Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya Rai) is a prominent criminal lawyer and a single mother who has never lost a case. On the day of a parent-child race organized in her daughter Sanaya's (Sara Arjun) school, Sanaya is kidnapped. The kidnapper contacts Anuradha and tells her that she has to defend a convicted felon in order to get her daughter back. Anuradha lies to family and friends, saying that Sanaya is safe at her grandmother's house so that the law is not involved. The felon is Niyaaz Shaikh (Chandan Roy Sanyal) who is convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman named Sia (Priya Banerjee), and the case against him is set for judgment in four days. The kidnapper keeps track of Anuradha very closely to make sure that she complies with all demands. All evidence suggests that Niyaaz is the murderer, and so Anuradha has to work hard to win the case, and with time running out, she tries to get help from her police friend Yohan (Irrfan Khan), who has been suspended from the police force by other corrupt officers for flouting the rules and regulations too often.

The case against Niyaaz is being closely monitored by powerful politician Mahesh Maklai (Jackie Shroff). Mahesh asks renowned public prosecutor (Atul Kulkarni), who has been defeated by Anuradha in the past, to take up the case as rape is a critical issue the current government is fighting. Anuradha tries to gather information by hook or crook, including lying to Sia's mother Garima Chaudhary (Shabana Azmi). Anuradha discovers that Mahesh's son, Sam (Siddhanth Kapoor), was Sia's boyfriend, and Niyaaz was their drug dealer. Niyaaz had raped and killed Sia after delivering drugs to her home, during which time Sam was intoxicated and passed out. Upon awakening, Sam panicked and contacted his father, who helped him get rid of Sia's body.

Anuradha is able to get Niyaaz out on bail due to lack of evidence and also implicates Mahesh and Sam as co-conspirators of the murder, thus destroying the political career of Mahesh. As Yohan and Anuradha continue digging, they realise that Garima is behind the kidnapping of her daughter. Garima forced Anuradha to defend Niyaaz, so that he could be freed. Garima then kidnapped Niyaaz and burned him alive, since she finds the death sentence or life imprisonment to be insufficient punishment for someone who brutally raped and murdered her daughter. Anuradha, though initially infuriated after finding out the truth, offers her services as a lawyer to Garima after she is apprehended by police.