History UsefulNotes / IndianLaws

[[folder: IB, RAW]]

[[/folder]]

! The Indian Inspectors - Indian Law Enforcement

[[folder: The Boys in Khaki carrying Lathis]]

* Much like the United States, Law and Order is a State Subject. Which is to say, most States and Union Territories have their own police services, and are responsible for training, equipping and maintaining them. This results in a pretty diverse police service with varying levels of competency and calibre, but with JurisdictionFriction being an expected problem.
** The Mumbai Police generally tend to be the poster-child of Police services, with an air of ConsummateProfessional and HardboiledDetective who takes no nonsense from anyone, is upright and honest, and relentlessly pursues their objective no matter what obstacles are in their way. This is TruthInTelevision for anyone who has actually been to Mumbai, and their sheer guts in facing down terrorists while armed with little more than sticks, bolt-action rifles and pistols - ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and still coming out on top]]'' - has won them considerable praise from damn near everyone.
** On the other side of the spectrum is...well, ask anyone who isn't Maharashtrian or a ''Mumbaikar'' and they'll say [[SelfDeprecation "our own boys suck"]]. Not always true, but it's weird like that. Most forces are quite competent though, problems aside.
* They're nicknamed ''Khakis'' because of the IconicOutfit of most police services. That said, the Uniforms change depending on the State and Territory, so you have Goan Police who dress in Whites, Mumbai Metrocops who wear black berets, and Delhi police, who wear peaked caps (even the constables!). It really depends on where you go, but the standard Uniform is Khaki Pants and Shirt with a beret, forage cap or peaked cap.
* The Police services tend to be split between the following -
** Beat cops, AKA your rank-and-file Policemen and Constables.
** Traffic Police - every driver's [[TheDreaded nightmare]] in India, with good reason. For the Traffic Police, not the drivers, since Indian drivers make the stuff you see on those [[MemeticMutation Russian Dashcam videos on YouTube]] seem positively tame in comparison.
** Detective Service - This one kind of depends. Some states let the Police Officers investigate the crimes fully, and some have a separate detective service. Maharashtra and Delhi are the most famous ones, but quite a few other states do keep separate services for investigation and regular policing.
** Rapid Action Force - Deal with riots, natural disaster and other civil disturbances that are severe, but not bad enough to SummonBiggerFish.
** Most Metrocops have their own SWAT Divisions as well, though the concept is fairly recent in India and rose explicitly because of the increase in terrorist activity. Mumbai, [[RunningGag as usual]], got first dibs and created a full-fledged SWAT Team before every other Police service, mostly in response to the 26/11 Terrorist Attack in 2008. They don't usually call them SWAT, though - it's [[InsistentTerminology some variation on Task Force in most cases]], usually because calling them SWAT makes it look like the American version, and the Indian police regard American cops as [[AxCrazy trigger-happy nutters]] ([[SarcasmMode thank you, Hollywood!]]).
* Most Indian policemen and officers do not carry weapons, and have shown no real interest in doing so. The most they'll carry [[LawmanBaton would be a truncheon or baton]] or ''Lathi'' as it's called - and the sight of them [[UnstoppableRage losing their temper]] and coming after someone waving those sticks is quite enough for people to ''not'' antagonize them. While Police Officers are expected to be packing heat (usually a [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] or a [[BoringButPractical semiautomatic pistol]]), it is unusual enough that if they're seen with heat, it means things have gone [[GodzillaThreshold seriously wrong]] somewhere. If the Constabulary absolutely have to carry arms, they normally use L1A1 SLR Rifles, the locally-made [=INSAS=] Rifles or [=SMLE MkIII*=] Lee-Enfields [[SchizoTech (yes, they still use them)]].
* Indian police also generally tend to fall into two stereotypes - [[CorruptCop brutally corrupt and petty thugs in uniform]] or [[KnightInSourArmour jaded but still noble enforcers]] doing a [[DirtyBusiness thankless job]] that they don't get respect for.
** One of the reasons for this is that the modern Indian Police Services were left mostly unchanged from the British system, then known as the Imperial Police and who were regarded as TheQuisling at best and outright traitors and sociopaths at worst by Freedom Fighters, since they were helping keep the Empire's grip over the subcontinent without question. The fact that both services share the same acronym ([=IPS=]) has [[NotHelpingYourCase not helped matters]] in the slightest.
** The other (and the main one) reason for this is the nature of the service - with State Governments in charge, they're often used as dogsbodies and personal security by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Government Officials]] and [[SleazyPolitician Politicians]] as a way of flaunting their status, and are often used to settle political and personal scores as opposed to actual policing - to the detriment of everyone else.
** While it has improved considerably since the bad old days, and the level of corruption depends from place to place, it's still an unfortunate problem with law enforcement in India in general. While not approaching [[UsefulNotes/SpellOurNameWithAPo Russian]] levels of ludicrous, it's still prevalent enough that not a few leaders and voices have asked that the Police be portrayed somewhat better, since an erosion of respect for the ''[[AffectionateNickname Khakis]]'' is hardly a healthy attitude, since low morale and disrespect simply makes it easier for them [[ThenLetMeBeEvil to turn bad]]. Critics counter that respect is earned, [[DareToBeBadass not demanded]]. So it's still very much [[MilesToGoBeforeISleep a work in progress.]]

