Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra together accounted for 42% of all undertrial prisoners in the country as of December 2022, the India Justice Report 2025 showed.

Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of undertrial prisoners – with over 94,000 such inmates, accounting for nearly 22% of the nationwide figure. Among large states, Bihar had the highest share of prisoners awaiting the completion of the investigation or trial at 89%, followed by Odisha at 85%.

The report was prepared by a group of non-governmental organisation and civil society groups, including Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Daksh, Tata Institute of Social Sciences-Prayas, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, and How India Lives.

The study noted that much of the overcrowding in prisons was on account of inmates who were awaiting trial. It also found that on an average, undertrial prisoners were spending more time behind bars than before. At the end of 2022, the number of undertrial prisoners who had spent five years or more in custody was 11,448, as against 5,011 in 2019 and 2,028 in 2012.

At the end of 2022, Uttar Pradesh alone had nearly 40% of the undertrials who had been in jail for more than five years.

The study noted that in India, bail is the most frequently used alternative to imprisonment while the investigation or trial is underway. However, it added that judges have the power to use non-custodial measures with respect to low-risk offenders as alternatives to imprisonment.

“These [measures] must balance rehabilitation of the offender with community safety and well-being,” the report said. “Such measures include fines and compounding, probation, community service orders, release on parole, conditional release on bail, and also house arrest.”

Between 2012 and 2022, the overall prison occupancy rates increased from 112% to 132%. The countrywide prison population increased by 49% from 3.8 lakh to 5.7 lakh during the same period, the study found.

No state meets quotas for women in police force

The study noted that no state or Union Territory had met its own reserved quotas for women in the police force.

The national benchmark for women's representation in the police is 33%, though individual states have set their own targets.

Bihar has the highest share of women in the state police, with women making up 24% of the force. Yet, only 11% hold positions such as sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors or head constables.

At the national level, out of 20.3 lakh police personnel, fewer than 1,000 women hold senior positions, the study revealed.

Further, nearly three in 10 police stations did not have help desks for women as of January 2023.