The harsh truth behind how India punishes

India’s legal system punishes more than it protects. With imprisonment prescribed for 7 in 10 crimes — often inconsistently and harshly — the law appears more focused on retribution than reform

Punishments carry consequences far beyond the courtroom and statute books. They shape futures, reputations, livelihoods and liberty itself. Given this immense impact, one would expect the prescription of punishment in law to be guided by clear, principled reasoning: proportionate to harm, consistent across similar offences and grounded in evidence.
Yet, in India, that is far from the reality. The State of the System (SOS) database reveals a deep arbitrariness and harshness in the way punishments are prescribed in India.