Criminal Law – Discharge – Limits under Section 239 CrPC – Special Court and High Court Orders Set Aside – Special Court and High Court discharged accused in ₹21 crore MSP fraud based on CCI's internal letter stating no loss – Supreme Court held this reliance was impermissible under Section 239 CrPC – Held: At charge stage, court can only consider prosecut...
Criminal Law – Murder & Dacoity – Appeal Against Conviction - Last Seen Theory – Circumstantial Evidence – Conviction Confirmed - Appellant was last seen with the deceased shortly before the murder – No explanation offered by the Appellant regarding the period after he was last seen with the deceased – Evidence clearly established a minimal time gap between ...
Criminal Law – Circumstantial Evidence – Murder Trial – Last Seen Together – Conviction based solely on the theory of ‘last seen together’ without corroborative evidence – Appellant convicted under Sections 302 and 201 IPC by Trial Court, affirmed by High Court – Supreme Court found chain of evidence incomplete – Held: Last seen theory alone, a...
Criminal Procedure – Bail Reform – Monitoring Compliance with Satender Kumar Antil Guidelines – Comprehensive Review and Fresh Directions Issued – Supreme Court examines detailed compliance affidavits submitted by States, UTs, High Courts, CBI, and NALSA – Accepts Amicus Curiae’s report dated 10.02.2024 highlighting inconsistencies and lapses – Issues fres...
Bail Jurisprudence – Right to Liberty – Presumption of Innocence – Reinforced – The Court underscored that liberty is a constitutional right and detention is an exception – Courts must treat “bail as the rule and jail as the exception” – Arbitrary denial of bail due to systemic delays or financial inability to meet bail conditions was found to be vio...
Bail - Sections 21-C, 25, 27-A, and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 - NDPS Act - Grounds of Arrest – Non-supply of Written Grounds – Arrest Held Illegal – Despite police contention, petitioner was not served written grounds of arrest as mandated under Article 22 of the Constitution and Section 47 BNSS – Court relied on Pankaj Bansal, Prabir Pu...
Review Petition – Jurisdictional Error – Review Allowed – Petitioners sought review of common order dismissing writ petitions challenging the criminal proceedings under UAPA – This Court noticed that as per Section 21(2) of NIA Act, all such matters ought to be heard by a Division Bench and not by a Single Judge – Held: Since jurisdictional error goes to the root of t...
Criminal Law - Anticipatory Bail – Sections 305 and 317(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 BNS - Alleged Police Bias and Coercion – Bail Granted – Petitioner alleged wrongful implication by police under influence of complainant – FIR originally registered under Section 303 BNS later modified – Court observed misuse of investigation powers and harassment of unrela...
NDPS Act – Suspension of Sentence – Procedural Irregularities in Seizure – Bail Granted Pending Appeal – Appellant convicted under Sections 8/15(c) and sentenced to 12 years RI – Trial court's judgment challenged – Court observed serious discrepancies: seizure conducted 101 km away from interception site, samples taken without presence of Magistrate, and uni...
Anticipatory Bail – Misleading Advertisement – Health Hazards – Bail Denied – Petitioner marketed a hair oil as a remedy for baldness via social media and held a public camp promoting its use – 71 individuals suffered severe eye irritation and swelling, prompting hospitalization – Held: Promoting unverified products with health risks, without clinical testing, e...