Service Law – Trade Tax Officers – Limited Departmental Examination, 1987 – 97 posts withdrawn from UPPSC due to delays – Cabinet approved departmental selection – Appointments in 1987 described as ad hoc owing to interim High Court orders – Held: Government intended substantive appointments – 1987 appointees deemed substantively appointed from date of ini...
Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR – Scope of Section 482 CrPC – Principles reiterated from Bhajan Lal case – FIRs and charge-sheets cannot be quashed merely on allegations of mala fides if prima facie material discloses cognizable offence – Mala fides of complainant irrelevant when ingredients of offence exist – High Court rightly observed its jurisdiction under Se...
Criminal Law – Inherent Powers of High Court – Scope of Section 482 CrPC – High Court directed investigation by Special Investigation Team (SIT) into alleged offences involving Divine Retreat Centre based on anonymous complaint and unverified allegations – Held: Inherent powers under Section 482 do not authorize High Court to interfere with statutory police investigation or...
Criminal Law – Unlawful Assembly – Section 149 IPC – Conviction under Section 302/149 – Five accused persons were charged and tried – Two acquitted – Held: Once the membership of the alleged unlawful assembly drops below five and no other unnamed or unidentified participants are proved to be present, the very basis of Section 149 collapses – Section 149 he...
Criminal Law – Murder - Circumstantial Evidence – Conviction reversed – Acquittal -Appellant Mani was convicted for the murder of Sivakumar based entirely on circumstantial evidence – Key circumstances included being last seen with the deceased, alleged discovery of blood-stained clothes and a weapon (koduval), and recovery of blood stains from a house claimed to be in the ...
Criminal Procedure – Hearing of Criminal Appeal – Ex-parte Disposal – Appellants argued High Court erred in deciding appeal ex-parte without personal hearing – Held: Appellants were represented through counsel who failed to argue due to non-communication from clients – High Court rightly proceeded to hear appeal on merits after perusing trial record – Compliance...
Criminal Procedure – Section 319 CrPC – Power to Add Co-Accused – Magistrate has jurisdiction to summon a person not initially named as accused if evidence during trial reveals their involvement – Held: Application under Section 319 CrPC can be made by any person, including a co-accused – No restriction that only the prosecution can seek addition – Application b...
Negotiable Instruments Act – Dishonour of Cheque – Complaint Against Trustee Without Trust as Party – Maintainability – Sections 138, 141, NI Act – Question whether complaint under NI Act is maintainable against the Chairman/Trustee of a Trust without arraying the Trust as an accused – Held: A Trust is not a juristic person capable of suing or being su...
Juvenile Justice – Claim of Juvenility – Retrospective Application – Section 7-A JJ Act, 2000 – Petitioner convicted for murder committed in 1981 when he was aged 12 years and 5 months – Sessions Court had extended benefit under the Children’s Act, 1960 and sent him to a children’s home – His conviction restored by Supreme Court in 2009 after High Co...