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Abstract
Gender is built through the process of socialization where women are taught to be passive and sensitive whereas men are encouraged to be active and emotionless. This varied socialization has imprints on legal system as well. This paper argues that despite the guaranteed equality before law the Indian criminal law does not recognize the equal stand of women in true letter and spirit. Further it posits that although India has well developed system for criminal justice administration, it has adopted very narrow definitions of crime which typecasts men in the role of offender and female in the role of victim for which there are no convincing reasons. The analysis begins to unravel the gendered construction of criminal laws and their violation of gender neutrality. The paper develops an idea that achieving gender neutral laws would implement the principle of equality in true letter and spirit. Ultimately, it suggests the need to redefine criminal laws by examining these laws and their gender specific loopholes in the light of gender neutral legislations.