The controversy over punishment versus rehabilitation is discussed in the context of India's broader social values, and from the vantage point of the positive school. The broad dimensions of penal reform--preventive programs and correctional or treatment programs--are discussed together with the justifications put forth for punitive reactions (e.g., retribution, atonement, deterrence). The nature of the earliest changes in penal practices in India with Warren Hastings (1772-1834) and the emergence of the unified penal system (IPC) for India are explored, with example showing changes and reforms between 1772 and 1834 in the areas of dacoity and robbery, burglary, homicide, infanticide, the abolition of Sati (the burning of a widow on the funeral pyre of her husband), and slavery. A constructive penal policy for India is analyzed, as are trends in penal reforms. Discussion then turns to those measures which were adopted by the Government after independence, especially amendments in penal laws and practices. The appointment of a law commission in 1955 is recounted, along with the recommendations made by that commission, the change wrought in the IPC, and the changes brought about in the Criminal Procedure Code. Eighteen references are provided.