18.07.2007 - Source: BBC News

Mumbai: The first death sentences are given in the 1993 serial bombings case ("Death sentences over Mumbai") [ID 20983]

Document(s): Open document

20.12.2006 - Source: BBC News

Son of a governing party politician sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a model ("Life term for Indian model killer") [ID 18611]

Document(s): Open document

15.12.2006 - Source: Guardian

Mohammad Afzal due to hang for his part in the 2001 attack on the parliament building ("Mohammad Afzal is due to hang for his part in the 2001 attack on India's parliament building. But was he only a bit player? And is the country trying to bury embarrassing questions about its war on terror? By Arundhati Roy") [ID 18117]

Document(s): Open document

06.12.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Execution of Mohammad Afzal stayed following the filing of a mercy petition by his wife; Afzal also filed separate mercy petition, on the grounds that he did not receive a fair trial ("Further Information on Urgent Action 260/06 (ASA 20/027/2006, 29 September 2006) [ASA 20/033/2006]") [ID 18106]

Document(s): Open document

01.09.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

2 sisters, Renuka Kiran Shinde and Seema Mohan Gavit, face execution; they were convicted of kidnapping and killing 5 children between 1990 and 1996 ("Urgent Action 239/06 [ASA 20/021/2006]") [ID 17618]

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Annual Report 2006 ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 15837]

"Amtliche Bezeichnung: Republik Indien Staatsoberhaupt: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Regierungschef: Manmohan Singh Todesstrafe: nicht abgeschafft Statut des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs: nicht unterzeichnet UN-Frauenrechtskonvention: mit Vorbehalten ratifiziert Zusatzprotokoll zur Frauenrechtskonvention: nicht unterzeichnet"

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23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Annual Report 2006 - Todesstrafe ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17249]

"At least 77 people were sentenced to death during the year; no executions took place. No comprehensive information on the number of people under sentence of death in each state was available.

President Kalam and the newly-appointed Chief Justice to the Supreme Court expressed themselves in general against the death penalty. The President sought from the Indian parliament a comprehensive policy to deal with clemency petitions from those under sentence of death."

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31.10.2005 - Source: BBC News

Man sentenced to death for attacking army barracks at Delhi's Red Fort in December 2000 ("Death sentence for Red Fort raid") [#38430],  [ID 6845]

Document(s): Open document

06.09.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Report on death penalty (global trends, use of death penalty in India, individual cases) ("The death penalty in India - Briefing for the EU-India Summit, 7 september 2005") [#36235],  [ID 6846]

Document(s): Open document

25.05.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Death penalty ("Annual Report 2005") [#32264],  [ID 6847]

"[...]At least 23 people were sentenced to death and one person was executed. No comprehensive information on the number of people under sentence of death was available, but there was continuing concern that some prisoners had spent prolonged periods on death row, which could amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed by hanging in August after spending 13 years in prison. He had been convicted of rape and murder in 1990. His was the first known execution in India since 1997.
[...]"

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Open document

27.04.2005 - Source: BBC News

Calcutta: 7 men sentenced to death for attacking American cultural centre in 2002 ("Seven to die for US centre attack") [#31631],  [ID 6848]

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05.04.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

The first known execution since the late 1990s took place in August 2004 ("The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2004") [#30870],  [ID 6849]

"[...]
The first known execution since the late 1990s took place in August with widespread popular support. Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged in West Bengal; he had been under sentence of death for 13 years for the rape and murder of a teenage girl. The President of India and the Governor of West Bengal dismissed all mercy petitions despite appeals from Amnesty International and local human rights activists that the evidence against Dhananjoy Chatterjee was reportedly circumstantial and that he had already been imprisoned for a long time. In other Indian cases, death sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment on grounds of prolonged detention. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

09.03.2005 - Source: BBC News

2 people convicted of rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Guwahati and 3 people convicted of murdering a trader in Calcutta, sentenced to death ("Death sentences for India murder") [#30024],  [ID 6850]

Document(s): Open document

02.12.2004 - Source: South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre

Criticism of the Law Commission of India's 2003 report on methods of execution and India's retention of the death penalty ("Lethal Injection: It’s more than just a pinprick (HRF/109/04)") [#27419],  [ID 6851]

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Open document

12.10.2004 - Source: South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Ordinance contains notable improvements to the POTA, but also include verbatim provisions from the POTA that were repeatedly misused and adds provisions which further erode the rights of the accused ("The Reincarnation of POTA - Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Ordinance is POTA’s Second Coming [HRF/106/04]") [#26387],  [ID 6853]

"[...]And finally, the Ordinance maintains that whoever commits a terrorist act shall, “if such act has resulted in the death of any person, be punishable with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine”. There is a growing consensus under international human rights law that “all measures of abolition of the death penalty should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life”. According to the Human Rights Committee, Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) “refers generally to abolition in terms which strongly suggest (paras. 2 (2) and (6)) that abolition is desirable”. The repeal of the offending article from the Ordinance would signal a commitment to the progressive development of legal norms by the present government, who should be further encouraged to become party to the second optional protocol of the ICCPR. [...]"