[[folder: The "Encounter" Specialists]]
* What happens when the CowboyCop meets VigilanteMan.
* As you've no doubt noticed, India [[{{Understatement}} isn't exactly a bastion of good governance]] - there's an [[WorldHalfEmpty endemic streak of corruption and inefficiency]] across most sectors, and the Police and Judiciary are no exceptions. This means that quite a few people just [[KarmaHoudini get clean away]] with crimes, simply because they have [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections the right connections]] or [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney a lot of money]] or because they ''are'' [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem the rule-makers]].
* The result is [[DeadlyEuphemism Encounter Killings]]. Basically, if a Police unit or individual cops thinks that some crook is going to get away, they don't bother with the whole business of hauling them to court - they just [[VigilanteExecution blow them away]] the first chance they get. This is depressingly common across much of India, and worse, ''[[KickTheSonOfABitch the public approves of it]]'', since they have very little faith in the notoriously slow legal system that is India's judiciary, and they don't trust the Government to punish wrongdoers because of endemic corruption and inefficiency.
* The Mumbai Police was notorious for this, even setting up a "Special Encounter Squad" unit which focused exclusively on killing gangsters and Mafiosi, and they racked up a massive kill-list of mobsters during their time of operations [[AllOfThem (more than four hundred of them)]]. Views on their operations aside, they genuinely ''did'' make Mumbai safer and cleaned out the Mafia from many parts of the city, so the public greatly approved of their work, feeling that TheExtremistWasRight and it was [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the only way]] to clean [[WretchedHive Mumbai]]'s entrenched organized crime. The State Government also tacitly supported them, since it meant that a lot of [[AssholeVictim Mafia-backed Politicians]] got their feet cut out from under them, and a number of the members of the Unit went on to become Mumbai's top cops explicitly as a result of their work as "Encounter Specialists". [[SincerityMode Make unkind comments about them in Mumbai at your own risk.]]
* To say that all of this is controversial is putting it mildly. Violation of due-process aside, it also happens that a number of those "Encounters" are simply the Police settling scores with someone they don't like, a frame-up job, or with substantial collateral damage. It hasn't dampened the public's enthusiasm for it, with "do an Encounter" being a euphemism for [[OffingTheAnnoyance solving a problem]] that won't go away because of corruption or political influence. It also doesn't help that most of the critics tend to be the sort of UpperClassTwit that an American would call "snooty liberal elites in their ivory towers". Some things don't change across the world.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: CBI, IB, RAW]]

[[/folder]]

* Most Indian policemen and officers do not carry weapons, and have shown no real interest in doing so. The most they'll carry [[LawmanBaton would be a truncheon or baton]] or ''Lathi'' as it's called - and the sight of them [[UnstoppableRage losing their temper]] and coming after someone waving those sticks is quite enough for people to ''not'' antagonize them. While Police Officers are expected to be packing heat (usually a [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] or a [[BoringButPractical semiautomatic pistol]]), it is unusual enough that if they're seen with heat, it means things have gone [[GodzillaThreshold seriously wrong]] somewhere. If the Constabulary absolutely have to carry arms, they normally use [[CoolGuns/BattleRifles L1A1 SLR Rifles]], the locally-made [=INSAS=] Rifles or [=SMLE MkIII*=] Lee-Enfields [[SchizoTech (yes, they still use them)]].

