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
OCTOBER 7, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
The high court in Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala, has commuted the death sentence awarded to Rajith, the prime convict in the 2013 murder case of a four-year-old girl in Chottanikkara, to life imprisonment, Times of India reported on September 14, 2
- OCTOBER 3, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF MINOR GIRL IN SAMBALPUR
A special POCSO court in Sambalpur on October 1st, 2024 sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Jamankira area of Sambalpur.
OCTOBER 1, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ARUNACHAL SCHOOL HOSTEL WARDEN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 21 STUDENTS
A special court in Arunachal Pradesh handed the death sentence on September 26, 2024 to a hostel warden convicted for sexual assault of 21 students at a government-run residential school from 2014 to 2022.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 4 GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING 3 RELATIVES OVER PROPERTY DISPUTE
A fast-track court (FTC) in Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) has sentenced a 32-year-old man from Etawah to death for his involvement in the murder of his three relatives, including a couple in their early 50s and their minor son, in a 12-year-old property disput
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DEATH SENTENCES OF CONVICTS IN 2013 GANDHI MAIDAN BLASTS COMMUTED
The Patna high court on September 11, 2024 commuted the death penalty of four persons convicted for the 2013 blasts targeting Narendra Modi's poll rally in Patna to 30 years of imprisonment.
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY PASSES ANTI-RAPE BILL PRESCRIBING DEATH PENALTY FOR CONVICTS
The Indian state of West Bengal on September 3, 2024 passed a law, the Aprajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, which introduces the death penalty for rape cases that result in the victim’s death or leave them in a vegeta
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ODISHA HC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY IN TRIPLE MURDER CASE
The Odisha High Court on Wednesday commuted death sentence of one Nabin Dehury to imprisonment for life till his natural death without remission or commutation.
AUGUST 6, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ODISHA COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE FOR GIVING BIRTH TO SECOND GIRL CHILD
A court in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar on August 1, 2024 sentenced a man to death for repeatedly stabbing his wife to death and attempting to murder his six-year-old daughter by slitting her throat two years ago.
JULY 24, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KERALA HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF PATHANAMTHITTA MAN WHO KILLED NEPHEWS AGED 3 & 7
The Kerala High Court has commuted the death penalty imposed upon Thomas Chacko (aka Shibu) of Keekozhur, Ranni, to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment without remission for murdering his nephews aged 3 and 7 over a property dispute, Manorama Online reporte
JUNE 19, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: WOMAN AWARDED DEATH PENALTY FOR STABBING MOTHER-IN-LAW 90 TIMES
A local court in Madhya Pradesh has awarded the death sentence to a 24-year-old woman for attacking her mother-in-law with an iron pan and then striking her with a sickle ninety times, killing her instantly, in 2022.
JUNE 17, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MADRAS HC ACQUITS ALL ACCUSED IN DR SUBBIAH MURDER CASE
The Madras high court on June 14, 2024 set aside the conviction as well as death sentence imposed on seven people and life sentences imposed on two more in the 2013 murder case of neurosurgeon SD Subbiah near Billroth Hospital in Chennai.
- JUNE 12, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 2 BROTHERS GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPING, BURNING MINOR GIRL IN RAJASTHAN
Two men convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in August last year - by burning her alive in a coal furnace - were sentenced to death on May 18, 2024 by a special court in Rajasthan's Bhilwara.