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 17, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAHARASHTRA MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 5 FAMILY MEMBERS
A court in Maharashtra's Nagpur on April 15, 2023 sentenced a man to death for killing five members of his family over a property dispute.
APRIL 12, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BIHAR GANGSTER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR COURT BLAST
A court in Bihar's Arrah on April 5, 2023 sentenced dreaded gangster Lambu Sharma to death for the 2019 bomb explosion in the district court that killed two people, including the woman tasked with planting it.
MARCH 29, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 4 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2008 JAIPUR SERIAL BLASTS ACQUITTED BY HIGH COURT
The Rajasthan high court on 29 March 2023 acquitted four men sentenced to death by a trial court for nine blasts that went off in Jaipur in May 2008, killing 71 people and injuring over 170.
MARCH 28, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT RELEASES DEATH ROW PRISONER AFTER 28 YEARS ON FINDING HIM TO BE A JUVENILE AT THE TIME OF OFFENCE
The Supreme Court on 27 March 2023 released a death row convict upon finding that even though he was a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence he was tried as an adult and was sentenced to death.
- MARCH 22, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF SUNDARRAJAN WHO MURDERED 7-YEAR-OLD BOY
The Supreme Court on March 21, 2023 commuted the death sentence of a man, who had kidnapped and killed a seven-year-old boy in Tamil Nadu in 2009, to 20-year imprisonment, saying there was “possibility of reformation” even though he has committed a ghastl
MARCH 14, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SEVEN RAPE CONVICTS GOT DEATH PENALTIES WITHIN 100 DAYS IN SURAT, SAYS GUJARAT HOME MINISTER
Within 100 days, seven persons have been given death penalty in rape cases in Surat, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi told the state legislature on 11 March 2023.
MARCH 1, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO 7 IN 2017 BHOPAL-UJJAIN TRAIN BLAST CASE
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court on 28 February 2023 gave death sentences verdict to seven out of eight convicts in the 2017 Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast case.
FEBRUARY 7, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GORAKHNATH TEMPLE ATTACKER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN UP
A special court in Lucknow on 30 January 2023 awarded the death penalty to a man who was booked for waging war against the government after he assaulted a Uttar Pradesh armed police force's jawan at the Gorakhnath temple.
FEBRUARY 1, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: CALCUTTA HIGH COURT COMMUTES THE DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR TWO
The Calcutta High Court on 31 January 2023 commuted the death sentence of two persons, convicted of abduction, rape, and murder of a minor girl at Balagarh in West Bengal's Hooghly district to imprisonment for life without remission till the end of their
JANUARY 31, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 9-YEAR-OLD
A 22-year-old man was sentenced to death on 30 January 2023 by a special court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases in Vapi of Valsad district (Gujarat) for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in February 2020.
JANUARY 30, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 165 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 2022, HIGHEST IN 2 DECADES
Trial courts in India sentenced 165 people to death in 2022, the highest in a year in the last two decades. This is up from 146 prisoners who were sent to death row in 2021.
JANUARY 30, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: GUJARAT MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING THREE FAMILY MEMBERS
A court in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on 25 January 2023 convicted the accused in a 2019 triple murder case - all the victims being members of his family - and sentenced him to death.