Criminal Law - Death Penalty – Inadequate Legal Representation – Violation of Article 21 of Constitution – De novo Trial Ordered - The Court found that the convict was deprived of adequate legal assistance throughout the trial due to frequent change of legal aid counsel, perfunctory cross-examinations, and failure to provide proper defence – This amounted to a violation of ...
Criminal Law – Honour Killing – Caste Bias – Brutal Murder of Inter-caste Couple – Convictions Upheld – Victims, a Dalit boy and a Vanniyar girl, were forcibly administered poison by family and community members due to opposition to their marriage – Deaths concealed initially with police connivance – Trial Court convicted 13 accused including 2 police offi...
Criminal Law – Quashing 0f FIR - Muslim Divorce – Talaq-e-Ahsan – Distinction from Talaq-e-bidat – Quashment of FIR - Applicants demonstrated that the pronouncement of divorce was through Talaq-e-Ahsan and not Talaq-e-bidat which alone is banned – Held: Talaq-e-Ahsan is a recognized mode of divorce under Muslim Personal Law and not punishable under Section 4 of the Mu...
Criminal Law - Challenge Rejection of Sanction for Prosecution – Scope of Section 197 CrPC – Requirement of Sanction – Dismissal Upheld - Petitioner, a police officer, sought protection under Section 197 CrPC contending that criminal prosecution without prior sanction was impermissible – Court held that sanction protection is available only for acts reasonably connected wit...
Criminal Law - Murder – Intentional Use of Tractor as Weapon – Conviction Upheld – The appellant Dheer Singh was convicted for murdering his uncle Mangat by deliberately running over him with a tractor after a prior altercation over a property passage – The incident occurred while the deceased and the complainant were en route to lodge an FIR about an earlier assault ...
Criminal Law – Quashing of Cognizance - Custodial Violence Allegation – Police Officers Summoned – Cognizance Quashed - Petitioners, senior police officers, challenged summoning order in a complaint case alleging police excess during a bandh protest in 2014 – Held: Proceedings initiated after an unexplained delay of 10 years, during Model Code of Conduct, are manifestly mal...
Criminal Law – Quashing - Money Laundering – Predicate Offence Quashed – PMLA Case to Proceed – Petition to quash proceedings under PMLA rejected – Telangana High Court held that quashing of predicate offence against one accused does not terminate PMLA proceedings if the offence still exists against others – PMLA is a standalone offence focused on proceeds of ...
Criminal Law – Rape – Kidnapping – Appeal Against Acquittal - Appreciation of Evidence – Statement of Prosecutrix – Material Contradictions – Acquittal Upheld – The prosecution case was based primarily on the testimony of the prosecutrix – Contradictions in her statements regarding date and place of rape undermined credibility – The prosecutrix...
Criminal Law - SARFAESI Act - Quashing of Criminal Proceedings – Lack of Prima Facie Role – Criminal Process Misused – Allegations Baseless – Appellant held not to be involved in the auction process or issuance of sale certificate under SARFAESI Act – At relevant time, he was not the authorized officer under Rule 2(a) of the Enforcement Rules – Held: Criminal pr...
Criminal Law - Cruelty to Woman – Section 498A IPC – Conviction Maintained – Appellants convicted for mentally and physically abusing deceased, who later self-immolated – Dying declaration ruled out dowry angle but confirmed cruelty – Conviction upheld by Supreme Court as based on concurrent findings of fact by Sessions Court and High Court [Paras 2–6].
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