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Open document

10.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

Death penalty ("Country Report - October 2004") [#28325],  [ID 6852]

"[...]
5.37 A BBC report of 18 December 2002 noted that India is one of a number of countries around the world which still upholds capital punishment, although it is rarely used. Under Indian law the death penalty can be imposed for murder, gang robbery with murder, abetting the suicide of a child or insane person, waging war against the government, abetting mutiny by a member of the armed forces and, in recent years, for terrorist acts. A 1983 Supreme Court ruling, however, stated that the death penalty should be imposed only in the “rarest of rare cases”. [32cx]

5.38 A press release by the Asian Human Rights Commission dated 13 August 2004, titled "AHRC condemns Indian top court’s decision as ‘devoid of merit’" noted that the Constitution of India upholds the right to life except according to procedure established by law. [57] A report in the Guardian Unlimited newspaper dated 5 August 2004, entitled “Girl’s killer to hang in India”, indicated that Indian courts rarely award the death penalty and only about 40 people have been executed in the past 30 years. There are more than a dozen convicts on death row across the country and an appeal to the president is the final step for prisoners condemned to death. [40a]

5.39 The Amnesty International 2004 country report for India (covering events in 2003), noted that at least 33 people were sentenced to death in 2003. [3k](p5) As reported by Keesings in January 2004, The Supreme Court suspended the death sentences on 19 January, imposed on 2 men convicted of planning the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament. [5e]

5.40 BBC reported on 14 August 2004 that India carried out its first execution since1995 after the president, Abdul Kalam, rejected a plea for clemency from a man convicted for raping and murdering a 14 year old schoolgirl in 1990 [32cy] In a press release dated 13 August 2004, the Asian Human Rights Commission condemned the Supreme Court for its decision to uphold the death sentence. [57]"

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27.08.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Man, who was sentenced to death in 2002, at risk of imminent execution ("India - UA 257/04") [#25216],  [ID 6854]

Document(s): Open document

18.08.2004 - Source: South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre

Article on death penalty; Dhananjoy Chatterjee executed ("Hang Our Heads in Shame (HRF/103/04)") [#25456],  [ID 6855]

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Open document

17.08.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Man who was sentenced to death in August 1991, for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old schoolgirl, executed/ he is the first prisoner known to have been executed in India since 1997 ("India - Further Information on UA 206/04") [#24936],  [ID 6856]

Document(s): Open document

14.08.2004 - Source: BBC News

Calcutta: a man convicted of raping and killing a schoolgirl 14 years ago has been executed at the Alipore Central Jail ("India carries out rare execution") [#24761],  [ID 6857]

Document(s): Open document

05.08.2004 - Source: Guardian

India is to carry out its first hanging in 13 years after the president rejected a plea for clemency from a man convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl ("Girl's killer to hang in India") [#24528],  [ID 6858]

Document(s): Open document

25.06.2004 - Source: BBC News

India's Supreme Court states that President Kalam will decide the fate of a convicted rapist and murderer facing execution in Calcutta ("President handed execution ruling") [#23554],  [ID 6859]

Document(s): Open document

22.06.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Dhananjoy, a private security guard, sentenced to death in August 1991 for rape and murder, is reportedly due to be executed on Friday 25 June ("India - UA 206/04") [#23508],  [ID 6860]

Document(s): Open document

26.05.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Annual Report 2004 (covering 2003) ("Annual Report 2004") [#22668],  [ID 6861]

"Death penalty

At least 33 people were sentenced to death in 2003. No executions were reported. India’s highest courts have ruled that the death penalty can only be applied in the “rarest of rare” cases. In the absence of any more detailed definition, the interpretation of this phrase by judges varied greatly. The majority of those sentenced to death are poor and illiterate. The government of India does not publish statistical information about the implementation of the death penalty. Politicians continued to make statements favouring the extension of the death penalty. In mid-2003 the Law Commission issued a questionnaire asking citizens to indicate which mode of execution should be used when executing those on death row."

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04.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

Death Penalty ("Country Report - April 2004") [#22427],  [ID 6862]

"5.19 On Amnesty International's “Website Against the Death Penalty" they list India among those countries that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes. [3k](p2) 5.20 As reported by Keesings in January 2004, The Supreme Court suspended the death sentences on 19 January, imposed on 2 men convicted of planning the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament. [5t]"

Document(s): Open document

16.03.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

4 men, convicted of responsibility for an April 1993 landmine blast that killed 21 in the state of Karnataka, scheduled to be executed ("India - Further Information on UA 59/04") [#20433],  [ID 6863]

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Open document

25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003 ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 6864]

"[...]In October, the Delhi High Court upheld the death sentence for two of the militants who attacked the Indian Parliament in December 2001. The court also acquitted two of the defendants for their role in the attack (see Section 1.d.). [...]"

Document(s): Open document

13.02.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

4 men are at risk of being executed following a decision by the Supreme Court of India to dismiss their appeal/ they are accused of being responsible for a landmine blast in the state of Karnataka in 1993 ("India - UA 59/04") [#19410],  [ID 6865]

Document(s): Open document

29.01.2004 - Source: BBC News

4 associates of the southern Indian bandit Veerappan, convicted for an attack on a bus carrying policemen more than a decade ago, received death sentences ("Death sentences over bus attack") [#19072],  [ID 6866]

Document(s): Open document

19.01.2004 - Source: BBC News

India's Supreme Court has halted death sentences against two people convicted of the 2001 attack on the parliament ("Indian court suspends executions") [#18820],  [ID 6867]

Document(s): Open document

14.03.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller sentenced to death after being found guilty of involvement in the 1993 bombing of the Youth Congress Office in New Delhi/ there are serious concerns that he may not have been given a fair trial ("India - UA 21/03") [#11465],  [ID 6868]

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21.01.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

UA 21/2003 ("UA 21/2003") [#10973],  [ID 6869]

Document(s): Open document

19.12.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

3 people, accused of the attack on the Parliament in December 2001, sentenced to death ("India: The cause of justice is not served by judicial murder") [#10051],  [ID 6870]

Document(s): Open document