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
SEPTEMBER 18, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER OF MINOR GIRL IN KARNATAKA
An additional district and sessions court-cum-fast track court in Mangaluru on September 10, 2025 convicted and sentenced a 51-year-old man to death after finding him guilty of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Mangaluru.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HC REDUCES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE, JUNKS RAPE CHARGE
The Calcutta High Court on September 1st, 2025, commuted the death penalty of a 42-year-old man convicted of the murder of a six-year-old at Uttarpara to life imprisonment
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 3 GET DEATH FOR KILLING RICKSHAW PULLER OVER WIFE’S ILLICIT AFFAIR; 2 GET LIFE, WOMAN ACQUITTED
A Dehradun court on August 22, 2025 awarded the death penalty to three men for murdering a rickshaw puller in Nov 2022 by forcing him to drink alcohol and smashing his head with a stone.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 8-YEAR-OLD DALIT GIRL
A special SC/ST court in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) on September 2, 2025 awarded the death penalty to a 50-year-old man for abducting, raping and murdering an eight-year-old Dalit girl in 2020, calling it a "rarest of rare case for its brutality".
SEPTEMBER 3, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN WHO BURNT ALIVE WIFE OVER SKIN COLOUR
A court in India on August 30, 2025 gave the death penalty to a man for burning alive his wife over her skin colour.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ASSAM MAN, WHO KILLED WOMAN FOR REFUSING TO MARRY HIM, SENTENCED TO DEATH
A court in Assam's Dhemaji on August 21, 2025 sentenced a man to death for the brutal murder of a college student in 2021.
JULY 28, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES RAPIST'S DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT REMISSION
The Supreme Court of India on July 16, 2025 commuted a man's death penalty in a minor's rape and murder case to life in prison without remission.
JULY 23, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HIGH COURT ACQUITS 12 MEN IN MUMBAI TRAIN BOMBINGS THAT KILLED 187
A court in India has acquitted 12 men who had been convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed 187 people and injured more than 800.
- JULY 17, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC ACQUITS MAN ON DEATH ROW, ISSUES NATIONWIDE GUIDELINES ON DNA EVIDENCE HANDLING
The Supreme Court of India on July 15, 2025 acquitted a man on death row in a murder case, outlining the gaps in forensic evidence and issued countrywide directions on handling of DNA samples.
JULY 7, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING SIX MEMBERS OF A FAMILY
The IV additional district and sessions court in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) on June 27, 2025 sentenced 50-year-old Battina Appalaraju to death for killing six members of a family, including two children, in a revenge killing in April 2021.
JUNE 25, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 11-YEAR OLD GIRL
A special Pocso court in Jalpaiguri sentenced 31-year old Haripada Roy to death for the rape and murder of an 11-year old girl, categorising it as a "rarest of rare" case, Times of India reported on June 11, 2025.
JUNE 12, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KOLKATA HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF EX WHO STABBED GIRL 45 TIMES
Calcutta High Court on June 11, 2025 commuted the death penalty awarded to a 24-year-old, for stabbing his ex-girlfriend 45 times, to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years.