Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR - Matrimonial Dispute – General Allegations Against In-Laws – Proceedings Quashed in Part - Petitioners challenged FIR under Sections 498A, 504, 506 IPC – Allegations against petitioner No.4 (Surinder Kaur) were found vague and lacking specific instances of cruelty or provocation – Held: Prosecution against her is abuse of process &ndash...
Criminal Law – Cruelty under Section 498A IPC – Acquittal – Appellant convicted for cruelty to wife based on letters and testimony of her family members – Prosecution relied on letters Exhs.13, 15, 16 to allege mental and physical harassment and financial demands – Defence produced 17 letters and medical documents evidencing cordial relations and longstanding illness ...
Criminal Law – Rape – Quashing of Proceedings – Allegation of sexual exploitation over three years disbelieved – De facto complainant alleged repeated sexual abuse and coercion by petitioner between 2011 and 2014 – Petitioner produced documents showing ongoing cordial relationship till 2017 and pending civil litigation regarding monetary disputes – Court found i...
Criminal Law – Murder – Reliability of Evidence – Conviction Based Solely on Injured Eye-Witnesses – Trial Court convicted appellants relying exclusively on P.W.4 and P.W.5, while disbelieving presence of P.W.6 – High Court held that contradictions, omissions, prior enmity, and delayed complaint raised possibility of false implication, making sole reliance on two inju...
Criminal Law – Bail - Rape Allegation – Consent – Breach of Promise to Marry – Petitioner accused of offences under Sections 69 and 75(1) r/w 3(5) of BNS for allegedly refusing to marry the victim after a consensual relationship – Relationship between petitioner and respondent lasted over three years – Victim lodged complaint only after petitioner refused marria...
Criminal Law – Withdrawal of Prosecution – Permission from High Court Mandatory – Appellant, a former MLA, challenged criminal proceedings arising from FIRs under Arms Act and IPC – State had issued orders to withdraw cases citing public interest, and Public Prosecutor filed withdrawal application before trial court – Held: As per Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of In...
NDPS Act – Bail – Disclosure Statement of Co-Accused – Weak Evidentiary Value – Petitioner implicated only based on co-accused’s disclosure; no recovery from petitioner; Court holds disclosure statement without corroboration cannot be sole basis for implication; evidentiary value to be tested at trial – Raises serious doubts regarding fairness of investigation [...
Criminal Law – Robbery – Conviction under Section 397 IPC – Reversed – Appellant convicted for robbery and stabbing under Sections 394/34 and 397 IPC – Trial court sentenced him to concurrent imprisonment of 3 years and 7 years – Complainant identified appellant at police station, but no Test Identification Parade (TIP) was conducted – Held: Dock identific...
Criminal Law - CrPC – MPDVPK Act – Jurisdiction – Cognizance – Magistrate's power under Section 156(3) CrPC – Offences under Section 394 IPC and Sections 11/13 MPDVPK Act being “specified offences” – Only Special Court competent to take cognizance under Section 8 of MPDVPK Act – Magistrate not empowered to direct registration of FIR for spe...
Criminal Law – Appeal Against Acquittal – Unlawful Assembly – Assault – Cross-FIR – Evidence of complainant and injured witnesses found to be partisan, contradictory, and inconsistent with their police statements which admitted mutual fight and injuries on opposite side – Suppression of fatal injuries on accused’s father (deceased Ganpatsinh) in cross-case...