For over a decade, families waited as their loved ones faced death sentences amid flawed investigations. Kailash, 70, in a northern village, lived with pain and fear while his son Rakesh was on death row for 11 years until the Supreme Court acquitted him in July, exposing serious lapses in the case. The Court found inconsistent witness statements and poor evidence collection. This year, the Supreme Court has acquitted nine prisoners and commuted five death sentences, citing repeated investigative failures. Krishna, 55, freed in 2022 after 12 years on death row, recalls brutal losses and wrongful arrests based on weak confessions. Manoj from Madhya Pradesh, acquitted this year along with family members after ten years in jail, described being forced to sign blank papers under police torture that were later used as evidence. Legal experts note that death row inmates often come from marginalized groups and suffer from poor legal representation. Anup Surendranath of The Square Circle Clinic said courts now scrutinize cases more closely due to many prosecutions collapsing from police errors. The Supreme Court also overturned a 2006 Nithari killings conviction after two decades because of a "botched" probe. Former police chief Sulkhan Singh emphasized the failure to implement Supreme Court-mandated police reforms, which affects evidence handling. Meanwhile, families suffer as legal aid systems fail to provide effective support, forcing relatives to sell assets for defense. Released prisoners struggle to rebuild families and lives. Rakesh, now a daily wage laborer, wants compensation to ease the pain of lost years and humiliation. India has no law for compensating wrongful convictions, but the Supreme Court recently asked the government to consider compensation claims from ex-death row prisoners. These cases expose a justice system that often punishes the poor and makes grave errors in capital punishment cases. The Court’s recent decisions demand urgent reforms to protect innocent lives and uphold justice.