Criminal Law - Bail – Section 302, 323, 427, 34, 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) - Grant of Bail in Heinous Crime – Parameters of Judicial Discretion – Bail Cancelled – The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s order granting bail to the accused in a case involving murder charges under Section 302 IPC – The Court found that the High Court had failed to ad...
Criminal Law – Murder - Circumstantial Evidence – Standards for Conviction – Chain of Circumstances Incomplete – Conviction Set Aside - In a case resting on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish all circumstances conclusively and exclude any hypothesis consistent with the innocence of the accused – The prosecution failed to establish the identity of ...
Criminal Writ – PIL – Allegation of Fraudulent Cost Escalation – Prima Facie Rejected – Petitioner, a former MLA and PAC Chairman, alleged wrongful revision of estimates in PRRLIS causing Rs. 2,426.07 crores loss to public exchequer – Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s dismissal of the writ petition – Held: Allegations required factual adjudication not ...
Criminal Law – Murder - Sections 302, 404 IPC – Appeal Against Conviction - Circumstantial Evidence – Five Golden Principles – Sharad Birdhichand Sarda principles reiterated – Guilt must be fully established by conclusive circumstances – Chain of evidence must exclude every other hypothesis except guilt of the accused [Paras 6.1-6.2].
Murder Trial &...
FIR Quashing – False Promise of Marriage – No Prima Facie Case – FIR Quashed - Successive FIRs by complainant alleged sexual exploitation under promise of marriage – Court found allegations inconsistent and exaggerated – Prior FIR omitted earlier alleged incidents – Held: FIR was a gross abuse of process and continuation of prosecution would be travesty of justi...
Criminal Law - Essential Commodities Act – Violation of Baby Food Control Order – Conviction Set Aside – Appellant convicted for possessing excess tins of Amul Spray and non-compliance with baby food retail license requirements—Held: Prosecution failed to establish from which shop the recovery was made—No production of seized goods or clear seizure location—Conv...
Criminal Law - Right to Privacy – Right to Be Forgotten – Digital Erasure Post Acquittal – Petitioner, a corporate professional, had been falsely implicated in a cyber crime FIR which was subsequently quashed – Despite exoneration and discharge of sureties, his name continued to reflect on court portals, affecting employment opportunities – Held: Once proceedings are ...
Criminal Writ - Transfer of Investigation – Request to Hand Over to CBI – No Prima Facie Case – Petition Dismissed – The petitioner, accused under Sections 419, 420 IPC and Section 66D IT Act, sought transfer of investigation to CBI, alleging malafide intent by police due to prior disputes involving her husband – Held: Merely being an accused does not confer right to ...
Criminal Law – Conviction under Sections 120-B, 302, 506 IPC – Appellants, including Baba Gurmeet Singh, found guilty of conspiracy and murder of Ranjit Singh – CBI investigation revealed motive linked to circulation of an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation at Dera Sacha Sauda – Trial court’s decision upheld by High Court – Appeals dismissed.
Consp...
Criminal Law – Rape and Abduction – Appeal Against Conviction - Test Identification Parade – Procedural Lapse – Conviction Sustained – Though minor procedural lapses occurred in the test identification parade, Court upheld conviction based on corroborated eyewitness testimonies and forensic evidence – Held: Identification parade is a rule of prudence and non-adh...