India’s legal system is silently collapsing — a former Chief Justice explains why bail is now the exception, not the rule.
A former Chief Justice who served in Guwahati, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh High Courts provides a rare insider assessment of India’s crumbling judicial infrastructure. He is responding to the book Unshackling the Elephant by Anand Prasad, which he says captures a truth he has lived from the bench.
His testimony is specific and damning: when he ran Madhya Pradesh High Courts, civil suits were disposed of in one year and sessions trials concluded within six months of charge sheet. But reforms in trial courts only shifted the backlog to High Courts — a jam he witnessed firsthand upon elevation to the Supreme Court. His key observations: compliance with law has become costlier than circumventing it; bail has been systematically inverted from rule to exception; and only 10% conviction rates in normal courts (vs. 60-70% he achieved in MP) reveal how deeply the rot has set in. The solution he endorses: adopt the American model of consequential damages and award costs to winning parties.
About the Speakers:
Justice AK Patnaik is an Indian jurist and former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He served as Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh High Courts before his elevation to the Supreme Court (2009–2014). He has also headed key legal bodies and was part of landmark rulings on electoral disqualification, governance, and institutional accountability.
Anand Prasad is an author and corporate/ commercial lawyer with 30+ years’ experience advising domestic and international clients. He is the co-founder of Trilegal. In 2019, he founded AP & Partners and was recognized by Legal 500 and Chambers as a market leader in corporate and commercial law in India.
Justice Siddharth Mridul is an Indian jurist who served as the 7th Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court and earlier as a judge of the Delhi High Court. He is known for his expertise in criminal, civil, and constitutional law.
S. Niranjan Reddy is a senior advocate practicing before the Supreme Court of India and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, and a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament since 2022 from Andhra Pradesh. He is known for his active parliamentary role.
Apoorva Mandhani is a Senior Assistant Editor at ThePrint, reporting on crime, justice, politics, and policy. She has authored 1,500+ articles, previously worked at LiveLaw, and co-hosts #ShekharSeSawaal.
Shweta Rajpal Kohli is the President & CEO of the Startup Policy Forum (SPF), representing over 60 of India’s leading new-age startups. She has held senior policy roles at Peak XV, Salesforce, and Uber.
Rahul Ahluwalia is the director of Foundation for Economic Development, and author of ‘Makings of Miracles in Indian States’. He also serves as Associate Project Director for Governance at Central Square Foundation.
Moksha Bhat is the first Managing Partner of AP & Partners. A co-founder of the firm, he leads its operations and strategic direction.
