Criminal Law – Murder – Delay in FIR and Statement Recording – The importance of promptly sending FIR to the Magistrate and recording witness statements to prevent the introduction of fabricated evidence. Delays must be explained to avoid doubts about the investigation's integrity. The Court emphasized that unexplained delays could be detrimental but must be evaluated on a ca...
Criminal Law – Remission of Sentence – Judicial Review – The Court has the power to review the government's decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of an application for remission under Section 432 of the CrPC to determine whether the decision is arbitrary in nature. While the government has discretion to suspend or remit sentences, it cannot exercise this power arbitr...
Negotiable Instruments Act - Summary vs. Summons Trial – Petition for quashing proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act – Complaint filed for dishonour of cheque – Magistrate converted summary trial to summons trial without hearing parties – Held, non-compliance with hearing directive under Section 143 does not vitiate proceedings – Petition dis...
Criminal Law – Dowry Death – Presumption under Section 113B – The presumption under Section 304B IPC, read with Section 113B of the Indian Evidence Act, comes into play once it is shown that the woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment for dowry soon before her death. This presumption can be rebutted by the accused by demonstrating that the ingredients of Section 304B IPC hav...
Criminal Law - Quashing of Complaint – Section 482 CrPC – Complaint under Section 420 IPC read with Section 175-U of Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 2015 – Petitioner, a Sarpanch, possessed two ration cards and did not disclose dues payable to Electricity Department – Such dues are a disqualification for a candidate – Magistrate summoned the Petitioner under Section 175-U...
Criminal Law – Quashing of Criminal Proceedings – Political Vendetta – Appellants argued that the complaint was initiated out of political animosity – Supreme Court reiterated that political vendetta alone is not a ground for quashing proceedings if the complaint otherwise makes out a prima facie case – Allegations in the complaint, if established, would result in con...
Criminal Law - Vicarious Liability – Marketing Firm's Responsibility under Insecticides Act – Petition under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of criminal complaint – Petitioners are marketing agents, not manufacturers – Sample from sealed packet with no allegation of tampering or improper storage – Marketing firm cannot be held vicariously liable for misbranding ...
Criminal Law – Confessional Statements – Section 27 of the Evidence Act – Supreme Court criticized the tendency of prosecuting agencies to record entire confessions instead of only the part leading to the discovery of facts – Held that such practice leads to inadmissible confessions influencing judicial minds – Court emphasized strict adherence to the admissible porti...
Criminal Law – Appeal Against Acquittal – Practice of Pronouncing Orders – The practice of pronouncing only the operative portion of the judgment without a reasoned judgment and issuing the reasoned judgment subsequently is discouraged – Such a practice deprives aggrieved parties of timely judicial redress and undermines judicial discipline – The High Court's judg...
Victim’s Right to be Heard – Bail Adjudication – Section 2(wa) CrPC – Legal Right to Participate in Proceedings – Appellant challenged the bail granted to the Respondent-Accused in a case involving the death of several farmers – Supreme Court held that a victim under Section 2(wa) of CrPC is entitled to be heard at every stage of proceedings – High Court...