The India Justice Report 2025, published on April 15, 2025, by Tata Trusts in collaboration with civil society initiatives such as the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and DAKSH, presents an in-depth analysis of India's system of delivering justice. The fourth edition of the report assesses the capacity of union territories and states on four pillars—police, prisons, judiciary, and legal aid—based on five parameters of human resources, infrastructure, budgets, workload, and diversity.

The report ranks the states according to their population size as large/mid-sized (population of more than 1 crore) and small (less than 1 crore) for equitable comparison. The report identifies overarching regional disparities, cross-cutting gender gaps, and topical issues such as overcrowding in prisons, as well as significant gaps in positive insights. This article explores three key findings of the report: regional disparities in the delivery of justice, gender gaps in the police ranks, and the overcrowding and undertrial arrest crisis in prisons with insights on the problems of reforming India's system of justice as well as the opportunities.

Regional Disparities in Justice Delivery

The India Justice Report 2025 highlights strong regional variation in the ability of states to deliver justice, with southern state governments consistently outperforming all the others. Within the large and mid-sized state category, Karnataka continues to be ranked number one from 2022, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. These are the best-performing states in infrastructure, police strength, and diversity.

For instance, Karnataka is the lone state where quotas for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are met for both police and judiciary and is indicative of inclusive representation. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have high work pressures on the judiciary, with each of their judges processing more than 4,000 cases against the national average of 2,200. Infrastructure shortfalls can be seen in Jharkhand, where just under 50% of the police stations have CCTV cameras against the national average of 83%.

In the small state category, Sikkim is at the top and Goa at the bottom. Notably, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have improved since 2022 significantly, showing that specific reforms can overcome gaps. These shortfalls point to the need for state-specific interventions to increase the ability of laggard-states to deliver justice in order to promote equitable accessibility across India.

Factors driving disparities

Southern states also enjoy improved funding, with increased per capita expenditure on police and judiciary as well as stronger infrastructure like video conferencing in 86% of their prisons. Karnataka is also successful due to its positive attitude towards diversity and manpower recruitment, with 78% of police stations having Women Help Desks. Other states like West Bengal, ranked lowest in terms of policing and delivery of justice, have poor human resources and infrastructure. The national spend on the judiciary is meager at Rs.182, with none of the states investing more than 1% of their yearly budgets in it, thereby widening gaps in resource-poor areas.

Implications for Policy

The prevalence of southern states also poses questions on resource distribution and state regulation in reforms in the field of justice. Although the report commends development in states such as Bihar, which has improved its police population ratio, overall national police population ratio continues to be at 155 for every 100,000 and lingers behind the sanctioned strength of 197.5. Bihar's 81 police for every lakh of population illustrates the plight of failing states. Policymakers need to make human resource and infrastructure investments in failing states in order to address the justice chasm at hand while learning from high-performing achievers such as Karnataka.

Gender disparities in the police force

Gender disparity continues to be one of the main impediments to an inclusive criminal justice system, including in the police. The India Justice Report 2025 shows women occupy just 8% of officer ranks, with 90% of the 2.4 lakh women police officers in the lowest ranks of constabulary positions. Of these only 960 are at the rank of Indian Police Service (IPS) and 24,322 at non-IPs officer ranks such as Deputy Superintendent of Police or Inspector.

Not a single state or union territory has reached its reserved quotas of women in the police force, showing systemic failure to introduce gender diversity. This imbalance impacts the efficiency of policing, especially in cases related to women and children where women police officers can bring much-needed empathy and outlook. The report also mentions some progress in the judiciary where women account for 38.3% of district court judges compared to 30% in 2017. Greater court roles remain low as women comprise only 14% of High Court judges and 6% of Supreme Court judges with only one woman Chief Justice among 25 High Courts.

Impact on Justice Delivery

The underrepresentation of women in high police positions constrains the capacity of the force to effectively deal with gender violence as well as other delicate cases. That Women Help Desks exist in 78% of police stations is positive news, but women's concentration in the lower ranks negates their impact. Conversely, the steady progress in the gender representation of the judiciary in general and the district court in particular (e.g., 45% in Delhi) indicates the potential for positive outcomes resulting from focused policies. Nevertheless, women's scarcity at leadership positions in both sectors impedes the evolution of inclusive policies and practices.