** Traffic Police - every driver's [[TheDreaded nightmare]] in India, with good reason. For the Traffic Police, not the drivers, since Indian drivers make the stuff you see on those [[MemeticMutation Russian Dashcam videos on YouTube]] seem [[UpToEleven positively tame in comparison.]]

[[/folder]]

* The first inklings of a legal code were laid down by [[PrivateMilitaryContractor The British East India Company]], specifically by Lord Charles Cornwallis ([[UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution yes, that one]]). This was because the Company had gained a large number of suzerainties as opposed to simply being protectorates. They therefore implemented a common legal code for all their territories, based on UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw, but with [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem modifications intended to enrich Company men to the largest extent possible]].

! ''Nyay Panchayat'' (Council of Justice)

The earliest version of an official justice system in India was - and still is - the ''Nyay Panchayat''. It's a board of five people, administering the law. These bodies usually consisted of village elders, who arbitrated disputes and dealt with most petty crimes. The ''[[ChurchMilitant Khap Panchayat]]'' consisted mostly of higher caste elders, who strictly enforced India's [[TypeCaste rigid caste system]]. In ancient and medieval times, settlements as large as cities were normally administered by Kings themselves, or local administrators (usually their sons and daughters) to whom Kings delegated authority. This left the ''Panchayats'' to administer the law in smaller settlements.

When India won [[UsefulNotes/ThePartitionOfIndia its independence]] from British colonial rule, UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi, the man who led the struggle, advocated the reestablishment of the ''Panchayats'' in India's villages - albeit with members now elected rather than appointed. The official ''Nyay Panchayat'' functions much like a small claims court, which also handles petty misdemeanours. By law, the modern day ''Panchayats'' are barred from adjudicating serious felonies. However, caste based ''Khap Panchayats'' still function unofficially, and use extrajudicial means to enforce the old caste system - in direct contravention of modern Indian law, that bans caste based discrimination. The Khap Panchayats are therefore [[FlameBait a controversial subject.]]

! ''Qazis'' and ''Kotwals'' (Magistrates and Constables)

The first version of a modern day justice system in India was established by the Afghani Sultans who controlled Northern and Central India in the five centuries before the British showed up. While soldiers had been used to enforce laws since antiquity, it was the Delhi Sultans and the Mughals who designated some soldiers called ''Kotwals'' (Constables). They weren't just soldiers who enforced laws as needed, they were full time policemen who didn't go off to fight military conflicts.

Criminals when caught were often hauled before designated judges called ''Qazis'' (Magistrates). The Qazis were appointed either directly by the Kings, or if the kingdom got big enough, by ''Wazirs'' (Ministers). As in ancient times, violent crimes were often punishable by death, while smaller crimes were dealt with by [[ATasteOfTheLash corporal punishment]] and [[BuyThemOff financial restitution]]. Prison cells in the palaces were reserved only for political prisoners, such as Royal family members or ministers [[YouHaveFailedMe out of favour]] with the King.

Civil matters were arbitrated by a different kind of judge called ''Munsifs'' (Arbitrators). This was [[UrExample the first time]] that criminal law and civil law was dealt with separately in the subcontinent. ''Munsifs'' acted more like arbitrators [[MeaningfulName (hence their name)]] rather than Judges, as the concept of "lawyers" representing clients hadn't been formed yet. These ''Munsifs'' still exist in the modern day as arbitrators and small claims court judges in bigger cities and towns where ''Panchayats'' cannot be formed.

[[/folder]]

** One of the reasons for this is that the modern Indian Police Services were left mostly unchanged from the British system, then known as the [[TheMan Imperial Police]] and who were regarded as TheQuisling at best and outright traitors and sociopaths at worst by Freedom Fighters, since they were helping keep the Empire's grip over the subcontinent without question. The fact that both services share the same acronym ([=IPS=]) has [[NotHelpingYourCase not helped matters]] in the slightest.

