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
- AUGUST 30, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Three people were sentenced to death and one to life...
Three people were sentenced to death and one to life imprisonment by the Kolkata city sessions court, India, for murder
- AUGUST 27, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Indian Supreme Court imposed the death penalty...
The Indian Supreme Court imposed the death penalty on Keraj Ram, a man who, having doubts regarding his wife's fidelity, killed "in a cruel and diabolic manner" his wife, children and brother-in-law
- AUGUST 21, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Thalassery Additional District and Sessions Court...
The Thalassery Additional District and Sessions Court awarded death sentences to five CPM activists for the murder of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Vice-president K T Jayakrishnan in 1999
- AUGUST 17, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Jail authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa...
Jail authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa suspended their search for a hangman after the death sentence of Dayanidhi Bishnoi, 35, was commuted to life imprisonment
- AUGUST 13, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A government committee has recommended the death penalty...
A government committee has recommended the death penalty for those who sell or manufacture fake pharmaceutical drugs, Indian Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said
- AUGUST 10, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Indian Law Commission said that public opinion...
The Indian Law Commission said that public opinion on the mode of executing prisoners on death row favoured an amendment to the law, which stipulated hanging as the method of execution
- AUGUST 7, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India's Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of...
India's Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Ram Pal, a man convicted of murdering 21 people including women and children, to life imprisonment as the murders he committed 17 years ago appeared to have been an act of extreme provocation
- AUGUST 5, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Indian Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence...
The Indian Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence awarded to four men convicted of killing 15 people at a wedding party in a village in Punjab's Amritsar district in 1991 to avenge their humiliation at the hands of the bridegroom's father
- JULY 10, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Indian Health Minister Sushma...
It was reported that Indian Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said he wanted the death penalty for manufacturers of "spurious drugs"
- JULY 7, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
"The prison department in Jharkhand has a strange problem:...
"The prison department in Jharkhand has a strange problem: The state's jail has 12 men who have been sentenced to death, but no hangman to execute these sentences," the Hindustan Times reported
- JULY 4, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Chief Justice of the Calcutta...
It was reported that the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court sought views from colleagues on ways to execute people in a less painful manner
- JULY 3, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A division bench of the Karnataka High Court changed...
A division bench of the Karnataka High Court changed the life sentence of Sardar Khan to a death sentence for murdering his wife in 1997