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Overcriminalisation in India

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Overcriminalisation in India refers to the excessive use of criminal sanctions, including imprisonment, as the default penalty for relatively minor offences. The country's penal system relies heavily on incarceration.[1] The instinct to use imprisonment as a regulatory tool remains deeply embedded in India's legislative culture.[2] In January 2025, The Economist claimed that governments in India make it impossible not to be a rule-breaker.[3] The use of criminal punishments in India has expanded indiscriminately into civil, social, economic, and regulatory matters - becoming a tool for day-to-day governance.[4] Scholars have noted approximate estimations of offences ranging from 12,000 to 150,000.[5]

A 2025 report by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a New Delhi based think tank estimated that federal laws in India contained 7,305 distinct offences across 370 central laws, out of ~890 that were in force then.[4] A 2022 report by Observer Research Foundation and TeamLease Services noted 26,134 criminal clauses in India's business laws, and asserted that of the total 69,233 compliances in India, 37.8 percent carried criminal punishment for violation.[6]

The Government of India has taken several initiatives to decriminalise laws in India with Jan Vishwas acts and other amendments.[7] However, the efforts have been heavily criticised for trading justice for revenue, replacing accountability with administrative convenience, being hijacked by powerful lobbies, reducing the deterrent effect of laws[8], giving unfettered powers to administrative officers,[9][10][11] and also for not doing meaningful reforms by including laws which wouldn't have practical implications.[2][12]

Background

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"Overcriminalisation" is used to describe the expansion of criminal law beyond its traditional domain of punishing wrongful conduct. In India, laws overwhelmingly use criminal punishment instead of a civil penalty, licence suspension, or administrative sanctions for relatively minor offences, such as regulatory lapse, late filing, incomplete disclosure in administrative forms, or technical breach of licensing conditions, regardless of the seriousness of the conduct.[3]

The roots of criminal regulation of conduct in India lie in colonial-era legislation, much of which combined licensing and revenue functions with punitive sanctions modeled on English law from the 19th century. Several hundred of pre-colonial legislation remain in force in India.[13]

Scale and scope

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While there has been significant scholarly inquiry into overcriminalisation in India, two research reports have been particularly influential and are widely cited. They are;

Jailed for doing business

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In February 2022, the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi based think tank published a report titled "Jailed for Doing Business: The 26,134 Imprisonment Clauses in India's Business Laws," based on regulatory data compiled over 7 years by TeamLease Services. The report noted 1536 laws that regulated businesses in India, comprising 69,233 distinct compliance obligations applicable to running a business in India spread across federal, state, and local jurisdictions.[6] Of these, 26,134 compliances carried imprisonment as one of the punishments for violation, with some containing prison terms as high as 10 years.

State of the system

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Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy published the State of the System report along with an online database of criminal punishments across federal laws in India. The database noted 7,305 offences across 370 laws in India. Of these, 5,333 offences carried criminal punishment, 433 having life imprisonment and 301 having the death penalty and only 8 having community service as a form of punishment.[14] The report also found that over 75% of all crimes defined under federal laws in India regulated areas beyond the core criminal justice system, such as shipping, taxation, financial institutions, and municipal governance.

Cases

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Swedish fashion retailer Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) faced criminal charges in India for violating the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.[15] Under the rules, for any length longer than one metre, the label on a packaged commodity should be shown in decimals. H&M was allegedly flouting this rule, which carries a criminal punishment, as it was found to have marked the length of a garment as "122 cm" instead of "1.22 metres".[16] The punishment for the first offence is a fine of Rs. 10,000; and the second violation may lead to one-year imprisonment, a fine, or both under Section 29 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.[17] The case was dismissed by the Delhi High Court after five years.[18] In another instance, Cadbury India filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court following a case booked against the company for using 'angula' in a chocolate advertisement instead of the standard metric units.[19]

In June 2012, excise officials arrested a documentary filmmaker in Worli, Mumbai, as she had 20 bottles of liquor to be added to chocolates in small quantity. Under the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949, a permit is needed to possess liquor.[20] She was later released on cash bail of Rs. 15,000.[21]

Reforms

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The Government of India has repealed over 1500 laws since 2014 based on recommendations of various law commissions and has passed several amendments aiming to decriminalise laws. In 2023 and 2026, Jan Vishwas Acts were enacted to decriminalise offences. The government claimed that the reforms will enhance Ease of doing business and the Ease of Living in India.[7] The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023, decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 laws[22], and the 2026 Act decriminalised 784 provisions across 79 laws.[23]

