Criminal Law - Murder – Section 302/34 IPC – Common intention – Conviction partly upheld – Principal assailants identified by multiple eyewitnesses including injured witnesses – Court finds Moijuddin, Faijuddin and Latif restrained the deceased while Maynul delivered the fatal Ramdao blow on the nape of the neck – Held: Conviction under Section 302 read with Sec...
Dowry Death – Conviction based on sole testimony – Deceased, married for 1½ years, died by consuming poison allegedly due to dowry harassment – Trial court convicted respondents under Sections 304B and 498A IPC relying solely on testimony of father (PW4) – High Court disbelieved PW4, noting contradictions and lack of support from other relatives (PW6, PW7) who denied...
Criminal Writ - Police Surveillance – History-Sheet – Single Case Registered in 2016 – History-Sheet Quashed – Petitioner had only one criminal case registered in 2016 under the Cow Slaughter Act – No further offence, complaint, or FIR registered – Despite this, history-sheet under Category 18-A was opened and representation for closure rejected – Held: No...
Juvenile Justice – Determination of juvenility - Murder case – Accused Pranjal Tiwari apprehended on 27.2.1997 for offence under Section 302/34 IPC – Claimed juvenility as date of birth 30.9.1981 – Trial court and Sessions Judge rejected claim citing doubts in documents and variation in ossification test – High Court in revision accepted documentary evidence and held ...
Murder – Conviction – Evidence – Medical evidence vs. ocular testimony – Where medical evidence runs counter to the eye-witness version, the prosecution case becomes doubtful – Ocular testimony of related/ interested witnesses requires strict scrutiny, particularly when corroboration from medical/ scientific evidence is absent – Held: Prosecution failed to estab...
Section 27 Evidence Act – Discovery of a fact – Pulukuri Kottaya re-affirmed – Division Bench of Bombay High Court’s departure disapproved – “Fact discovered” not synonymous with “object recovered” – What is discovered is the fact that the object was concealed at a place to the accused’s knowledge – Recovery is merely a step t...
Criminal Trial – Communal clash – Right of private defence – Occurrence arose when group of deceased and others attacked appellant’s house following earlier quarrel – Deceased stabbed by appellant; co-accused sustained injuries from prosecution party – Trial Court convicted appellant under Section 302 IPC, upheld by High Court – Supreme Court held: Even ac...
Criminal Law - Sentence for Rash and Negligent Driving – Sections 304A, 279, 337, 338 IPC – Appeal by State Allowed – Respondent convicted for rash and negligent driving causing death of four persons and injury to one – Trial Magistrate awarded six months’ imprisonment under Section 304A IPC – High Court modified sentence to fine of ₹5,000 – Held: High C...
Criminal Law - Quashing of Proceedings – Section 482 CrPC – Scope – Power is exceptional and to be exercised sparingly – High Court erred in quashing charge-sheet by assessing sufficiency of evidence as if conducting a trial – At stage of cognizance/framing of charge, court not to weigh evidence but only see whether allegations prima facie disclose commission of offen...
Murder – Sudden Quarrel – Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC – Applicability – The incident arose out of a sudden quarrel without prior enmity – Both the trial court and High Court found that the occurrence was without premeditation and fell within Exception 4 to Section 300 – Conviction altered from Section 302 to Section 304 Part I IPC – Sentence reduced to ...