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
- 1,856
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 1,856 news items on India, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- AUGUST 9, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India's Supreme Court modified the death sentence imposed...
India's Supreme Court modified the death sentence imposed on two accused in a multiple murder case into life imprisonment on the ground that death sentence could be awarded only to those who could not be reformed or rehabilitated and if they constituted a
- AUGUST 8, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian police are hunting the sons of a woman who burnt...
Indian police are hunting the sons of a woman who burnt herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre
- AUGUST 8, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Three persons wiped out an entire family in cold blood...
Three persons wiped out an entire family in cold blood due to sibling rivalry and were sentenced to death
- AUGUST 1, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Fifth additional district and sessions judge Surendra...
Fifth additional district and sessions judge Surendra Prasad Sharma awarded death sentence to five persons and rigorous life imprisonment to four other accused in connection with a murder case
- JULY 29, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Narcotics Control Bureau warned Indian citizens...
The Narcotics Control Bureau warned Indian citizens travelling to Saudi Arabia not to accept gifts from travel agents or any other person to avoid falling into the trap of narcotic smugglers
- JULY 12, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded an Indian man for killing three...
Saudi Arabia beheaded an Indian man for killing three Saudi women after breaking into their homes, the Saudi Press Agency reported
- JULY 10, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International (AI) expressed concern that the...
Amnesty International (AI) expressed concern that the four persons charged with various crimes relating to the attack on the Parliament House complex on December 13, 2001 may not receive a fair trial
- JULY 8, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A court in India condemned a man to death for murdering...
A court in India condemned a man to death for murdering his wife
- JULY 5, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The number of cases ending in capital punishment for...
The number of cases ending in capital punishment for the accused has been on the increase in India's Bihar state during the last two decades
- MAY 20, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A court in India sentenced to death five persons for...
A court in India sentenced to death five persons for murdering eight people
- MAY 16, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court said that life imprisonment should...
The Supreme Court said that life imprisonment should be the normal rule of punishment in murder cases
- MAY 14, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy said he...
Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy said he would go to the Supreme Court if the federal government failed to carry out the death sentence awarded to four persons convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case by August 15
- MAY 2, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Seven brothers convicted of a double murder by a district...
Seven brothers convicted of a double murder by a district court in India demanded capital punishment for themselves, declaring they did not want any mercy from the court
- APRIL 28, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court has approved death sentence for those...
The Supreme Court has approved death sentence for those guilty of killing innocent persons of a particular community, religion or class
- APRIL 27, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Nepal said Indians are also eligible for the rewards...
Nepal said Indians are also eligible for the rewards it had announced for the capture, dead or alive, of top Maoist leaders
- APRIL 27, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Special Judge S N Dhingra sentenced to death three...
Special Judge S N Dhingra sentenced to death three Pakistani militants, Nazir Khan, Abdul Rahim and Naser Mehmood Sodozey, belonging to Harkat-ul-Ansar, for kidnapping four foreign tourists in 1994 in a case in which Omar Sheikh was also one of the accuse
- APRIL 25, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India abstained from the resolution 2002/77 on the...
India abstained from the resolution 2002/77 on the death penalty at the 58th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 21, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
In New Delhi, Justices Doraiswamy Raju and Brijesh...
In New Delhi, Justices Doraiswamy Raju and Brijesh Kumar upheld the conviction of a father accused of murdering his two sons due to suspicion over his wife's fidelity, but commuted the death sentence, awarded by the trial Court and confirmed by the Gujara
- APRIL 10, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The radical pro-Pakistan militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen...
The radical pro-Pakistan militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM), banned under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), threatened to kill those who contest or campaign in the next assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir
- APRIL 9, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indian court condemned two brothers, Dharambir and...
An Indian court condemned two brothers, Dharambir and Joginder, to death and a third brother, Karambir, to life imprisonment for a triple murder
- APRIL 3, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India's Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded...
India's Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded to Devendar Pal Singh, a Khalistani militant, under the erstwhile TADA [Terrorism and Disruptive Activities(Prevention) Act] solely on the basis of a confessional statement to the police which he late
- MARCH 26, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
In an extraordinary joint sitting of both Houses, the...
In an extraordinary joint sitting of both Houses, the Indian parliament passed the controversial anti-terrorism bill dubbed "draconian" by the Opposition after an acrimonious marathon debate that saw Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rejecting Sonia Gan
- FEBRUARY 14, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
At an EU-India Ministerial meeting in Madrid, EU Foreign...
At an EU-India Ministerial meeting in Madrid, EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Chris Patten raised questions of human rights and democracy with Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, as well as the EU's concern about the use of the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 10, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme court stayed the execution of the only...
The Supreme court stayed the execution of the only woman on death row in Tihar Jail
- FEBRUARY 7, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Former Indian prime minister VP Singh called for capital...
Former Indian prime minister VP Singh called for capital punishment for politicians responsible for corruption, particularly in matters related to defence
- FEBRUARY 7, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Dealing a major blow to the criminal prosecution system...
Dealing a major blow to the criminal prosecution system and granting extreme relief to a man who was sentenced to death for murdering four members of a family in 1996, the Supreme Court acquitted the accused holding that no independent witness was examine
- FEBRUARY 6, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A division bench of the Allahabad High Court urged...
A division bench of the Allahabad High Court urged the Indian Parliament to amend the law and provide for the death penalty for gang-rape
- FEBRUARY 5, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A man was condemned to death for killing four of his...
A man was condemned to death for killing four of his relatives in cold blood
- FEBRUARY 4, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Panthic Morcha [an opposition joint front of Sikh...
The Panthic Morcha [an opposition joint front of Sikh groups in the north Indian state of Punjab] said it favoured the abolition of capital punishment in its manifesto for the state legislative assembly elections which will be held in February
- JANUARY 7, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India's Delhi Police Force acquired a new weapon to...
India's Delhi Police Force acquired a new weapon to fight organised crime with the introduction of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act or MCOCA in Delhi