472 prisoners sentenced to death as on Dec 31, 2021: Govt to RS

New Delhi: As many as 472 prisoners lodged in different jails across the country were sentenced to death and waiting for the next course of action as on December 31, 2021, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra also said that death sentence of 290 other prisoners have been commuted to life imprisonment.

The highest number of convicts (total 67), who were awarded death penalty, were lodged in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 46 in Bihar, 44 in Maharashtra, 39 in Madhya Pradesh, 37 in West Bengal, 31 in Jharkhand and 27 in Karnataka, he said replying to a written question.

The minister said among the 290 prisoners whose death sentence have been commuted to life imprisonment, 46 were in jails in Madhya Pradesh, 35 in Maharashtra, 32 in Uttar Pradesh, 30 in Bihar, 19 each in Karnataka and West Bengal and 18 in Gujarat.