India
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The Indian legislative system also provides for different...
- News items in the archive
- 1,862
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
India is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 1,862 news items on India, from 1999 to today.
In India the death penalty applies to murder, terrorism and certain serious sexual offences, and the method is hanging. Case law restricts it to the cases it calls the rarest of the rare: many sentences are handed down, few executions are actually carried out, and a significant share of sentences is overturned or commuted on appeal.
The archive follows sentences, commutations, executions and legislative debates.
Latest news
- FEBRUARY 26, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR LABOURER FOR RAPING, KILLING MINOR
in Hoshiarpur, India, Additional Session Judge Surinder Singh Sahni sentenced Mangal Singh, a migrant labourer from West Bengal, to death for raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl from Adda Saran village of the district on March 11, 2009.
- FEBRUARY 23, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH FOR RAPE-MURDER
the Khandwa District Court in India awarded the death penalty to Rahul Rajput, 22, for raping and murdering an 18 year old woman.
- FEBRUARY 23, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER
in India, Kuchinda Additional District Judge Saroj Kumar Pati sentenced Arjun Teli...
- FEBRUARY 23, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE
a Kerala High Court Division Bench, comprising Justices Basant and HariRani...
- FEBRUARY 16, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING INFANT
Judge K.C. Garg of the Indore Sessions Court in Madhya Pradesh...
- FEBRUARY 15, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
in Chandigarh, India, the Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted the death penalty awarded to two Nepalese nationals in a minor's rape and murder case.
FEBRUARY 10, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION FACTOR FOR COMMUTING DEATH PENALTY
long incarceration and socio-economic factors leading to crime are relevant and mitigating
- FEBRUARY 9, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: KERALA HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE TERM
in India, the Kerala High Court commuted the death sentence awarded to Nawaz to a life term.
- FEBRUARY 5, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: CALCUTTA HC UPHOLDS AFTAB ANSARI'S DEATH SENTENCE
in India, the Calcutta High Court upheld the death sentences of Aftab Ansari and Jamiluddin Nasir but commuted three other people’s death sentences over the January 2002 American Centre attack.
- JANUARY 31, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: INDIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MALAYSIA
Indian national Athiseshan Singaram, 48, a textile company driver...
- JANUARY 27, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT OKAY WITH DEATH TO ABDUCTORS
the Indian Supreme Court asked judges to punish kidnappers hard, mentioning that the law allows awarding
- JANUARY 25, 2010United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
DUBAI: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING EXECUTIVE
two Indian nationals were sentenced to death in Dubai for slashing the throat of Indian sales executive
- JANUARY 18, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Mohammad Shafiq, alias Munna, was sentenced...
Mohammad Shafiq, alias Munna, was sentenced...
- JANUARY 16, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE TO 5 ACCUSED IN BIHAR
in Samastipur, India, Third Fast Track court Judge Ramesh Kumar Singh sentenced five people to death for abducting and killing a child on June 13, 2002.
- JANUARY 14, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN TRIPLE MURDER CASE
in India, District Judge Shivanand Mishra awarded capital punishment to Ram Pratap Verma for killing his father-in law Sarabjeet and his daughters Sudha, 10, and Savitri, 18, with an axe on November 26, 2004.
- JANUARY 13, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: GOVT PROPOSES DEATH PENALTY FOR HIJACKERS
a group of ministers in India, headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram, cleared a proposal to amend the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982 to provide for the death penalty for those guilty of the crime.
- JANUARY 9, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE REDUCED TO LIFE TERM
the death sentence awarded to Govindasamy, 43, of Sathyamangalam, India, for killing five people of a family was commuted to life imprisonment.
- JANUARY 8, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE TERM
Pappu Paswan had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
- JANUARY 8, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR WOMAN'S MURDER
in Barasat, India, a fast track court sentenced 10 people to death for the murder of a jeweller's wife at Kanchrapara.
- JANUARY 7, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT STAYS SURINDER KOLI'S DEATH SENTENCE
Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice BS Chauhan of the Indian Supreme Court stayed the death sentence of Surinder Koli
- JANUARY 1, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art. 21 of the Constitution which states
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art. 21 of the Constitution which states
- DECEMBER 21, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ASSAM MAN GIVEN DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER
judge Mazed Ali of the Kamrup Additional District and Sessions court in India awarded the death penalty to Sujit Biswas, now 23, for the rape and murder of Seema Khatun, 3, in Paltan Bazar on October 18, 2007.
- DECEMBER 21, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 2 AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
two brothers were awarded the death sentence in Allahabad, India, by Fast Track Court Judge D P N Singh.
- DECEMBER 18, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH PENALTY
in Ahmedabad, India, the Gujarat government reintroduced the death penalty clause in a bill aimed at stopping the sale of illicit liquor and it passed the Assembly without any changes.
- DECEMBER 11, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED
Justices K.K. Mishra and D.V. Sharma of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in India commuted the death sentence awarded by the Lakhimpur-Kheri District and Sessions court to Pawan Kumar, alias Monu Mittal, to life imprisonment.
- DECEMBER 11, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SC COMMUTES SENTENCE IN HONOUR KILLINGS CASE
Justices VS Sirpurkar and Deepak Verma of the Indian Supreme Court commuted the death sentences of Dilip Narayan Tiwari, Manoj Paswan and Sunil Ramashray Yadav to 25 years imprisonment.
- DECEMBER 5, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN AWARDED CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER
in India, a man identified as Sanjay was sentenced to death.
- DECEMBER 2, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: GHAZIABAD: SIX GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING FOUR
in India, the Ghaziabad district court sentenced six men to death for killing four women of a family on November 24, 2005, over a land-related dispute.
- DECEMBER 2, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF JILTED LOVER TO LIFE TERM
the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court in India commuted the death sentence of Tulsiram Potavi, 27, to life imprisonment due to his young age and clean criminal record.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING WIFE, KIDS
in Jalandhar, India, District and Sessions Judge R P Nagrath sentenced Charanjit Singh to death