Steps Towards Reform

Filling gender gaps calls for augmenting recruitment, offering training, as well as providing avenues for women to rise to higher ranks. States such as Madhya Pradesh, having 133 women Deputy Superintendents of Police, can be the model for others. The report also advocates for cultural transformations within police forces to root out biases and also to have equal opportunities. Increasing women's presence in the judiciary, including in High Courts and the Supreme Court, is also essential to make the system of justice representative of India's diverse population.

Prison overcrowding and Under Trials

India Justice Report 2025 considers overcrowding in prisons to be a serious issue of human rights with an overall national occupancy of 131%. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have serious crises on hand with Delhi's prisons functioning at more than 170% for well over a decade and three of them more than 250% overcrowded between 2020 and 2022. Uttar Pradesh has one-third of prisons more than 250% overcrowded.

Matters are also made worse by the fact that 76% of prisoners are undertrials and all states except for Madhya Pradesh have more than 60% of their population as undertrials and Delhi at more than 90%. Inadequate medical facilities add to the problem with the prisoner-doctor ratio of 775:1 far in excess of the high recommendation of 300:1 and with some of the states such as Haryana, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh having more than 1,000:1.

Staff shortages are endemic with Delhi having a 27% overall shortage, 60% in correction staff, and 34% in officers. A fall in the number of paralegal volunteers by 38% since 2019 to just three per lakh population adds to restricting the availability of legal aid upon which undertrials rely heavily. The Rs.6.46 spent on each citizen on the capex of legal aid continues to fall short of demand.

Human Rights and Systemic Perspectives

Overpopulation and the significant ratio of undertrials undermine basic human rights as people spend years in prison awaiting trials and lacking proper legal counseling. The report estimates India's population in prison at 6.8 lakh in 2030 in the absence of basic reforms. The shortage of correction officers and psychologists/psychiatrists—totaling just 25 across the country—undermines efforts at rehabilitation.

The judiciary's pendency of 50% of High Court cases and of district court cases totaling more than 40% in several of the states takes its share in the undertrial deluge as does the low ratio of judges per population of 15 for each million as opposed to the Law Commission's suggested 50.

Reform Recommendations

The report calls for urgent measures, including expediting trials through increased judicial staffing and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms like mediation. Improving prison infrastructure, such as expanding video conferencing (available in 86% of prisons), can facilitate faster hearings. Increasing legal aid funding and recruiting more paralegal volunteers are essential to support under trials.

States must also address staff shortages and healthcare deficiencies to ensure humane prison conditions. The report's essays on access to justice for persons with disabilities and mediation highlight innovative approaches to reducing judicial and prison burdens.

The India Justice Report 2025 presents a critical eye with which to examine India's system of justice, acknowledging advances as well as revealing entrenched issues. Southern states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have high standards to be emulated, but regional disparities necessitate focused intervention to bring laggard states on board. Gender disparities in the police and judiciary highlight the need for enabling policies for inclusive justice reach.

Most pressingly of all, the overcrowding of prisons and undertrials requires holistic reforms for the safeguarding of human rights and the acceleration of justice. In the resolution of these issues as it faces them, the report acts as a handbook for policymakers to encourage in state and center cooperation in the creation of a more equitable and efficient system of justice for all.
 

Key Data Table

Pillar	Key Finding	Details
Police	Police-to-population ratio stagnant	155 per 100,000, below sanctioned 197.5; Bihar worst at 81 per lakh
Police (Gender)	Women underrepresented in senior roles	8% officer posts; 90% in constabulary; only 960 women in IPS ranks
Judiciary	High workload per judge	Average 2,200 cases; Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh over 4,000 cases
Judiciary (Gender)	Women judges increasing but limited in higher courts	38.3% in district courts; 14% in High Courts; 6% in Supreme Court
Prisons	Severe overcrowding	National occupancy 131%; Delhi over 170%; Uttar Pradesh 1/3 jails >250%
Prisons (Undertrials)	High proportion of undertrials	76% nationally; Delhi over 90%; all states except Madhya Pradesh >60%
Legal Aid	Low per capita spending and declining volunteers	Rs.6.46 per capita; 38% drop in paralegal volunteers since 2019

References:

• India Justice Report 2025 Official Website: https://indiajusticereport.org/ (Last visited on May 15)
• India Justice Report 2025: Can India Fix Its Gender Gaps, Prison Woes, and Court Backlogs? https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/india-justice-report-2025-prison-police-justice-delivery/article69456419.ece (Last visited on May 15)