* The Mumbai Police was notorious for this, even setting up a "Special Encounter Squad" unit which focused exclusively on killing gangsters and Mafiosi, and they racked up a massive kill-list of mobsters during their time of operations [[AllOfThem (more than four hundred of them)]]. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Views on their operations aside]], they genuinely ''did'' make Mumbai safer and cleaned out the Mafia from many parts of the city, so the public greatly approved of their work, feeling that TheExtremistWasRight and it was [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the only way]] to clean [[WretchedHive Mumbai]]'s entrenched organized crime. The State Government also tacitly supported them, since it meant that a lot of [[AssholeVictim Mafia-backed Politicians]] got their feet cut out from under them, and a number of the members of the Unit went on to become Mumbai's top cops explicitly as a result of their work as "Encounter Specialists". [[SincerityMode Make unkind comments about them in Mumbai at your own risk.]]
* To say that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment all of this is controversial is putting it mildly]]. Violation of due-process aside, it also happens that a number of those "Encounters" are simply the Police settling scores with someone they don't like, a frame-up job, or with substantial collateral damage. It hasn't dampened the public's enthusiasm for it, with "do an Encounter" being a euphemism for [[OffingTheAnnoyance solving a problem]] that won't go away because of corruption or political influence. It also doesn't help that most of the critics tend to be the sort of UpperClassTwit that an American would call "snooty liberal elites in their ivory towers". Some things don't change across the world.

* To say that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment all of this is controversial is putting it mildly]]. Violation of due-process aside, it also happens that a number of those "Encounters" are simply the Police settling scores with someone they don't like, a frame-up job, or with substantial collateral damage. It hasn't dampened the public's enthusiasm for it, with "do an Encounter" being a euphemism for [[OffingTheAnnoyance solving a problem]] that won't go away because of corruption or political influence. It also doesn't help that most of the critics tend to be the sort of UpperClassTwit that an American would call "snooty liberal elites in their ivory towers". [[NotSoDifferent Some things don't change across the world.]]

** The first inklings of a legal code were laid down by [[PrivateMilitaryContractor The British East India Company]], specifically by Lord Charles Cornwallis ([[UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution yes, that one]]). This was because the Company had gained a large number of suzerainties as opposed to simply being protectorates. They therefore implemented a common legal code for all their territories, based on UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw, but with [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem modifications intended to enrich Company men to the largest extent possible]].
** For the first time ever, people were bound to a strip of land, and were obligated to pay taxes regardless of what they were able to produce, where previously, Indian farmers simply migrated to other fertile lands when a piece of land became barren, and paid the taxes to whoever was ruling over that territory at that time. Although this didn't make much economic sense by forcing people to pay taxes with income they just didn't have, it set those people up for ''[[InsistentTerminology indentured servitude]]'', which was [[CorruptCorporateExecutive extremely valuable]] for [[MegaCorp the Company]]. This practice of "bonded labour" serfdom would exist until India gained its independence.
** Another important law that came about at this time, was the banning of ''Sati'' - a practice in which recently widowed women were burnt along with their departed husband in the funeral pyre [[note]] This practice became popular during the numerous Afghan Muslim invasions, where widowed women, especially those of soldiers killed in battle, were often [[SexSlave dispatched to harems]], so this was seen as protecting them from that fate [[/note]]. However, the practice of ''Dowry'', which had been brought over by the Muslim invaders, was allowed to exist [[note]] Because of the new taxation policies, women were often given some money and jewelry for their own economic upkeep, but those were often seized by their husbands to pay the increasingly draconian company taxes [[/note]]. While completely illegal in the present day, isolated incidents of both [[ValuesDissonance continue to crop up]], much to [[BerserkButton the displeasure]] of the Government.

