murdering a mentally retarded 17-year-old minor boy.
- FEBRUARY 17, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: PATNA SCHOOL PRINCIPAL GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPING CLASS 5 STUDENT
The principal and a teacher of a school in Patna on 15 February 2021 were awarded death sentence and imprisonment for life, respectively, by a court for the rape of a Class 5 student.
JANUARY 27, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 65% OF DEATH SENTENCES IN 2020 INVOLVED SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi, published the fifth edition of the “Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistic Report”
JANUARY 23, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BROTHER, UNCLE GET DOUBLE DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPING, BEHEADING 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN MP
Terming it as rarest of the rare case, a court in Madhya Pradesh on 20 January 2021 sentenced a 21-year-old man and his 42-year-old uncle to death for raping and beheading a 12-year-old girl.
- JANUARY 21, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: GHAZIABAD MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPING, MURDERING FRIEND'S 2-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER
A special POCSO court sentenced a man to death on 20 January 2021 for raping and murdering a two-year-old girl in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), the verdict coming within a month of the crime.
JANUARY 19, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SURENDER KOLI GETS 12TH DEATH SENTENCE IN NITHARI MURDER CASE
A Special CBI court in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on 17 January 2021 awarded death sentence to Surinder Koli in yet another case related to one of the country’s most sensational case — the Nithari serial rape and murder case.