Delhi High Court Frames Criminal Contempt Charges Against Advocate For Scandalizing Judge On LinkedIn After Cyber Cell Traces IP Logs Testimony Of Partially Hostile Witnesses Can Be Relied Upon If Corroborated: Delhi High Court Upholds Police Officer's Conviction Subordinate Engineers Entitled To Non-Functional Upgradation Even If Level 8 Reached Via MACP: Supreme Court FEMA Adjudicating Authority Cannot Overrule Competent Authority's Refusal To Confirm Asset Seizure: Supreme Court Candidate Cannot Claim Lower Preference Post After Securing First Choice Under Merit-Cum-Preference System: Madhya Pradesh High Court Official Cannot Escape Corruption Trial Merely Because 90% Payment Was Made Prior To His Joining: Calcutta High Court Employee Who Evades Cross-Examining Witnesses Cannot Later Claim 'No Evidence' In Departmental Enquiry: Andhra Pradesh High Court Fictitious Or Non-Genuine Revenue Entries Cannot Confer Adhivasi Rights Under UP Zamindari Abolition Act: Allahabad High Court Calcutta High Court Quashes Termination Of Compassionate Appointee Over Age Dispute, Says Such Claims Cannot Be Kept Pending Indefinitely Alleged Custodial Torture Does Not Automatically Attract Contempt Under 'D.K. Basu' Unless Specific Arrest Guidelines Are Violated: Gujarat High Court Authority Cannot Act As 'Judge In Own Cause'; Himachal Pradesh High Court Quashes Distillery License Cancellation Over Procedural Impropriety Financial Corporations Have Absolute Power To Fix Employee Pay, Prior State Govt Approval Not Required: Jharkhand High Court Custodial Interrogation Not Required For Police Inspector Accused Only Of Illegal Confinement Prior To Victim's Death: Karnataka High Court Rescission Of Contract Without Hearing Is Illegal; Courts Cannot Interfere In Second Appeal If Findings Rest On Unrebutted Evidence: Gauhati High Court RTI Penalty Proceedings Are Between Commission and SPIO Alone — Complainant Has No Right To Be Heard: Kerala High Court Catastrophic To Allow Law To Take Its Own Course: MP High Court Quashes POCSO, BNS FIR After Victim And Accused Marry No Presumption Under Section 20 PC Act Without Proof Of Demand And Acceptance: Telangana High Court Quashes Case Against Sub-Inspector Attack On Judicial Officers Is Criminal Contempt; Supreme Court Orders CBI/NIA Probe Into West Bengal Incident Prolonged Physical Relationship By Educated Woman Amounts To 'Promiscuity', Not Rape Induced By Misconception Of Fact: Punjab & Haryana High Court Father Cannot Escape Duty To Maintain Minor Children Merely Because Mother Earns Substantial Income: Uttarakhand High Court Divorced Wife Entitled To Maintenance; Mere Earning Capacity Not A Bar: Orissa High Court

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Law – Rape – Hostile Witness – Acquittal – Prosecutrix (PW.1) turned hostile and denied the rape allegation – Admitted Ex.P1 (complaint) was written under police dictation – No injuries found – Medical report confirmed intercourse but not linked to the accused – No direct or circumstantial evidence – Held: Rape not proved beyond reason...

Criminal Law - Signature Dispute – Expert Opinion – Section 73 Evidence Act – BNSS Sections 438 & 442 – Trial court rejected applications to send disputed cheque for expert comparison treating them as dilatory – Petitioner produced genuine signatures from municipal attendance register and asserted forgery – Held: Though court can itself compare signatures un...

Criminal Law – Rape – Conviction Reversed – Appellant convicted under Section 376 IPC and Section 4(2) POCSO Act for allegedly raping the prosecutrix in a hotel after luring her under the pretext of performing religious rituals – Trial Court relied primarily on the victim’s statement and late-produced school register – Appellate Court found significant contradic...

Criminal Law – Seizure of Vehicle – Prohibition Offence – Interim Custody – Vehicle seized under FIR for carrying liquor in violation of Gujarat Prohibition Act – No confiscation proceedings initiated under amended Section 98(2) of Prohibition Act despite seizure exceeding 20 litres – Vehicle lying idle in police custody – Held: In absence of confiscation ...

Criminal Law – Rape – Consent Based on Promise of Marriage – Conviction Set Aside – Appellant convicted under Sections 376 and 415 IPC for allegedly raping the complainant under a false promise of marriage – Evidence revealed complainant was above 20 years at the time of the incident – Admitted romantic relationship between the parties – Repeated sexual ac...

Criminal Law – Sections 353 and 354 IPC - Assault on Public Servant – Outraging Modesty – Acquittal Upheld – Accused allegedly obstructed traffic while drunk, assaulted a Home Guard (PW.1), and outraged the modesty of his mother (PW.2) – Sessions Court found that independent witnesses (PWs.3 to 9) turned hostile – Observation report and seizure of torn clothes l...

Criminal Procedure – Condonation of Delay – Delay of 212 Days – Dismissed – Applicant filed criminal revision with 212-day delay challenging order granting probation to private respondents – Delay attributed to mistaken advice regarding remedy under Section 482 CrPC – Held: Explanation vague, lacking particulars, and unsupported by any material – No genuin...

Criminal Law – Murder – Unlawful Assembly – Arson – Conviction Upheld – Accused formed unlawful assembly and launched attack on the deceased in course of property dispute – House of deceased was set on fire and he was assaulted with lathis on vital body parts causing fatal cranio-cerebral injuries – Trial court convicted under Sections 148, 436 and 302 IPC...

Criminal Law – Sexual Assault – POCSO Conviction – Acquittal – Allegation that accused committed sexual assault on 13-year-old girl by hugging and kissing her in a field – Victim’s initial statement to aunt was that she fell down – Complaint made two days later alleging sexual assault – Delay in complaint explained as concern for family honour &ndash...

Criminal Law – Cruelty by Husband – Section 498-A IPC – Acquittal Reversed – Mental and Economic Abuse Proven – Victim, an octogenarian wife, alleged sustained cruelty including isolation, denial of food and communication, desecration of religious symbols, coercion to bring money, and obstruction of property rights – Trial Court convicted husband but appellate c...