Criminal Law - Appeal Allowed – Conviction under Section 302 IPC and Sections 25, 27 Arms Act set aside – Courts below erred in relying on doubtful recovery evidence – Prosecution failed to establish chain of custody of cartridges, bullets and pistol – Recovery from open space near place of occurrence not credible – Several discrepancies in investigation corroded pros...
Criminal Law – TADA Conviction Upheld – Acquittal of Co-accused Maintained – The Court upheld the conviction of Esher Singh under Section 4 of TADA for advocating the Khalistan movement and inciting communal hatred – Confessional statement of deceased co-accused A-5 held inadmissible – Appeals by State and victim’s son against acquittal of other accused for cons...
Criminal Law - Dowry Harassment – Conviction under Sections 306 and 498A IPC – Evidence Found Unreliable – Acquittal Ordered – Appellants were convicted of abetting suicide and subjecting deceased to cruelty over dowry and property demands – Prosecution relied primarily on testimonies of mother, brother and relatives of the deceased – Held: Evidence was either i...
Criminal Law – Appeal Against Acquittal – Multiple Murders – Family Dispute Over Property – Reversal of Conviction by High Court – Upheld – Allegation that respondents killed five relatives including mother, grandmother, sister and niece over inheritance issue – Trial court convicted three respondents and sentenced them to death based on testimony of two e...
Criminal Law - Dowry Death – Reversal of Acquittal Set Aside – Entire prosecution case based on circumstantial evidence in alleged murder of wife by husband and mother-in-law – High Court reversed acquittal based on inference that accused throttled the deceased and set her on fire to destroy evidence – Held: Circumstantial chain incomplete – Key links such as escape r...
Criminal Law – Quashing of Complaint – Section 197 CrPC – Protection to Public Servants – Sanction Mandatory – Acts Related to Discharge of Official Duty – Held: When public servants are accused of committing acts in purported discharge of their official duties, prosecution cannot be initiated without prior sanction under Section 197 – The search, seizure ...
Criminal Law - Appeal allowed – Conviction under Sections 302, 364, 323/34 IPC set aside – Courts below erred in relying on purported dying declaration which was unproved, unreliable and contradicted by medical evidence – Prosecution failed to establish kidnapping, murder or assault – Benefit of doubt extended to appellants – Accused Hamir Singh directed to be release...
Criminal Law – Murder & Attempt to Murder – Sections 302/149 & 307/149 IPC – Common Object – Convictions Affirmed in Part – Multiple accused tried for triple homicide following a village dispute; trial court convicted; High Court partly acquitted and treated one accused as juvenile; Supreme Court upheld convictions of five appellants and acquitted Raj Pal for ...
Criminal Law - Challenge to conviction under Sections 304B and 498A IPC – Dowry Death – Presumption under Section 113B, Evidence Act – Burden of Proof – Prosecution must prove basic facts that (i) death occurred otherwise than normal, (ii) within seven years of marriage, and (iii) soon before death there was cruelty or harassment in connection with dowry demand – Cour...
Criminal Law – Murder – Common Intention – Conviction under Section 302 IPC – Appellant Nirmal Singh convicted for shooting the deceased in the abdomen with a country-made pistol – Conviction upheld based on consistent and credible testimony of multiple eyewitnesses (PWs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11) who were family members of the deceased – Presence of motive established ...