By Moumita Barman

In September 2025, two seemingly unrelated headlines captured the essence of India’s troubled criminal justice system. The first: Abdul Wahid Shaikh, the only man acquitted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, sought Rs. 9 crores as compensation for the years he spent in jail, alleging “brutal custodial torture” that left him physically broken and socially stigmatised. The second: the Supreme Court directed all High Courts to decide bail applications within two months, observing that “applications concerning personal liberty cannot be kept pending for years.”

Both stories circle back to a sobering truth confirmed by the Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) 2025—custodial torture is not an aberration; it is a common feature of policing in India. It is normalised, ration

See Full Page