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 Divorced Wife Entitled To Maintenance; Mere Earning Capacity Not A Bar: Orissa High Court Limitation Period Starts From Date Of Knowledge Of Document, Not From When Certified Copy Is Obtained: Madras High Court Mere Mass Transfer Of Officers By Election Commission Does Not Paralyse State Machinery: Calcutta High Court Dismisses PIL Right To Appeal Under Senior Citizens Act Belongs Exclusively To Parents, Children Cannot File Appeal: Orissa High Court Acquittal Cannot Survive When Overt Acts Are Clearly Proved: Madras High Court Convicts Two Accused in Village Clash Killing Wife Is Absolute Owner Of Streedhan, Taking It Away Does Not Attract Criminal Breach Of Trust Under Section 406 IPC: Allahabad High Court Government Need Not Adjudicate If Employee Is 'Workman' Before Referring Dispute To Labour Court: Gujarat High Court Bidder Cannot Be Disqualified For Submitting Certificate From Unspecified Agency If Tender Document Is Silent: Delhi High Court No Presumption Of Joint Family Property Merely Because Joint Hindu Family Exists: Andhra Pradesh High Court Driver Clicking Selfies With Licensed Firearm Doesn't Make Owner Liable Under Arms Act: Punjab & Haryana High Court Quashes FIR High Court Imposes Blanket Ban On Tree Felling In Haryana, Cites Impending Ecological Catastrophe Due To Dismal Forest Cover

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Procedure – Maintenance under Section 125 CrPC – Delay in disposal – High Court directed Family Court to expedite proceedings – Petitioner later invoked contempt jurisdiction for non-compliance – High Court summoned Presiding Judge but did not itself grant maintenance – Held: Petitioner has remedy before High Court; appropriate for High Court to exercis...

Criminal Law – Murder - Appeal Against Acquittal – Scope of Interference – Conviction Restored – Trial court acquitted all accused on conjectures (age/incapacity, alleged ante-timed FIR, private defence) – High Court reappreciated clear eye-witness evidence and reversed acquittal – Supreme Court: appellate interference justified where trial court ignores admissi...

Criminal Law - Dowry Death – “Soon Before Her Death” – Section 304B IPC – Conviction Set Aside – Evidence must show cruelty/harassment for dowry soon before death with a proximate and live link to the death – Record disclosed no dowry-related cruelty for about 15 months prior to death; proximity test not satisfied – Held: Conviction under Section 304...

Criminal Law – Conspiracy – Sections 120B/302/109 IPC – Substratum of Prosecution Case – Principal Alleged Conspirator Discharged – Respondent charged with conspiring with Dr. Sanjay Singh to murder Syed Modi; Dr. Sanjay Singh and Amita Kulkarni earlier discharged, their discharge affirmed up to Supreme Court – Held: With the alleged main conspirator discharged ...

Criminal Law – Murder Conviction under Section 302 IPC – Conviction Affirmed – The appellant challenged the concurrent findings of the Trial Court and High Court convicting him for murder on several grounds including contradictions in medical and ocular evidence, delay in FIR, defective investigation, non-examination of witnesses, and denial of alibi – The Supreme Court fou...

Criminal Law – Conviction under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC – Appeal Dismissed – The appellant challenged his conviction for murder, asserting he had no active role in the incident and that the evidence of related witnesses was unreliable – The Supreme Court upheld concurrent findings of the Trial Court and the High Court, holding that the evidence of eyewitnesses ...

Criminal Law – Reversal of Acquittal – Conviction Restored – The Trial Court convicted the respondent under Section 302 IPC for murder based on consistent eyewitness testimony, post-mortem findings, and recovery of weapon – High Court reversed the conviction citing irregularities in the firing range test, ballistic report, and credibility of related witnesses – Held: ...

Company Law  – SFIO probe – Whistleblower sought copies of complaint & annexures – Special Court directed “Issue CC on usual terms” without reasons – High Court quashed – Held: Stranger not entitled to complaint/annexures; only investigation report permissible under Section 212(13) Companies Act – Orders unsustainable – Applications re...

Criminal Law - Mercy Jurisdiction – Article 72 – Grounds for Judicial Review – Extremely Narrow – Petition Dismissed – Challenge to the President’s rejection of pardon in a death penalty case – Court reiterates that judicial review lies only for no consideration, consideration on wholly irrelevant grounds, irrationality, discrimination, or mala fides; pres...

Preventive Detention – COFEPOSA Section 3(1) – Writ at Pre-Execution Stage – Scope of Interference – Appeals Allowed – Detention orders were quashed by High Court citing passage of time and Sunil Fulchand Shah – Supreme Court holds pre-execution interference is extremely limited and governed by Alka Subhash Gadia exceptions – respondents had not surrendere...