Intervention

Since 2019, our Fair Trial Programme conducted in collaboration with the Maharashtra government, has secured the release of over 1,625 undertrials by providing pro bono legal representation in Pune and Nagpur Central Prisons.

Article 14 commissioned article

Storytelling
Circular stamp graphic with the word "DEATHWORTHY" repeated around the edges. Text in the center reads "A Mental Health Perspective of the Death Penalty.
Research
A person standing under a spotlight on a witness stand against a dark background.

Anokhilal's story

Storytelling
Intervention

The Clinic represents 60% of death row cases across the country, and has secured 33 acquittals and 53 commutations.

Colorful abstract art featuring various shapes and patterns forms the backdrop for a serious message about DNA evidence and legal proceedings.
Cover of report titled 'Legal Aid for Undertrial Prisoners: Report of the Fair Trial Programme in Pune and Nagpur (2019-2024).' Background features barbed wire design in orange. Logos of associated organizations at the bottom.
Research
Intervention

We have played a significant role in the law on the use and protocols of forensic evidence developing through judgments like Rahul & Ors. v. NCT of Delhi (November 2022) and Irfan @ Bhayu Mevati v. The State of Madhya Pradesh (June 2025).

Intervention

Our work has led to the Supreme Court recognising post-offense mental health concerns as a mitigating factor in death sentence cases in X. v. State of Maharashtra (April 2019).

Anthology - The Punished

Storytelling
Abstract painting with dark blue and purple hues by artist Shafic Abboud. Overlaid text states: "Supreme Court: 'There are gaping holes in the prosecution story.' Chandrabhan Sanap acquitted after ten years on death row."
Bold white text stating "Matters of Judgment" over a black background. A curved, rainbow-like distortion runs through the letters. Subtext mentions a judges' opinion study on the death penalty and criminal justice system, with a small logo at the bottom right.
Research
Text on an abstract painting background reads, "When at stake are human lives and the cost is blood, the matter needs to be dealt with utmost sincerity.": Supreme Court bench acquits Baljinder Kumar after 11 years in prison (5 on death row)." Artist: Lee Jung-seob.
Red cover titled "Magistrates & Constitutional Protections." Features a detailed sketch of a prison cell door. Authors: Jinee Lokaneeta & Zeba Sikora.
Research

In focus podcast: DNA evidence

Storytelling
Intervention

We have been involved in landmark Supreme Court cases that have shaped criminal law jurisprudence such as Vasanta Sampat Dupare v Union of India (August 2025), Manoj and ors. v. State of Madhya Pradesh (May 2022), In re: Inhuman conditions in 1382 prisons (December 2018), Rahul and ors. v. State of NCT of Delhi (November 2022), and Shabnam v. Union of India & Ors (May 2015).

Image of Maya Krishna Rao in a white outfit, mid-performance, expressively gesturing while seated on a dimly lit stage

Death row on the stage

Maya Krishna Rao is an Indian theatre artist and social activist. Her well-known plays include Om Swaha, Dafa No. 180, and Ravanama. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2010), which she returned five years later. We collaborated with Rao to produce a performance titled, You Really Want to Know My Story, which brings to the forefront searing stories of two prisoners, who remain on the death row.

Storytelling
A person in a yellow protective suit and mask holds a swab near an evidence marker labeled "1." Text above reads "Things you must know about Forensic Science."
Research
Intervention

Our Art in Prisons initiative in Puzhal Central Prison (Chennai), in collaboration with Sumanasa Foundation, enables access to creative art practices for incarcerated persons.

‘Jail Within A Jail’: Death Row And The Impact On Mental Health

Storytelling
Intervention

We have played a significant role in the law on the use and protocols of forensic evidence developing through judgments like Rahul & Ors. v. NCT of Delhi (November 2022) and Irfan @ Bhayu Mevati v. The State of Madhya Pradesh (June 2025).

Illustrated cover of "The Trial" featuring a night scene with geometric buildings stretching toward a distant arch, under a moonlit sky with clouds.

