Criminal Law - Registration of FIR – Duty of Police – Section 154 CrPC – FIR Must Be Registered – Petitioners alleged failure of police to act upon complaints disclosing cognizable offences related to hate speech – Held: Police is bound to register an FIR if a cognizable offence is disclosed – However, if police fails to do so, remedy lies under Sections 190 and...
Murder – Familial Mass Homicide – Death Penalty Justified – Section 302 IPC – Rare and Diabolic Nature of Crime – Upheld – The accused Sonia and her husband Sanjiv (A-1 and A-2) were convicted for the premeditated and cold-blooded murder of eight family members including three children – Held: The nature of the crime was grotesque, calculated, and executed...
Criminal Law – Abetment of Suicide – Sections 306 and 107 IPC – Mens rea Essential – Mere harassment or taunting insufficient – Suicide by wife allegedly due to continuous harassment and dowry demands – No suicide note – No specific instigation or intentional aid proved – Held: Mere discord or cruelty in matrimonial home does not automatically amount...
TADA Offence – Sanction under Section 20A(2) – Cognizance without Sanction Invalid – Conviction Set Aside – FIR originally registered under Explosives Act, 1884 – Supplementary charge-sheet filed invoking TADA without prior sanction from Inspector General or Commissioner of Police as required under Section 20A(2) of TADA – Held: Designated Court had no jurisdict...
Murder – Eyewitness Testimony – Credibility of Sole Witness – Conviction Upheld – Sarabjit Singh, grandson of one of the deceased, was the sole eyewitness – Though some discrepancies existed in his statement regarding dying declarations, Supreme Court held his testimony regarding witnessing the attack and presence of accused was credible and reliable – Minor con...
Cheque Dishonour – Vicarious Liability of Directors – Sections 138 and 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act – Criminal Proceedings Quashed – Appellant filed complaint against company directors alleging cheque dishonour – Supreme Court held that mere designation as directors is insufficient – In absence of specific averments that respondents were in charge of an...
Bribery by Public Servant – Acceptance of Illegal Gratification – Conviction sustained – Section 161 IPC and Section 5(1)(d) r/w Section 5(2) PC Act – Appellant, a clerk, was caught accepting Rs. 200 in trap operation conducted by Lokayukt – Defence claimed he was only a conduit for a superior officer – Held: Once acceptance is proved, presumption under Section ...
Rape – Conviction under Section 376 IPC – Not Sustainable – Medical evidence showed presence of semen but no signs of forcible intercourse or injuries on victim – No evidence of absence of consent – Prosecution failed to have accused medically examined after recovery – Held: Conviction under Section 376 IPC set aside [Paras 8, 21].
Circumstantial Evidence &nd...
Remission Policy – Right to be considered – State of Haryana’s 2002 circular imposing stricter conditions for release of certain categories of life convicts challenged – Held: A convict has no fundamental right to remission but has a legal right to be considered for remission in terms of applicable rules/policies – Such right flows from Prisons Act, statutory rules an...
Terrorism – TADA – Confessional Statements – Admissibility – Confessions recorded under Section 15 TADA Act by competent officers held admissible when procedural safeguards substantially complied with – Certificates under Rule 15(3)(b) mandatory but defect curable where recording officers testified to full compliance and voluntariness – Confessions of A-27 and A...