Archive · 2 Oct 2026
India's Death Penalty Gap Highlights Need for Fair Trials
Trial courts in India gave 128 death sentences in 2025.
These sentences must be checked by higher courts before anyone can be executed.
High courts confirmed only 10 of the 128 sentences.
They changed many others by reducing the punishment, clearing the accused or ordering new trials.
The Supreme Court upheld only one death sentence among 56 cases it considered between 2021 and 2025.
The article says some cases may be affected by weak evidence or unfair procedures.
It also says lower courts can face public anger after shocking crimes.
The editorial argues that courts should carefully follow evidence instead of public demands.
It says taking a life should happen only in the rarest and most carefully examined cases.
Trial courts issued 128 death sentences across India in 2025.
High courts confirmed 10 sentences, commuted 79, acquitted 35 and ordered four retrials.
The Supreme Court heard 56 capital-punishment cases from 2021 to 2025 and upheld only one sentence.
The article attributes reversals to inadequate evidence, poor prosecution and failures in fair-trial procedures.
It argues that popular anger, political pressure and encounter killings must not replace evidence-based justice.
- Who
- Indian trial courts, high courts and the Supreme Court considered cases involving people sentenced to death.
- What
- Higher courts substantially altered most death sentences issued by trial courts, raising concerns about evidence and fair-trial procedures.
- When
- Trial-court figures are from 2025; the Supreme Court figures cover 2021 through 2025, while encounter-killing figures cover 2016 through 2022.
- Where
- Across India.
- Why
- Higher courts reviewed the evidence, sentencing and trial procedures, while the editorial argued that public anger and political pressure should not determine capital punishment.
Capital Punishment and Popular Justice
Evidence-Based Fair Trials
Role of public sentiment
Capital Punishment and Popular Justice
Popular anger after shocking or brutal crimes can create pressure for severe punishment, and politicians may call for the death penalty.
Evidence-Based Fair Trials
Courts should not reflect popular attitudes and should decide cases strictly on evidence and fair-trial procedures.
Use of the death penalty
Capital Punishment and Popular Justice
The death penalty is presented by its supporters as a severe response to particularly shocking crimes.
Evidence-Based Fair Trials
The editorial argues that execution should be limited to the rarest of rare cases because the State cannot undo an irreversible mistake.
Shortcuts to justice
Capital Punishment and Popular Justice
Encounter killings and demands for quick punishment can be treated as immediate responses to public demands for justice.
Evidence-Based Fair Trials
The editorial criticizes encounter killings and political calls for execution as shortcuts that avoid addressing broader public-safety responsibilities.
- Trial-court death sentences in 2025
- 128
- High-court confirmations
- 10
- High-court commutations
- 79
- High-court acquittals
- 35
- High-court retrials ordered
- 4
- Supreme Court capital-punishment cases, 2021-2025
- 56
- Supreme Court sentences upheld
- 1
- Encounter killings, 2016-2022
- 813, according to the National Human Rights Commission