Languish zines

Storytelling
Abstract artwork by Tyeb Mehta featuring geometric shapes and a figure. Text overlay details a legal case about a 2025 Supreme Court decision.
Intervention

Allowing our intervention In re: UTP Dipak Joshi, lodged in Dum Dum Central Correctional Home (WPA (P) no. 27 of 2021), the Calcutta High Court required us to submit a report on the status of prisoners with mental disabilities in prisons across West Bengal and the state of mental healthcare in prisons in the state.

Image of Anokhilal standing indoors, illuminated by warm light. Text reads, "On Death Row, Thrice.” BBC News India logo present.

Anokhilal's story

Storytelling
Image of Former Justice S Muralidha speaking at a podium, with a text overlay: "Crime, Punishment and Justice in India".

Former Justice S Muralidhar's inaugural Annual Lecture

Storytelling
Surreal painting by Remedios Varo featuring architectural structures with arched doorways. Overlay text describes a story of acquittal after 13 years in prison.
Intervention

Our representation of undertrial prisoners in Maharashtra has demonstrated the importance of bringing social work expertise to criminal defence, adapting the frameworks of ‘holistic defence’ and ‘anti-carceral social work’ for local contexts.

Abstract painting of a person against a colorful, textured background. Overlay text narrates a mother's dream and her son's acquittal by Kerala High Court.
Research
Purple cover with large "2025" text. Includes logos and "Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report" title.
Research
Dark, abstract painting of trees under a moonlit sky. Text reads, "Supreme Court acquits man sentenced to death based on a 'shabby investigation.'"
Abstract geometric painting with overlapping shapes in earth tones as background. Text states Kattevellai Devakar's acquittal after 14 years, 7 on death row.
Abstract image depicting a textured dark blue ocean-like scene with swirling waves. A white, misty orb on the right suggests a cosmic or dreamlike atmosphere.
Research
Image featuring three people in separate images on a black background. Text reads 'Making sense of custodial violence in Indian cinema.' Logos for NLU Delhi and Project 39A are at the top.
Research
Dark cover with illustrations of forensic tools: fingerprint, scissors, flask, magnifying glass, and handcuffs. Text: "Forensic Science India Report 2013-2017.
Research
Black cover with bold white and red text reads "Death Penalty India Report Summary." Features minimalist white brackets; by National Law University, Delhi.
Research
Intervention

A Group of Lawyers Wants to Make Sure India’s Most Hated Criminals Aren’t Hanged

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Research
Intervention
Storytelling

Securing Fair Trials Today Towards A Fairer Criminal Justice System Tomorrow

The Square Circle Clinic is a criminal justice initiative at NALSAR University of Law with offices in Delhi, Pune, Nagpur, and Hyderabad. Our team built Project 39A between 2013-2025 and then founded The Square Circle Clinic in April 2025.

The Clinic combines over a decade of rigorous criminal justice research in India with sustained pro bono criminal defense in appellate and trial courts.
explore the clinic >

Securing Fairer Trials Today Towards A Fairer Criminal Justice System Tomorrow

The Square Circle Clinic is a criminal justice initiative at NALSAR University of Law with offices in Delhi, Pune, Nagpur, and Hyderabad. Our team built Project 39A between 2013-2025 and then founded The Square Circle Clinic in April 2025.

The Clinic combines over a decade of rigorous criminal justice research in India with sustained pro bono criminal defense in appellate and trial courts.
explore the clinic >
OUR WORK
Since 2013, ​the work done by the members of The Square Circle Clinic has transformed the imagination of criminal justice research and interventions possible out of a law school in India. Throwing light on long neglected realities of the criminal justice system, our research and our pro bono criminal defense work has received widespread recognition both at home and abroad.

Over the years, our work grew to align with this understanding and we became Project 39A where we resided until 2025.  From 31st March 2025, we collectively began a new chapter at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad as The Square Circle Clinic.

