Criminal Law - Speedy Trial – Senior Citizen Complainant – Section 528 BNSS – Trial Court’s Leniency Towards Accused Decried – Petition Allowed – FIR registered on 31.03.2021 for offences under IPC and IT Act—challan filed 30.09.2021—trial delayed with only two witnesses examined in four years—accused repeatedly absent, granted numerous exempti...
Criminal Law – Bail - Terrorism Case – Bengaluru Riots of 11.08.2020 – Bail Rejected – Sections 16, 18, 20 UAP Act – Accused Nos. 6 & 20 alleged to have conspired, mobilized mobs, vandalized police station, burnt vehicles, and attacked police personnel – Earlier bail rejections upheld by High Court and Supreme Court – Contention of delay in trial and c...
Criminal Law – NDPS Act s.20(b)(ii)(B) – 810 g charas recovery – Hostile panch witnesses – Contradictions and seal/link-evidence objections – Appeal Dismissed – Held: Recovery proved through consistent police testimony – chain of custody intact – minor discrepancies immaterial – conviction and sentence under s.20(b)(ii)(B) sustained [Para...
Criminal Law - Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Conviction Set Aside – Appeal Allowed – Acquittal - Appellants convicted under Section 302 IPC for killing victim Pratap Mondal—Prosecution case rested on prior enmity, recovery of tangi (axe) at instance of accused, and last-seen theory from PW-4—High Court found no eyewitnesses, last-seen evidence unreliable du...
Criminal Law - Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Section 302 IPC – Conviction Reversed – Acquittal – The appellant was convicted for murder based solely on circumstantial evidence including recovery of blood-stained clothes and forensic findings – No eyewitness or motive was established – Held: The prosecution failed to prove a complete and unbroken chain...
Quashing of FIR - Criminal Misconduct – Misappropriation of SGRY rice – Sections 13(1)(c), 13(1)(d) P.C. Act and Sections 465, 471, 409, 120B IPC – Quashment and discharge denied – Petitioners accused of conspiring with Panchayat Secretary to forge beneficiary committee minutes, create fictitious beneficiary lists, and obtain sanction for release of 46,573 kg of rice under ...
Bail – NDPS Act – Section 36A(4) Default/Statutory Bail – 184 kg Ganja – Petition Allowed – Prosecution failed to file PP’s report seeking extension beyond 180 days; charge-sheet not filed; custody since 11.02.2025 – Held: Accused acquired indefeasible right to bail under Section 36A(4); enlarged on bail subject to stringent conditions [Paras 5–9].
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Criminal Evidence Law - Electronic Evidence – Right to Cloned Copy – Natural Justice – Cloned Copy Directed to Be Provided - Petitioners challenged denial of a cloned copy of hard disk relied upon for prosecution evidence – Court held that denial would violate right to fair trial – Directed trial court to provide cloned copy at petitioners’ expense to ensure eff...
Criminal Law - Summoning under Section 319 Cr.P.C. – Fresh Evidence Not Mandatory – Application Allowed Based on PW1’s Testimony – The petitioners were previously declared innocent by SIT and placed in Column 2 of the challan – Held: Trial court rightly exercised discretion under Section 319 Cr.P.C. based on examination-in-chief of complainant (PW1) implicating the pe...
Anticipatory Bail – Financial Scam – Co-operative Society – Pre-arrest bail granted with stringent conditions – Sneha MACS allegedly collected ₹6.32 crore from depositors, failed to repay – Accused No. 3, aged 71, retired bank officer, served as Director/CEO only from April 2022 to October 2024 – Majority of deposits mobilised before his tenure – Petitio...