Pankaj Tripathi Returns to Courtroom in Season 4 of Criminal Justice

“Kahaani ke do pehlu hote hain, par sach ka sirf ek hota hai.” That line - both philosophical and quietly foreboding—has followed Criminal Justice like a shadow through its previous seasons. In its fourth iteration, set to stream May 22, the show leans into its defining paradox with renewed urgency: What happens when truth becomes a performance, and the courtroom its most theatrical stage?
At the center of this tension, once again, is Madhav Mishra—equal parts everyman and legal tactician—played by the ever-unflappable Pankaj Tripathi. Now a franchise regular and fan favorite, Tripathi’s Mishra is less a traditional TV lawyer than a sharp observer of human contradiction, dressed in modest kurtas and armed with a philosophical bent. His return feels less like a plot point and more like a gravitational force pulling the show into emotional alignment.
“I return to Madhav like you return to a old friend,” Tripathi said in a statement. “He doesn’t shout for attention, but he always has something wise to offer.” That humility is, perhaps, what gives Criminal Justice its steady pulse. Amid crime, corruption, and legal gridlock, Mishra is the man who listens.
Directed this season by Rohan Sippy and produced by Applause Entertainment in association with BBC Studios, Criminal Justice: Season 4 promises to stretch the format further. There’s a torrid love affair. There’s a murder. And—true to the show’s ethos—there are no easy answers. “We’ve built a world where moral certainties are blurred,” Sippy said. “This season’s ensemble only heightens that ambiguity.”
Indeed, the cast is both familiar and fresh: Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Surveen Chawla, Mita Vashisht, Asha Negi, Shweta Basu Prasad, Khushboo Atre, and Barkha Singh step into the courtroom drama, bringing varied emotional temperatures to a script that hinges on tension more than spectacle.
Since its debut, Criminal Justice has carved a unique space in Indian streaming content. It isn’t flashy; it doesn’t run on adrenaline. What it offers, instead, is a patient dissection of law as lived experience, where justice isn’t a climax—it’s a process.
Tripathi, as always, holds the line. “Madhav Mishra isn’t just a character anymore,” he says. “He’s someone I carry with me.”