Our work spans across the death penalty, forensic science, mental health and criminal justice, wrongful convictions, criminalisation and punishment, prevention of torture, and the use of science and technology in criminal justice. Our pro bono criminal defense work has resulted in the acquittals of 34 death row prisoners and the release of over 1600 undertrials.
ACHIEVEMENTS
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ACHIEVEMENTS
The Clinic has been involved in several landmark cases before the Supreme Court of India that have shaped the death penalty jurisprudence, including Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. State of Maharashtra (August 2025), In re: Framing Guidelines Regarding Potential Mitigating Circumstances to be Considered while Imposing Death Sentences(September 2022), Manoj and ors. V. State of Madhya Pradesh (May 2022), In re: human conditions in 1382 prisons (December 2018), Accused X v. State of Maharashtra (April 2019), and Rahul and ors. v. State of NCT of Delhi (November 2022).

Our work has been recognised and cited by the Supreme Court of India, parliamentary debates, and also in reports of the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and global psychiatric and legal institutions.

Our accolades include the Presidential Commendation at the 23rd World Congress of the World Psychiatric Association (for Ms. Maitreyi Misra in October 2023), the Magnus Mukoro Award for our work in forensics  by the New York Legal Aid Society (for Ms. Shreya Rastogi in December 2024), Fight for Justice Award in the ‘Access to Justice’ category by the Delhi High Court Bar Association, (for Professor Anup Surendranath in December 2025) as well as the “Award for Research” at the 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Berlin ( November 2022).
EXAMINING THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE

Our commitment to working towards securing fairness for those entangled with the criminal justice system is built on an imagination of a fairer system tomorrow.

Research
intervention
STORYTELLING
RESEARCH

Our research inquiries cut across the system: mental health and criminal justice, forensics, wrongful convictions, criminalisation and punishment, prevention of torture and science, technology and criminal justice, while we deepen our engagement with the death penalty.

read the recent reports
Research
Deathworthy: A Mental Health Perspective on the Death Penalty
This Report on mental health and the death penalty is, in many ways, a continuation of the larger project of untangling the death penalty in the Indian context. Building on our previous report DPIR, It places issues of mental health and the psychosocial realities of death row prisoners, front and centre.
Year:
2021
Explore Deathworthy >
Research
Magistrates and Constitutional Protections
By looking at issues of production within the first 24 hours of arrest and determination of remand hearings, this study breaks important new ground. It draws attention to the manner in which core constitutional protections are translated into legal processes at the level of the magistracy.
Year:
2024
Explore the study >
Research
Forensic Science India Report
Based on a first-of-its-kind nationwide survey conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, this report examines structural issues facing the forensic science system in India. It seeks to stimulate a system-wide assessment of the quality of evidence produced by forensic science laboratories for courts of law.
Year:
2023
Explore the study >
Learn more about Research >
INTERVENTION
Death Penalty Representation
The Square Circle Clinic provides pro bono representation to death row prisoners before the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts. While arguing against conviction in all our cases, our holistic legal representation also takes a multi-disciplinary approach by including the expertise of social workers, psychologists, and forensic scientists.
read MORE >
Fair Trial Project
Through the Fair Trial Project (FTP), the Clinic provides legal representation to undertrials incarcerated in Yerwada Central Prison (Pune) and the Nagpur Central Prison. In addition to representation in bail proceedings and trials, the FTP also works on improving trial processes for undertrial prisoners by addressing institutional gaps in legal representation, procedural fairness, and accountability.
read MORE >
Litigation Involving Forensics in Criminal Proceedings
The Clinic’s work on forensics involves critically evaluating the use of valid and reliable forensic evidence in criminal proceedings from trials in the district courts to appeals in the Supreme Court. It raises important questions on evidentiary standards, scientific validity, and procedural safeguards, aiming to strengthen judicial scrutiny and prevent the use of flawed or misinterpreted forensic evidence and practices.
read MORE >
Learn more about Intervention >
STORYTELLING