** India's present day legal system is, for all practical purposes, a duplicate of UsefulNotes/BritishCourts, and UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw is applicable in all cases except those dealing with religious or personal cases[[note]] This is quite similar to what happens in Israel[[/note]], so if you're familiar with the British (or even American) court systems, you'll have a fairly good grasp of how Indian Courts work.
** You've got the Supreme Court of India right up top, with one Chief Justice and twenty five other judges, all selected from the Judicial College. However, unlike in [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts the United States]], the Chief Justice and the twenty five Judges can only hold the position until the age of sixty five, after which they must retire - this restriction applies to all Judges, so there are no lifetime seats.
*** The selection is also mostly apolitical, since the Judicial College is independent from the ruling dispensation and may nominate any one of their members for the Collegium of Judges, who are then appointed by the President of India.
** Below the Supreme Court, you have the High Courts, one per state of India's States and Union Territories. The High Court Judges are also part of the Judicial College, and are appointed to their positions by the State or Territorial Governors. Unlike in the United States, there are no circuit judges - all High Court Justices have full jurisdiction over their State or Territory and nothing else.
** Below the High Courts, you have three systems -
*** The District Courts, who deal with mostly civil cases (which is to say, the bulk of the casework). These go down all the way to the ''Nyay Panchayats'' spoken of earlier, as well as ''Lok Adalats'' (Assembly of the People), who are one step above them.
*** The Sessions/Criminal Courts, who deal with serious crimes (such as murder, assault or terrorism). These go down all the way to Magistrates - III Class, who deal with petty offences and minor misdemeanours.
*** The Revenue Courts, who deal with taxation and financial offences. These go down all the way to Assistant ''Tehsildars'' and ''Tehsildars'' (think Deputies and Sheriffs in the United States) and are a separate Judicial Stream in most cases, the casework being the purview of the Department of Revenue rather than the Ordinary Judicial System.
** India does not have a Jury system, after a particularly bizarre case (''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._M._Nanavati_v._State_of_Maharashtra Nanavati vs. The State of Maharashtra]]'') which made the Government of India abolish Jury Trials. The reasoning being that since most of India's population is so diverse (confessionally and culturally) a Jury would almost never be unbiased or neutral, and therefore unlikely to adhere to the principles of justice. [[BrokenBase It remains a contentious decision]], but almost no one wants to bring it back, since the original reasoning did (and does) [[StrawmanHasAPoint have a point]], regionalism being a significant thing in India.

** Unlike the US which has state laws and federal laws and splits them into separate jurisdictions, India has one unified criminal code known as the Indian Penal Code or [=IPC=]. Many laws codified into the [=IPC=] are unchanged from laws established during the colonial period.
** When India gained independence, the leaders had to design a legal code that accounted for the sheer amount of cultural diversity that exists in India, and they found that British laws that ''weren’t'' overtly discriminatory did fit the role best. Many of these laws are based on UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw including some [[ValuesDissonance archaic Victorian era laws]] against Homosexuality and other [[MoralGuardians "Morality" laws]]. Those laws are slowly being repealed - Homosexuality was finally decriminalised in 2018, and laws dealing with Adultery and Divorce were changed to no-fault systems similar to that of the United States from 2011 onwards.
** The creation of new laws is, of course, the privilege of the Executive Branch, but much like in Britain, the actual contours of those laws are entirely the prerogative of the Courts. So there's quite a few Common Law Offences that just aren't present in the [=IPC=], but with precedent holding them up anyway.
** The Criminal Procedures Code [=(CrPC)=] deals with Criminal Law procedure. It is applicable across the entirety of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where a special case known as Article 370 (think Diplock Courts in UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland) is imposed, which is [[FlameBait contentious]] to say the least. It sets out the jurisdictions of the Court System as well as appropriate punishments, as well as the procedures to be followed for Appeals.
** The concept of Bail as it is understood in the United States does not apply in India. However, it is possible for Bail to be posted, but this is uncommon enough that it invites notice. Most offences are non-Bailable, but the precise charges for which they are posted falls under the discretion of the Central and State Governments, who can modify them as they see fit.
** The Death Penalty in India is only applied "In the Rarest of the Rare Cases". Which is to say, it's only passed down for Terrorism or particularly horrific crimes, such as gratuitous violence and sadism, rape, mass-murder or Treason - and usually for convicts who [[TheSociopath show no remorse]]. The most infamous recent sentence was for one Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani National who was responsible for several acts of mass-murder and terrorism in Mumbai on the 26th of November 2008, and who was executed in the [[TheAlcatraz Yerwada Jail]] on the 21st of November 2012. The most recent execution was that of Yakub Memon, a terrorist responsible for the [[NightmareFuel gruesome]] 1993 Mumbai Bombings, who was executed on the 20th of July 2015 in the Nagpur Central Jail.

