Reforming India’s Criminal Justice: The Imperative for Police Investigation and Prosecution

The Criminal Justice System of India is tainted with deeply ingrained inefficiencies, investigative shortcomings, and a prosecution framework that frequently fails to secure justice. Police investigations continue to be beset by delays, political meddling, a lack of sufficient forensic reliance, and antiquated procedural bottlenecks despite decades of judicial interventions and reform recommendations. The prosecution, which is supposed to be the cornerstone of justice, is usually weakened by its lack of autonomy and financial limitations. India has passed three revolutionary laws to modernise the Nation's Criminal Justice System in response to the pressing need for reform: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA). The BNSS improves police accountability, fortifies forensic mandates, and establishes stringent investigation timelines. A paradigm shift towards scientific inquiry is signalled by the BSA's formal recognition of digital and electronic evidence, which redefines evidentiary standards. This study promotes a structural realignment that guarantees police autonomy, prosecutorial independence, and technological integration in criminal investigations by taking inspiration from international best practices, including independent prosecutorial agencies, forensic-driven policing, and judicial oversight. Even the most progressive legal reforms run the risk of becoming nothing more than legislative artefacts in the absence of a strong enforcement mechanism. In the end, this study makes the case that justice will continue to elude India and public trust in the system will continue to decline unless the country institutionalises investigative integrity, fortifies prosecutorial autonomy, and adopts forensic innovations. In terms of both legislation and implementation, the reform needs to be audacious, decisive, and revolutionary.