We are also invested in creative practices that further tell the story of the system and those it impacts by reaching diverse audiences. Our collaboration with storytellers across disciplines has delivered rich material like zines, art installations, theatre performances and more

read the recent Stories
Storytelling
Languish: A series of zines on mental health, disability, and incarceration
Languish represents the invisibilised crisis of mental health in the Indian criminal justice system. It asks the important question of what happens to those with intellectual disabilities or serious mental health concerns inside prisons
Year:
2025
Explore Languish >
Storytelling
Punished
Based on interviews we conducted with death row prisoners, author Jahnavi Misra’s The Punished takes readers on a journey into the lives and minds of men and women often demonised by society and discarded by the State.
Year:
2021
Explore The Punished >
Storytelling
Death row on the stage
Indian theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao will take you through the different forms, shapes and sizes in which the idea of justice has crept into her performances, often unannounced with a performance based on our extensive letter exchanges with death row prisoners.
Year:
2023
Watch the performance >
Learn more about Storytelling >
Patterns Across the Criminal Justice System.

The Clinic generates qualitative and quantitative insights into systemic patterns within the criminal justice system, and designs interventions to address them directly.

Our research and interventions have resulted in tangible contributions towards a fairer criminal justice system.

Collage showing a chalkboard with letters, construction workers, school desk with backpack, and people boarding bus.Line of men boarding a bus beside a shadow of a person sitting behind bars on a wall.
70 %
Of our undertrial clients
In Nagpur and Pune were either illiterate or had not completed their schooling. The socio-economic profile of our clients continues to reflect the disenfranchisement of most undertrial prisoners.
Collage of India's Supreme Court, dominoes, architectural blueprint, and construction site with cranes.Man stands before Supreme Court building with dominoes falling, symbolizing chain reaction or justice impact.
95 %
Of death sentences imposed by trial courts
In 2025 failed to comply with the Supreme Court’s procedural guidelines on imposing the death penalty.
A serious man with case files and torn papers labeled closed in front of an ornate chair.Collage of a man's face overlaid with torn documents showing case file and evidence tags.
87 %
Of former Supreme Court judges
Acknowledged wrongful convictions as a serious concern within our criminal justice system.
check the datasets
Trial court impositions and appellate
01
Time spent by persons on death row (before acquittal)
02
Death penalty commutations to life imprisonment without remission
03
DATA SET 01

Trial court impositions and appellate

Pending
Commuted
Acquitted
Confirmed
Other
Unknown
Tap circles to view Details
1 dot = 10 cases
468
Pending at the High Court
285
Acquitted by the High Court
411
Commuted by the High Court
70
Confirmed by the High Court
High court
1 DOT = 10 CASES
Supreme Court
1310
Cases in Sessions Court
Death sentenced imposed at the Sessions Courts
Tap circles to view Details
1 dot = 10 cases

Total Cases

at Sessions Courts imposing death sentences

1310

Cases in Supreme Court

Confirmed cases from high court

770

Cases in High Court

1310

DATA SET 02

Time spent by persons on death row (before acquittal)

Each row represents a range of years spent on death row before acquittal.
SUPREME COURT
HIGH COURT
SUPREME COURT
Each row represents a range of years spent on death row before acquittal, the dots represent persons.
Scale :
1 dot = 1 case
No. of people
No. of people
← swipe chart to explore →
Each row represents a range of years spent on death row before acquittal, the dots represent persons.
Scale :
1 dot = 1 case
No. of people
DATA SET 03

Death penalty commutations to life imprisonment without remission

Each row represents a range of years spent on death row before acquittal.
SUPREME COURT
HIGH COURT
SUPREME COURT
Each column represents a year at the High Court level. Each dot represents one commutation case, split by sentence type.
Life Simpliciter Sentences
Sentences with restrictions on Remission
Scale :
1 dot = 1 case
2016
36
21
2017
15
36
2018
24
30
2019
28
29
2020
17
5
2021
18
5
2022
28
17
2023
31
15
2024
59
19
2025
47
32
No. of cases
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CHECK NATURE OF OFFENCE >
Supreme Court commutations to Life Imprisonment Without Remission (Nature of offencewise)
No. of people
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