** Much like the United States, Law and Order is a State Subject. Which is to say, most States and Union Territories have their own police services, and are responsible for training, equipping and maintaining them. This results in a pretty diverse police service with varying levels of competency and calibre, but with JurisdictionFriction being an expected problem.
*** The Mumbai Police generally tend to be the poster-child of Police services, with an air of ConsummateProfessional and HardboiledDetective who takes no nonsense from anyone, is upright and honest, and relentlessly pursues their objective no matter what obstacles are in their way. This is TruthInTelevision for anyone who has actually been to Mumbai, and their sheer guts in facing down terrorists while armed with little more than sticks, bolt-action rifles and pistols - ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and still coming out on top]]'' - has won them considerable praise from damn near everyone.
*** On the other side of the spectrum is...well, ask anyone who isn't Maharashtrian or a ''Mumbaikar'' and they'll say [[SelfDeprecation "our own boys suck"]]. Not always true, but it's weird like that. Most forces are quite competent though, problems aside.
** They're nicknamed ''Khakis'' because of the IconicOutfit of most police services. That said, the Uniforms change depending on the State and Territory, so you have Goan Police who dress in Whites, Mumbai Metrocops who wear black berets, and Delhi police, who wear peaked caps (even the constables!). It really depends on where you go, but the standard Uniform is Khaki Pants and Shirt with a beret, forage cap or peaked cap.
** The Police services tend to be split between the following -
*** Beat cops, AKA your rank-and-file Policemen and Constables.
*** Traffic Police - every driver's [[TheDreaded nightmare]] in India, with good reason. For the Traffic Police, not the drivers, since Indian drivers make the stuff you see on those [[MemeticMutation Russian Dashcam videos on YouTube]] seem [[UpToEleven positively tame in comparison.]]
*** Detective Service - This one kind of depends. Some states let the Police Officers investigate the crimes fully, and some have a separate detective service. Maharashtra and Delhi are the most famous ones, but quite a few other states do keep separate services for investigation and regular policing.
*** Rapid Action Force - Deal with riots, natural disaster and other civil disturbances that are severe, but not bad enough to SummonBiggerFish.
*** Most Metrocops have their own SWAT Divisions as well, though the concept is fairly recent in India and rose explicitly because of the increase in terrorist activity. Mumbai, [[RunningGag as usual]], got first dibs and created a full-fledged SWAT Team before every other Police service, mostly in response to the 26/11 Terrorist Attack in 2008. They don't usually call them SWAT, though - it's [[InsistentTerminology some variation on Task Force in most cases]], usually because calling them SWAT makes it look like the American version, and the Indian police regard American cops as [[AxCrazy trigger-happy nutters]] ([[SarcasmMode thank you, Hollywood!]]).
** Most Indian policemen and officers do not carry weapons, and have shown no real interest in doing so. The most they'll carry [[LawmanBaton would be a truncheon or baton]] or ''Lathi'' as it's called - and the sight of them [[UnstoppableRage losing their temper]] and coming after someone waving those sticks is quite enough for people to ''not'' antagonize them. While Police Officers are expected to be packing heat (usually a [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] or a [[BoringButPractical semiautomatic pistol]]), it is unusual enough that if they're seen with heat, it means things have gone [[GodzillaThreshold seriously wrong]] somewhere. If the Constabulary absolutely have to carry arms, they normally use [[CoolGuns/BattleRifles L1A1 SLR Rifles]], the locally-made [=INSAS=] Rifles or [=SMLE MkIII*=] Lee-Enfields [[SchizoTech (yes, they still use them)]].
** Indian police also generally tend to fall into two stereotypes - [[CorruptCop brutally corrupt and petty thugs in uniform]] or [[KnightInSourArmour jaded but still noble enforcers]] doing a [[DirtyBusiness thankless job]] that they don't get respect for.
*** One of the reasons for this is that the modern Indian Police Services were left mostly unchanged from the British system, then known as the [[TheMan Imperial Police]] and who were regarded as TheQuisling at best and outright traitors and sociopaths at worst by Freedom Fighters, since they were helping keep the Empire's grip over the subcontinent without question. The fact that both services share the same acronym ([=IPS=]) has [[NotHelpingYourCase not helped matters]] in the slightest.
*** The other (and the main one) reason for this is the nature of the service - with State Governments in charge, they're often used as dogsbodies and personal security by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Government Officials]] and [[SleazyPolitician Politicians]] as a way of flaunting their status, and are often used to settle political and personal scores as opposed to actual policing - to the detriment of everyone else.
*** While it has improved considerably since the bad old days, and the level of corruption depends from place to place, it's still an unfortunate problem with law enforcement in India in general. While not approaching [[UsefulNotes/SpellOurNameWithAPo Russian]] levels of ludicrous, it's still prevalent enough that not a few leaders and voices have asked that the Police be portrayed somewhat better, since an erosion of respect for the ''[[AffectionateNickname Khakis]]'' is hardly a healthy attitude, since low morale and disrespect simply makes it easier for them [[ThenLetMeBeEvil to turn bad]]. Critics counter that respect is earned, [[DareToBeBadass not demanded]]. So it's still very much [[MilesToGoBeforeISleep a work in progress.]]

