The Supreme Court in New Delhi

INDIA: TRIAL COURTS GIVE DEATH FREELY, BUT JUST 5% CONFIRMED

July 20, 2015: Just 5 % of the 1,790 death sentences handed down by trial courts in the last 15 years have been confirmed by the Supreme Court. The numbers point to wanton sentencing by the lower courts resulting in decades wasted on death row, say experts.
The Centre on the Death Penalty at the National Law University, Delhi, wrote to all High Courts in the country seeking details of all death sentences handed down by trial courts in their jurisdictions over the last 15 years. All death sentences handed down by trial courts, except in terrorism cases, must go to High Court for confirmation. Madhya Pradesh was the only state which did not respond, which the Calcutta High Court's data had so much missing information that it could not be used.
1,512 sentences were decided by the High Courts, while the remaining were either awaiting decision or had been sent for retrials.
In over a quarter of these cases, the High Courts acquitted persons who had been not just convicted, but also given death sentences by the trial courts. Another 1/2 of all cases resulted in commutations.
In all, less then 15 % of cases were confirmed by the High Courts. Bihar had the highest rate of High Court acquittals.
Of the cases that went to the Supreme Court (186 cases), 10 % resulted in acquittals, while 60 % resulted in commutations.
In all, just 59 cases of the original 1,790 - or fewer than 5 % - were confirmed by the Supreme Court. In all, a third of death sentences given by trial courts resulted in acquittals at a later stage. (Source: The Hindu, 20/07/2015)