Everyone was told that India has entered a “new era of criminal justice” after the old IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act were replaced with new laws. The names changed, the sections changed, and the government proudly announced that this was the biggest reform in 150 years. But when you walk into a police station in any small town, the reality hits you: a new law does not automatically create a new police system. I have seen this firsthand as a criminal lawyer in Delhi, handling matters where people are beaten or detained long before a case ever reaches court. You can give every officer a tablet, a body camera and an online FIR portal, but if the mindset remains the same, the abuse remains the same. Most ordinary citizens never see the inside of a courtroom, but thousands enter police stations daily, and that is where the law actually begins.
If a young boy gets picked up for “questioning”. No written notice, no FIR, no explanation. Inside, his phone is taken, he is slapped, threatened and told to confess. In that moment, none of the new sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita protect him. As a lawyer handling Supreme Court and High Court matters, I see one truth repeatedly: India has modernised the law books, but not the accountability. Custodial violence continues because complaints against the police are investigated by the police themselves. Once a medical report is manipulated or a CCTV camera “stops working,” the case collapses. The Supreme Court often quotes the DK Basu guidelines, yet on the ground, the rules vanish inside the gates of a police station.
Women I’ve represented in domestic violence or sexual harassment cases often tell me they are afraid to even register an FIR because they don’t trust the investigation. Men falsely accused in matrimonial disputes say police extorted money or threatened arrest. When police become feared more than criminals, how can a common man believe justice exists? Democracy is not just about elections, it is about how the weakest citizen is treated by the strongest arm of the State. If a police officer can break the law and face no consequences, why would the public believe in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or any “new India”?
Real reform is not complex. Complaints against police should be handled by a completely independent body, not by officers sitting in the next room. Custodial violence should be a non-bailable offence. CCTV footage must be stored directly by courts, not police servers. Victims of illegal detention deserve compensation. Until this happens, every new criminal law will remain a cosmetic makeover because if the police are above the law, then the law is just paper, and the citizen is unprotected.