* The Mumbai Police was notorious for this, even setting up a "Special Encounter Squad" unit which focused exclusively on killing gangsters and Mafiosi, and they racked up a massive kill-list of mobsters during their time of operations [[AllOfThem (more than four hundred of them)]]. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement Views on their operations aside]], they genuinely ''did'' make Mumbai safer and cleaned out the Mafia from many parts of the city, so the public greatly approved of their work, feeling that TheExtremistWasRight and it was [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the only way]] to clean [[WretchedHive Mumbai]]'s entrenched organized crime. The State Government also tacitly supported them, since it meant that a lot of [[AssholeVictim Mafia-backed Politicians]] got their feet cut out from under them, and a number of the members of the Unit went on to become Mumbai's top cops explicitly as a result of their work as "Encounter Specialists". [[SincerityMode Make unkind comments about them in Mumbai at your own risk.]]
* To say that [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement all of this is controversial is putting it mildly]]. Violation of due-process aside, it also happens that a number of those "Encounters" are simply the Police settling scores with someone they don't like, a frame-up job, or with substantial collateral damage. It hasn't dampened the public's enthusiasm for it, with "do an Encounter" being a euphemism for [[OffingTheAnnoyance solving a problem]] that won't go away because of corruption or political influence. It also doesn't help that most of the critics tend to be the sort of UpperClassTwit that an American would call "snooty liberal elites in their ivory towers". [[NotSoDifferent Some things don't change across the world.]]

** Most Indian policemen and officers do not carry weapons, and have shown no real interest in doing so. While Police Officers are expected to be packing heat (usually a [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] or a [[BoringButPractical semiautomatic pistol]]), it is unusual enough that if they're seen with heat, it means things have gone [[GodzillaThreshold seriously wrong]] somewhere.

[[folder: IPS Officers]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: SWAT Teams]]

[[/folder]]

! Counterinsurgency Cops

! Indian Prisons

A lot of prisons in India were built during British colonial times. Before that, political prisoners were kept in various palaces’ dungeons, while petty criminals were often subjected to corporal punishment and financial penalization or execution in severe cases. It was the British who introduced the concept of a penitentiary where criminals could be punished and/or reformed. A lot of prisons were constructed post independence. The most infamous pre-colonial prison - the Cellular Jail in Port Blair on the Andaman Islands was a particularly brutal prison, only reserved for the most troublesome agitators for freedom. It is today, a monument.

Regular policemen and police officers also staff prisons. Therefore, it is possible for a policeman to get a rotation as a prison guard. You will therefore not find the SadisticWarden in Indian movies involving prisons - the “warden” equivalent is mostly a BeleagueredBureaucrat police officer. A possible exception is the UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} GirlsBehindBars Film Film/{{Anjaam}}.

[[folder: The boys in khaki carrying lathis]]

[[folder: Nyaay Panchayat]]

The earliest version of an official justice system in India was and still is, the Nyah Panchayat - (board of five, administering the law). These bodies usually consisted of village elders, who arbitrated disputes and dealt with most petty crimes. The khap panchayat consisted mostly of higher cast elders, who strictly enforced India's rigid caste system. In ancient and medieval times, settlements as large as cities were normally administered by kings themselves, or princes to whom kings delegated authority. This left the panchayats to administer the law in smaller settlements.

When India won its independence from British colonial rule, Mohandas Gandhi, the man who led the struggle, advocated the reestablishment of panchayats in India's villages - albeit with members now elected. The official Nyah panchayat functions similar to a small claims court, which also handles petty misdemeanors. By law, the modern day panchayats are barred from adjudicating serious felonies. However, caste based khap panchayats still function unofficially, and use extrajudicial means to enforce the old caste system - in direct contravention of modern Indian law, that bans caste based discrimination. The khap panchayats are therefore a controversial subject.

