Criminal Law – Defamation – Section 356 BNS Applies Only if Public Good is Not Served – The petitioner was accused of publishing a book titled "The Real Reason Why Legend Died", along with videos, podcasts, and reels, allegedly defaming the family of Sidhu Moosewala – The Court held that mere publication of controversial content does not automatically amount to cr...
Criminal Law – Quashing - Criminal Defamation – Liability of Editorial Directors – Absence of Specific Allegations – Proceedings Quashed – The appellant, an editorial director of the newspaper company, was implicated for defamation without specific allegations establishing his role in the publication of the alleged defamatory articles – Held: Liability under Sec...
Criminal Law – Remission of Sentence – Power of Government – Interpretation of Section 432 CrPC and Section 473 BNSS – The Supreme Court analyzed the power of the government to remit the sentence of convicts under Section 432 of the CrPC and Section 473 of the BNSS – Held: These provisions empower the appropriate government to remit the whole or part of a sentence, wi...
Preventive Detention – Delay in Proposal Does Not Vitiate Detention – The petitioner argued that there was a long delay between the last alleged offence (11/08/2024) and the issuance of the detention order (25/10/2024), breaking the live link between the alleged acts and detention – The Court rejected this argument, holding that since the detenu was in custody during this period ...
Family Law – Maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. – No Proof of Husband’s Higher Income – The Family Court assessed the petitioner’s income as Rs. 20,000/- per month based on the Minimum Wages Act in the absence of any concrete evidence of actual earnings – The High Court modified this, holding that since the petitioner was only 10th class pass and not proven t...
Criminal Contempt Proceedings – Quashing - Jurisdiction and Scope – Appellate Court’s Intervention – Appeal under Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 allowed – Contempt proceedings initiated and costs imposed without affording adequate opportunity to explain compliance with the Court’s order – Held: Contempt jurisdiction must be exercised sparin...
Criminal Law – Circumstantial Evidence – Standard of Proof – The case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, requiring a complete chain of evidence pointing exclusively to the guilt of the accused – The Court held that the chain was incomplete, as there was a time gap of nearly 9-10 hours between the accused being last seen with the deceased and the discovery of the...
Criminal Procedure - Revision against dismissal of complaint - Section 397 of Cr.P.C. - Complaint under Section 125-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and Sections 177, 193, 420, 467, 468, 471 of IPC dismissed at the preliminary stage under Section 203 of Cr.P.C. by Judicial Magistrate. Petitioner alleged respondent provided false information about educational qualifications in affid...
Criminal Law – Writ of Mandamus – Petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution – Petitioner, a voter from the Samalkha constituency, sought the issuance of a writ of mandamus for the arrest of respondent No. 5 (Dharam Singh Chhoker), a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly and candidate, citing multiple FIRs and non-bailable warrants issued against him – High Cou...
Criminal Law – Parole Denial – Petitioner challenged the denial of parole by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate, Bathinda, based on the report of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bathinda, which cited the petitioner as a threat to public order – Petitioner argued that the denial was unjustified as he had already been acquitted in another related case &ndash...