Continuing creation of new offences

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In July 2026, the Indian Parliament passed a bill to criminalise "insulting" Vande Mataram, the national song.[24] The criminalisation was added by an amendment to already existing criminal offences under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. An editorial noted it to be; "At best, superfluous and at worst, a blunt instrument in the hands of an overzealous prosecutorial machinery."[25] Insulting the national song carries a prison term, extendable to three years, or fine, or both. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 was also amended in the monsoon session of the Parliament, which increased the penalty for using unfair means in public examinations to 10 years, increasing it from five earlier.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Katoch, Kritika (2026). Rethinking of Punishment System in India: A Critical Study. Writer's Pocket (published 2026-03-22). p. 309. ISBN 9789372480214.
  2. 1 2 Goenka, Anant (2026-04-09). "Laying down the sword of Damocles". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  3. 1 2 "Why all Indians are rule-breakers". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  4. 1 2 Mansata, Aashna; Bamba, Ishaan; Bhatt, Sriyanshi; Sharma, Ayushi; Mehmood, Naveed (2025). State of the System (PDF). New Delhi: Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy (published 2025-04-23). p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  5. ↑ Bajpai, Prof GS (2019-01-13). "Overcriminalisation: Are We Heading To Unprincipled Criminalisation?". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  6. 1 2 Chikermane, Gautam; Agrawal, Rishi (2022-02-10). "Jailed for Doing Business". Observer Research Foundation. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  7. 1 2 "Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Pass Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026". Press Information Bureau of India. 2026-04-02. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  8. ↑ Kachhawaha, Kshitij Saruparia,Apeksha (2026-05-22). "Jan Vishwas and the wrong end of RERA". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 2026-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ "'Reform or risk?' Jan Vishwas bill 2.0 triggers political face-off in Lok Sabha". The Economic Times. 2026-04-01. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  10. ↑ Reddy T, Prashant (2023-10-20). "Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: Symbol of a Broken Legislative Process". The India Forum. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  11. ↑ Sharna, Vivek Narayan (2026-04-10). "Jan Vishwas Bill 2026: Replacing fear with trust, but deterrence must endure". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  12. ↑ Ahmad, Naveed Mehmood (2023-02-21). "The Decriminalisation Conversation Needs to go Beyond Ease of Doing Business". Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  13. ↑ "248Th Interim Report On Obsolete Laws". indiankanoon.org. Law Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  14. ↑ Vidhi. "S.O.S. | Crime & Punishment". Crime and Punishment. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  15. ↑ "Delhi HC quashes summons issued to H&M over alleged violation of legal metrology rules". The Indian Express. 2023-08-16. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  16. ↑ "H&M Hennes & Mauritz Retail Pvt. Ltd vs. Legal Metrology Department, Govt. of NCT". Indian Kanoon. 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  17. ↑ "Section 29 in The Legal Metrology Act, 2009". Indian Kanoon. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  18. ↑ Mandhani, Apoorva (2023-08-16). "H&M got penalty notice because cardigan didn't mention size in metres. 5 yrs on, HC quashed complaint". The Print. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  19. ↑ "Cadbury India Ltd vs. Controller of Legal Metrology". Indian Kanoon. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  20. ↑ Gupta, Saurabh (2024-06-24). Ghosh, Shamik (ed.). "Mumbai shocker: Woman arrested for possessing liquor for chocolates". NDTV. Archived from the original on 2025-05-19. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  21. ↑ "Detained for not possessing liqour permits,woman let off". The Indian Express. 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  22. ↑ "Ease of Doing Business: India's Ongoing Regulatory Transformation". Press Information Bureau of India. 2026-02-05. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  23. ↑ "Experts Explain | Jan Vishwas Bill 2026: Scale, scope and impact of India's major decriminalisation exercise". The Indian Express. 2026-04-06. Retrieved 2026-07-30.
  24. ↑ Jha, Anuja (2026-07-30). "Parliament clears bill to make insult to Vande Mataram criminal offence". India Today. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  25. ↑ "On Vande Mataram, a law in search of a crime". The Indian Express. 2026-07-31. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  26. ↑ "Parliament passes paper leak Bill as Opposition walks out of Rajya Sabha". The Hindu. 2026-07-30. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
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