The Supreme Court of India

INDIA: NO DEATH SENTENCES CONFIRMED BY SUPREME COURT FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR

February 9, 2026: The Supreme Court of India has not confirmed a single death penalty in the last three years, according to an annual statistics report on death penalties in India published on February 4, 2026 by The Square Circle Clinic, a criminal justice initiative at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
As of 31 December 2025, 574 persons (550 men and 24 women) were on death row in India. This is the largest number of persons on death row at the end of a calendar year since 2016.
For the third consecutive year, the Supreme Court did not confirm any death sentences. Moreover, the court acquitted 10 people in 2025, the highest number since 2016.
In August 2025, in Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India the Supreme Court elevated sentencing hearings which are in compliance with the sentencing guidelines issued by the Court in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2022) to an accused’s fair trial requirements under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
In the past decade, the acquittal rate of High Courts has been four times the confirmation rate. The Supreme Court’s acquittal rate was twice the confirmation rate.
In 2025, Sessions Courts sentenced 128 persons to death in 94 cases. Between 2016 and 2025, Sessions Courts imposed 1,310 death sentences on 1,279 persons. Between 1 January and 31 December 2025, at least 138 persons were taken off death row in the appellate process.
The Sessions Courts imposed 1310 death sentences (822 cases) between 2016-2025. Of these, 842 death sentences were disposed of at the High Courts. Of the 842 Sessions Court death sentences that High Courts considered in confirmation proceedings, 70 (8.31%) were upheld. A little more than a third (30.64%) of the death sentences, i.e., 258 led to an acquittal. Out of these 70 death sentences, the Supreme Court decided 37 death sentences, and upheld none.
From 2016-2025, 515 death sentences were commuted by the High Courts and 71 by the Supreme Court. At the High Courts, 209 sentences were commuted to life imprisonment simpliciter and 303 to life imprisonment sentences with restriction on remission.
At the Supreme Court, 27 death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment simpliciter and 44 were commuted to life imprisonment sentences with restriction on remission. In 2025, all five commutations were to life imprisonment without remission for the remainder of natural life.
Between 2016-2025, the Supreme Court reconsidered its own confirmations in 21 cases involving 35 persons. In 15 cases (24 persons), it set aside the confirmation and in 6 cases (11 persons), the death sentence was confirmed.
The President rejected 19 mercy petitions between 2016-2025, and accepted 5. 1 mercy petition was rejected in 2025.
“What is starkly clear from these figures is that errors at Sessions Courts are not only leading to wrongful imposition of death sentence but are also resulting in wrongful convictions. The high rate of acquittals by the appellate judiciary requires a serious examination of how Sessions Courts deem a case worthy of even a conviction,” the report said.
The report also showed that India had 574 prisoners — 550 men and 24 women — on death row as of December 31, 2025. This is the highest number of persons on death row since 2016.
The average time spent on death row before acquittal was over five years, with some prisoners languishing for nearly a decade before being exonerated. However, 138 individuals were also removed from death row during the year through acquittals, commutations, or remand orders, underscoring the instability of capital sentencing, it found.
One of the report’s most alarming findings concerns procedural violations at the sentencing stage. Despite clear guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Manoj vs State of Madhya Pradesh, which mandate psychological evaluations, prison conduct reports, and mitigation hearings — which were elevated to a fair trial right requirement in Vasanta Sampat Dupare vs Union of India — in 2025, nearly 95% of death sentences in 2025 were imposed without compliance.
The low rates of confirmation over the past 10 years reflects the appellate judiciary’s concerns with the system’s failure to adhere to due process guarantees and coincides with the Supreme Court’s increased scrutiny of due process safeguards at the sentencing stage. In 2022, the Supreme Court crystallised a sentencing process in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh, and mandated all courts to follow those guidelines before imposing or confirming a death sentence. However, Sessions Courts continue to not abide by those guidelines. In 2025, in 79 out of 83 cases (95.18%), Sessions Courts did not comply with the procedural requirements under Manoj.
Sentencing hearings were frequently conducted within days of conviction, leaving little scope for meaningful defence representation, the report said.
Another emerging trend is the growing use of life imprisonment without remission as an alternative to the death penalty. While courts view it as a middle ground, the report flags concerns over excessively long fixed-term sentences — some extending up to 60 years — raising fresh questions about proportionality and rehabilitation. (Source: The Hindu, 04/02/2026)