Criminal Law - Sections 3(1)(viii), 3(1)(ix), and 3(2)(vii) of the SC/ST Act – Quashing of Proceedings under Section 482 CrPC – High Court Order Upheld – Appellant alleged mala fide prosecution by public officials for opposing wrongful land allotment – High Court found no evidence of caste-based discrimination or mala fide intention – Held: The initiation of proceedin...
Criminal Law - Section 193, 406, 418, 420, 423, 468, 469 of IPC - Criminal Complaint – Second Quashing Petition – Not Maintainable – Review Impermissible – The High Court allowed a second quashing petition under Section 482 CrPC, despite an earlier petition on identical grounds having been dismissed – Held: Raising previously available pleas in a second peti...
Criminal Law - Sections 342 and 376 IPC - Conviction for Rape and Wrongful Confinement – Delay in FIR – Explanation Satisfactory – Conviction Upheld – FIR lodged after 20 hours due to young age of victim and long distance to police station – Victim’s statement consistent and corroborated by medical and documentary evidence – Held: Delay not fatal – C...
Criminal Law - Quashing of Proceedings – Commercial Dispute Given Criminal Colour – Allegations Civil in Nature – Proceedings Quashed – Petitioners challenged the criminal case alleging offences under Sections 420/406/422/34 IPC on the basis that there was no fraudulent or dishonest inducement from the inception – Court held that failure to pay outstanding dues in a c...
Criminal Law - Anticipatory Bail – Sections 189(2), 191(2), 191(3), 126(2), 115(2), 118(1), 118(2), 110, 190, 296(b) of the BNS - Advocate Assaulted for Professional Duty – Bail Rejected – Petitioners, political leaders, sought anticipatory bail after allegedly attacking a lawyer who had drafted a complaint against them – Court found motive established from documentary evid...
Criminal Appeal – Conviction under Section 302/149 and 147 IPC – Sentence Modified for Juvenility – Appeal filed against conviction and sentence of life imprisonment for murder committed by unlawful assembly – Appellants Chhedi and Madan claimed to be below 16 years of age at the time of offence – Court accepted school leaving certificate and municipal birth records &...
Criminal Taxation Law - Habeas Corpus – Illegal Detention – Arrest Declared Illegal – Constitutional Safeguards Violated – In a petition under Article 226 seeking release of the detenue, the Court found that the Directorate General of GST Intelligence officials had kept the detenue in custody for over 30 hours without presenting him before a Magistrate and without serving g...
Criminal Law - Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act & Section 7 and 25 of the Arms Act – Acquittal Upheld – Arms and Explosives Case – Prosecution Version Unreliable – The appeal challenged the judgment dated 02.01.2014 passed by the Special Judge (Principal Sessions Judge), Jammu, acquitting the respondents of charges under the Explosive Substances Act, Arm...
Criminal Law - Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Section 302/120-B IPC – Conviction Upheld - The appellant challenged her conviction for conspiring to murder a 9-year-old boy through a child in conflict with law by drowning him in a stepwell – The prosecution’s case was based on circumstantial evidence comprising six factors: family dispute (motive), incriminat...
Dishonour of Cheque – Lack of Authorization – Conviction under Section 138 of NI Act Set Aside – The accused issued a cheque in settlement of a failed property transaction where consideration was paid jointly by the complainant and another individual – The accused challenged the maintainability of the complaint on the ground that the complainant alone could not prosecute wi...