India, proud of its dynamic democratic credentials, has over the years allowed a criminal justice system to develop that shields the accused far more than it supports victims or protects witnesses ~ an unfair imbalance left unchecked as reform proposals have consistently failed to see the light of day. The vibrancy of its elections, the scale of citizen participation, and the resilience of its democratic institutions are undeniable, yet these strengths have not translated into a justice framework that inspires equal confidence.

The imbalance remains stark: while the accused, especially the powerful, find protection in procedure and delay, victims and ordinary citizens are left waiting for fairness that often never arrives. The principle of presuming innocence was meant to safeguard liberty, but in India it has morphed into a shield for the powerful. Legislators with criminal records contest elections while trials drag on. Over 40 per cent of MPs face criminal cases, including murder, kidnapping and crimes against women. This is no aberration but a structural imbalance that corrodes faith in justice and turns lawmakers into lawbreakers. When those accused of grave crimes continue to legislate, the system itself stands accused of complicity.

The bail system illustrates this imbalance vividly. Bail is supposed to prevent arbitrary detention, but in reality it is a privilege of the rich and influential. High-profile controversies in recent years, including the cancellation of bail for Olympian Sushil Kumar in 2025, have shown how liberty can be misused to intimidate witnesses and obstruct justice. Yet countless political figures continue to exploit bail provisions, walking free while victims wait endlessly for closure. The poor, meanwhile, languish in jails as undertrials, unable to furnish sureties or navigate the complex procedures. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 2025 that nearly three quarters of prisoners were undertrials, amounting to close to four lakh individuals. Many languish longer than the maximum sentence for their alleged offences.

Custodial deaths in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh and Sultanpur jails in April 2026 underline the human cost of delay and neglect. Overcrowding in prisons has crossed 120 per cent occupancy, and nearly half of undertrials are aged between 18 and 30, showing how the young are disproportionately trapped in the system. The contrast between the liberty enjoyed by the powerful and the confinement suffered by the poor is stark and corrosive. Conviction rates remain dismal. While specialised agencies like the........

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