[[folder: Kotyals, Qazis and Munsifs]]

The first version of a modern day justice system in India was established by the Afghani Sultans who controlled Northern and Central India in the five centuries before the British showed up. While soldiers had been used to enforce laws since antiquity, it was the Delhi Sultans and the Mughals who designated some soldiers called ''kotyals'' or policemen. They weren't just soldiers who enforced laws as needed, they were full time policemen who didn't go off to fight military conflicts. Criminals when caught were often hauled before designated judges called ''qazis''. The qazis were appointed either directly by the kings, or if the kingdom got big enough, by ''wazirs'' or ministers. As in ancient times, violent crimes were often punishable by death, while smaller crimes were dealt with by corporal punishment and financial restitution. Prison cells in the palaces were reserved only for political prisoners, such as royal family members or ministers out of favor with the king.

Civil matters were arbitrated by a different kind of judge called ''munsifs''. This was the first time that criminal law and civil law was dealt with separately. Munsifs acted more like arbitrators rather than judges, as the concept of ''lawyers'' representing clients hadn't been formed yet. These Munsifs still exist in the modern day as arbitrators and small claims court judges in bigger cities and towns where panchayats cannot be formed.

[[folder: The Colonial Indian Penal Code]]

The first inklings of a legal code were laid down by [[PrivateMilitaryContractor The British East India Company]], specifically by Lord Charles Cornwallis ([[UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution yes, that one]]). This was because the Company had gained a large number of suzerainties as opposed to simply being protectorates. They therefore implemented a common legal code for all their territories, based on UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw, but with [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem modifications intended to enrich Company men to the largest extent possible]]. For the first time ever, people were bound to a strip of land, and were obligated to pay taxes regardless of what they were able to produce, where previously, Indian farmers simply migrated to other fertile lands when a piece of land became barren, and paid the taxes to whoever was ruling over that territory at that time. Although this didn't make much economic sense by forcing people to pay taxes with income they just didn't have, it set those people up for ''indentured servitude'', which was extremely valuable for the Company. This practice of "bonded labor" serfdom would exist until India gained its independence. Another important law that came about at this time, was the banning of ''sati'' - a practice in which recently widowed women were burnt along with their departed husband in the funeral pyre [[note]] This practice became popular during the numerous Afghan Muslim invasions, where widowed women, especially those of soldiers killed in battle, were often [[SexSlave dispatched to harems]], so this was seen as protecting them from that fate [[/note]]. However, the practice of ''dowry'', which had been brought over by the Muslim invaders, was allowed to exist [[note]] Because of the new taxation policies, women were often given some money and jewelry for their own economic upkeep, but those were often seized by their husbands to pay the increasingly draconian company taxes [[/note]].

[[folder: Modern day IPC]]

Unlike the US which has state laws and federal laws and splits them into separate jurisdictions, India has one unified criminal code known as the Indian Penal Code or IPC. Many laws codified into the IPC are unchanged from laws established during colonial times. When India gained independence, the leaders had to design a legal code that accounted for the sheer amount of cultural diversity that exists in India, and they found that British laws that weren’t overtly discriminatory fit the role best. Many of these laws are based on UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw including some archaic Victorian era laws against homosexuality. To this day, there has been very little change in these laws.

! Civil Laws

! Criminal Law

! The Indian Inspectors - Indian Law Enforcement

[[folder: The boys in khaki carrying lathis]]

[[/folder]]

Regular policemen and police officers also staff prisons. Therefore, it is possible for a policeman to get a rotation as a prison guard. You will therefore not find the EvilWarden in Indian movies involving prisons - the “warden” equivalent is mostly a BeleagueredBureaucrat police officer. A possible exception is the UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} WomenInPrison Film Film/{{Anjaam}}.

! Indian Prisons

The first inklings of a legal code were laid down by [[PrivateMilitaryContractor The British East India Company]], specifically by Lord Charles Cornwallis ([[UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution yes, that one]]). This was because the Company had gained a large number of suzerainties as opposed to simply being protectorates. They therefore implemented a common legal code for all their territories, based on UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw, but with [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeEm modifications intended to enrich Company men to the largest extent possible]].

[[folder: Kotyals and Munsifs]]