CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS OF WITNESSES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN INDIA

The integrity and safety of witnesses are crucial to the legitimacy and efficacy of any criminal justice system. Threats, intimidation, harassment, postponed trials, and a lack of institutional protection are just a few of the many difficulties that witnesses in India frequently encounter; these issues jeopardise the administration of proper justice. This research assesses the efficacy of recent law reforms while critically analysing the systemic issues witnesses encounter inside the Indian criminal justice system. The Indian legal system has entered a transformative phase with the replacement of colonial-era laws by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), specifically the Indian Evidence Act, Indian Penal Code, and Code of Criminal Procedure. This paper looks at how these recent laws handle long-standing concerns about credibility, examination, and witness protection. The study investigates the shortcomings of the existing safeguards, the influence of hostile witnesses, and procedural bottlenecks.