Section 217 CrPC Not A Mere Formality; Trial Court Must Judicially Decide Plea To Recall Witnesses Upon Alteration Of Charges: Madras High Court First Appellate Court Must Address Suspicious Circumstances Surrounding Execution Of Will; Adverse Inference To Be Drawn If Propounder Fails To Testify: Himachal Pradesh High Court Passing Contrary Orders On Identical Land Acquisition Cases Violates Public Policy, Equal Treatment: Madhya Pradesh High Court Municipal Authorities Cannot Adjudicate Title Disputes While Granting Building Permissions: Telangana High Court Statutory Insurance Companies Can’t Be Treated As Illiterate Litigants; Procedural Red Tape No Ground To Condone Delay: Orissa High Court Section 22 Hindu Succession Act Applies To Agricultural Land; Right Of Pre-Emption Is An Incident Of Succession: Supreme Court Proceedings Under Senior Citizens Act Extinguish On Death Of Applicant, Civil Remedies Apply For Property Disputes: Punjab & Haryana High Court Being A Woman Not A Ground For Bail In Heinous Crimes Against Minors: Gujarat High Court Rejects Bail In Flesh Trade Case Woman Not Entitled To Maintenance Under Section 125 CrPC If First Marriage Subsists; Illegitimate Child Entitled: Allahabad High Court Contract Workers Performing Same Duties As Regular Staff Entitled To Minimum Regular Pay Scale Under CLRA Rules: Bombay High Court Power Of Review Is To Correct Mistakes, Not Substitute Views Or Act As 'Appeal In Disguise': Kerala High Court Futile Exercise Of Jurisdiction To Proceed With Contempt For Violating Ex-Parte Order Once It Is Vacated On Merits: Karnataka High Court Threat To Force Wife Into Prostitution Strikes At Core Of Human Dignity: Gujarat HC Denies Anticipatory Bail In Abetment To Suicide Case Injured Victim's Testimony Carries Built-In Guarantee Of Truthfulness, Requires No Corroboration For Conviction: Allahabad High Court Section 138 NI Act Offence Can Be Compounded At Revision Stage Under Section 147 Read With Section 320 CrPC: Punjab & Haryana High Court

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Law - Murder – Conviction Based on Circumstantial Evidence – Chain of Circumstances Complete – Deceased, a business broker, was found murdered and packed in a wooden container marked as a railway parcel – Appellants were last seen with the deceased and later attempted to dispatch the box containing the corpse – Additional circumstances included flight of the ...

Dacoity – Lack of evidence of theft – Section 395 IPC – Conviction set aside – The appellants were convicted for dacoity, but the prosecution failed to establish any act of theft or attempt to commit theft – Witnesses did not personally see any items being stolen, and recovery was absent – Statements about missing ornaments were hearsay and not corroborated by d...

Criminal Law  – Power to Grant Pardon – Sections 306 and 307 CrPC – Power Upheld – The appellants challenged the jurisdiction of the Special Court to grant pardon under CrPC, contending that such power was not expressly conferred by the Special Court Act, 1992 – Held: The Special Court is a court of original criminal jurisdiction and has all powers under CrPC not...

Criminal Law - Remission – Interpretation of Remission Notifications – Bail Periods Not Eligible – High Court's Order Reversed – The Supreme Court held that remission granted by the Government under various notifications cannot be applied to periods when the convict was on bail – Acceptance of such an interpretation would reduce the criminal justice system to a mo...

Criminal Law - Murder  – Absence of Corpus Delicti – Conviction Sustained – Even in the absence of recovery of the dead body, conviction under Section 302 IPC was sustained – