India's criminal justice system is one of the most demanding environments in the world for the accused. The burden of proof is nominally on the prosecution, but the practical reality of custody, the stigma of arrest, the speed with which an FIR can be filed on minimal evidence, and the slow pace of trial proceedings mean that the accused who does not have a skilled, proactive defence lawyer from the first moment bears a disproportionate burden. The bail application that is correctly presented secures liberty while the defence is built. The anticipatory bail application that anticipates an arrest prevents custody before it occurs. The charge framing hearing that correctly challenges the charges can eliminate multiple counts from the trial. Each of these opportunities is available only once — and only in the right window.
GP's Individual Criminal Defence practice covers the full range of criminal matters that affect individuals — from murder and serious personal violence through economic offences (cheating, breach of trust, forgery, cheque bounce, directors' liability, wilful default), cyber crime, and cooperative society offences. The practice is built on a foundational principle: that the same firm that understands the financial complexity of a cheating or fraud accusation — through GP's forensic accounting practice — is better placed to build the criminal defence than a purely criminal law firm that must rely on a separate financial expert.
For individuals facing criminal proceedings in India from overseas — NRIs in Australia, Singapore, the GCC, or the UK who face criminal cases filed in India — GP provides the specific capability that the situation requires: immediate engagement with the Indian proceedings, bail and anticipatory bail applications, representation in the appropriate court, and the communication framework that allows the accused who cannot physically attend in India to manage their defence through a firm that understands both the Indian criminal process and the overseas context.
Each sub-practice is led by a criminal lawyer with specific expertise in that offence category — backed by GP's in-house forensic accounting team for every matter with a financial dimension.
Defence in murder (Section 302 IPC / BNS), culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304), and allied offences. Bail applications in murder cases, charge framing challenges, trial strategy, and High Court and Supreme Court proceedings. The cases where liberty and life are simultaneously at stake require the most experienced criminal defence.
Learn More →Defence in cheating (Section 420 IPC / BNS), criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), and financial fraud. The most common basis for commercial FIRs in India — and the most frequently misused. GP's forensic CA team provides the financial analysis that establishes the accused's defence against the complainant's financial narrative from Day 1.
Learn More →Defence in criminal breach of trust (Section 406 IPC / BNS) and aggravated forms (Sections 407-409). Frequently filed against company directors, employees in positions of financial trust, and professionals managing client money. The financial reconstruction that establishes the accused's honest dealing is the core of every Section 406 defence.
Learn More →Defence in forgery (Sections 463-468 IPC / BNS) and using forged documents as genuine (Section 471). Document authentication, handwriting expert evidence, digital metadata analysis, and the legal challenge to the prosecution's document evidence. GP's digital forensics team provides the technical analysis of allegedly forged documents alongside the criminal defence.
Learn More →Defence in dishonour of cheques under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act — the most frequently prosecuted criminal offence in India by volume. Jurisdictional challenges, demand notice validity, the legally enforceable debt defence, blank cheque misuse, and post-dated cheque disputes. Also complainant representation — recovery of disputed cheque amounts through Section 138 proceedings.
Learn More →Defence of directors and officers in criminal proceedings arising from company affairs — the "person in charge and responsible" doctrine, vicarious liability for company offences, and the specific defences available under the Companies Act, the NI Act, and other statutes. Section 447 Companies Act fraud, MCA/ROC prosecutions, SEBI criminal complaints, and regulatory agency prosecutions against individual directors.
Learn More →Defence in cyber crime proceedings under the IT Act 2000 — hacking, identity theft, online fraud, stalking, morphed images, and defamation. The technical evidence challenge — establishing that the prosecution's digital evidence does not satisfy Section 65B, or that the IP address evidence does not uniquely identify the accused. GP's digital forensics team provides the technical counter-analysis that challenges the prosecution's case.
Learn More →Defence of promoters and directors declared as wilful defaulters by banks and financial institutions — the RBI framework, the bank's identification procedure, and the challenge to wilful default declaration before the Debt Recovery Tribunal and the High Courts. The consequences of a wilful default declaration extend beyond the loan — criminal prosecution, look-out circulars, and passport impounding are all downstream consequences that the defence must prevent.
Learn More →Defence of office bearers and members of cooperative societies — housing societies, credit cooperatives, urban cooperative banks — in criminal proceedings under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act and analogous state legislation. Financial irregularity allegations, management committee liability, and elections disputes that have criminal consequences. Particularly relevant in Mumbai, Pune, and other Maharashtra cities where housing society and cooperative disputes frequently escalate to criminal complaints.
Learn More →An NRI living in Australia, Singapore, the UAE, or the UK who discovers that an FIR has been filed against them in India faces a specific set of urgencies: the look-out circular that prevents travel to India — or that can be used at an international border to detain the person when they do travel — the passport impounding order, and the non-bailable warrant that may be issued if the person does not appear in court. GP's criminal defence practice manages all of these simultaneously — from overseas, without the accused needing to return to India before their position is secured. Bail is applied for in the accused's absence where possible; look-out circulars are challenged before the appropriate authority; FIR quashing applications are filed to end the proceedings entirely if the allegations lack substance. The NRI who ignores a criminal complaint in India until it becomes an arrest warrant at the airport has made the most expensive mistake of their life.
Most Indian criminal cases that touch business people and professionals — cheating, breach of trust, forgery, directors' liability — are fundamentally financial disputes that have been dressed in criminal clothing. The defence against these charges is almost always a financial defence: the money was not misappropriated, the transaction was not fraudulent, the documents reflect genuine commercial dealings. Proving that defence requires forensic financial analysis — the same analysis that GP's in-house CA team provides in civil and tax matters. The criminal lawyer who does not have a forensic accountant in the room when building an economic offence defence is operating at a disadvantage that most clients do not appreciate until it is too late.
An arrest is one of the most disorienting experiences an individual can face. The custody period — typically 24 hours for production before a magistrate, potentially extended by the magistrate's order — is when the most consequential decisions are made and when the absence of a lawyer causes the most irreversible damage. GP maintains 24/7 availability for criminal arrest situations. The call to GP in the first minutes of an arrest reaches a senior criminal lawyer who can advise on the immediate rights — the right to inform a family member, the right to be informed of the grounds of arrest, the right not to make a self-incriminating statement — and can begin the bail application process before the accused is produced before the magistrate. Do not wait. Call immediately.
India's most common criminal charges against business people — cheating, breach of trust, Section 447 Companies Act fraud, wilful default, cheque bounce — are all fundamentally financial disputes. The defence against every one of these charges requires financial analysis that most criminal law firms refer to a separate CA or forensic expert. At GP, the forensic CA team that provides the financial analysis is the same team that works on tax litigation, asset tracing, and corporate fraud investigations — building the financial defence narrative alongside the criminal defence lawyer from the first day of instruction, not weeks later when a separate expert has been briefed.
GP's criminal defence team maintains the same 24/7 availability that GP's cybersecurity, tax search, and aviation teams maintain — because arrests, like breaches and searches, do not happen during business hours. The call that comes at 2am from a family member who has been arrested reaches a senior criminal lawyer who can advise immediately on the rights of the arrested person, begin the bail application process, and attend the production before the magistrate if it occurs before business hours. The junior associate who returns calls the following morning is not the right answer to a 2am arrest.
An NRI accused in India who returns to India without first securing their legal position — anticipatory bail, look-out circular cancellation, FIR quashing if the allegations are without substance — risks arrest at the airport. GP manages the Indian criminal proceedings on behalf of NRI accused before their return — securing the legal protection that allows them to return safely when they choose to, not when a warrant compels them. For NRIs in Australia, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK, GP's corridor experience means that the communication between the accused and their Indian lawyer is managed with an understanding of the overseas context.
Complete confidentiality maintained. All client identities protected.
Advised a businessman against whom a former business partner had filed an FIR under Sections 406 and 420 IPC — alleging that he had cheated the partner out of his share of a jointly owned commercial property. GP's criminal defence team filed a quashing application before the Bombay High Court, demonstrating that the allegations, even taken at face value, disclosed a civil dispute about the terms of the partnership arrangement and not a criminal offence of cheating — there was no element of inducement to deliver property or any dishonest intention at the inception of the transaction. The High Court quashed the FIR. The civil dispute was then resolved through mediation on commercially acceptable terms. The businessman avoided 3-5 years of criminal proceedings that would have been initiated on facts that were fundamentally a contractual dispute.
Advised an Australian resident of Indian origin who discovered that an FIR had been filed against him in Mumbai in a property inheritance dispute with his siblings — alleging that he had forged the signature of a deceased family member on a power of attorney to transfer property into his name. GP immediately filed an anticipatory bail application in the Sessions Court (the client being in Australia and unable to return without legal protection), obtained anticipatory bail with conditions including co-operation with the investigation and surrender of the Australian passport while in India, and filed an application before the competent authority to cancel the look-out circular that had been issued. The client was able to return to India for his father's last rites — a primary motivation — and to participate in the property dispute proceedings from a position of legal security.
Advised a non-executive independent director of a listed company who was charged under Section 447 of the Companies Act (fraud) following SFIO's investigation into the company's financial irregularities. The SFIO had filed a complaint naming all directors, including the independent director who had no knowledge of or participation in the fraudulent transactions. GP prepared a discharge application at the charge framing stage — establishing that the independent director's role, attendance records, board minutes, and audit committee conduct demonstrated that he had not participated in, consented to, or connived in the offences alleged, and that Section 447's mens rea requirement of "intent to defraud" could not be established against him on the material before the court. The Special Court granted the discharge application at the charge framing stage, ending the criminal proceedings against the independent director without trial.
The practice has dedicated specialists for each of the nine criminal defence areas — with specific experience in the bail application, anticipatory bail, quashing, charge framing, and trial strategy for that offence category. All nine specialists draw on GP's forensic accounting practice for economic offences and GP's digital forensics team for cyber crime and technology-related defences.
For NRI clients in Australia, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK, the criminal defence team maintains communication protocols that allow the overseas client to manage their Indian criminal proceedings through video conference while their lawyers handle the Indian court appearances — ensuring that the client's return to India, when it occurs, is on their terms and in a legally secure position.
The grounds for anticipatory bail, the Sessions Court versus High Court choice, the conditions that are typically imposed, and the consequences of applying too late — a practical guide for individuals and their advisers who believe an FIR or arrest may be imminent.
Read Guide →How look-out circulars are issued and how they are challenged, what non-bailable warrants mean for overseas travel, the anticipatory bail process from overseas, and the steps every NRI should take before returning to India if they know or suspect they are the subject of criminal proceedings.
Read Alert →Whether you have just been arrested, have received an FIR notice, anticipate an arrest, are an NRI facing Indian criminal proceedings, or need a charge framing or bail hearing managed — call us immediately. Every minute matters in the first hours of a criminal matter.
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