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
DECEMBER 22, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DEATH SENTENCE OF MAN WHO BEHEADED BROTHER COMMUTED TO 20-YEAR JAIL TERM
Making it clear that not every brutal murder warrants capital punishment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 22, 2025 commuted the death sentence of Ashok Kumar
DECEMBER 20, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: WOMAN AMONG FIVE AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR KURUKSHETRA DOCTOR’S MURDER
Two years after a doctor was killed in Haryana by robbers who had barged into her Kurukshetra residence, the court of additional district and sessions judge on December 20, 2025 sentenced four men and a woman to death in the case.
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 42-YEAR-OLD MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN VALSAD
A court in Vapi town of Valsad, in the State of Gujarat, on December 4, 2025 sentenced 42-year-old man to death for the brutal rape, sodomy, and murder of a six-year-old girl.
NOVEMBER 26, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING PREGNANT WOMAN IN KERALA'S ALAPPUZHA
A court in Alappuzha on September 24, 2025 sentenced a man to death for murdering a pregnant woman at Kainakary in the district.
NOVEMBER 12, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: NITHARI KILLINGS ACCUSED TO WALK FREE AS SUPREME COURT ACQUITS HIM IN LAST CASE
The Supreme Court on November 11, 2025 set aside the conviction and life sentence of Surendra Koli in the last remaining murder case related to the infamous 2005-2006 Nithari killings in Noida, which drew widespread media attention and was the subject of
- NOVEMBER 2, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ANDHRA COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO 5 IN 2015 MURDER OF CHITTOOR MAYOR, HER HUSBAND
Five persons accused of murdering Chittoor Mayor Katari Anuradha and her husband Mohan were sentenced to death by a sessions court in Andhra Pradesh on October 31, 2025.
OCTOBER 21, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KERALA HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE AWARDED IN KOLIYOOR RAPE AND MURDER CASE
Kerala High Court has commuted the death sentence awarded to Anil Kumar, alias Kolusu Binu, of Vembayam in Thiruvananthapuram, the first accused in the 2016 Koliyoor murder case.
- OCTOBER 20, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MINOR GIRL’S GANGRAPE AND MURDER
The Court of Special Judge (POCSO Act), Agra, on October 16, 2025, awarded death sentence to two accused for the kidnapping, gangrape and murder of a five-and-a-half-year-old minor girl last year.
- OCTOBER 15, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MADRAS HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE, SAYS ACCUSED NOT MENACE TO SOCIETY
Madras high court on October 11, 2025 commuted the death sentence awarded to a man to life imprisonment in a case where he murdered his cousin because she refused to give him money to settle his debts, in 2021.
OCTOBER 9, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SODOMY, MURDER OF 8- YR-OLD
Ghazipur district's Special Court (Pocso) Judge Ramavatar Prasad on October 7, 2025 sentenced accused Sanjay Nat to death for sodomising and murdering an eight-year-old in Feb last year.
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF HIS SEVEN-YEAR-OLD NIECE IN UP'S SITAPUR
A court in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur on September 18, 2025 awarded the death penalty to a 38-year-old man for the rape and murder of his seven-year-old niece, a government lawyer said on September 19, adding that the court also imposed a fine of Rs 13,000 o
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF FAKE HEALER TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Calcutta High Court on September 18, 2025 commuted the death sentence of a 45-year-old man - convicted of murdering a woman and her daughter - to a life sentence, but directed no remission for 40 years.