| 561 inmates on death row, highest in two decades: Report | | | Agencies
NEW DELHI, Feb 10: A total of 561 prisoners are on death row in the country, the highest at the end of a calendar year in two decades-a rise of 45.71 per cent in such inmates since 2015, a report revealed.
The eighth edition of the 'Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report' published by Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi said the trial courts imposed 120 death sentences in 2023 but the year witnessed lowest rate of death sentence confirmations by the appellate courts since 2000, with the Supreme Court not confirming any death sentence for a second calendar year after 2021. "The Supreme Court did not confirm any death sentence in 2023. In the High Courts, only one death sentence was confirmed by the Karnataka High Court in a murder simpliciter case. In doing so, 2023 marks the lowest rate of death sentence confirmations by the appellate courts since 2000," said the report. The report said the President of India rejected one mercy petition in March 2023 in a case of kidnapping, rape and murder of a minor in 2008. There are a total of 488 death row prisoners awaiting judgment from the high courts, it said.
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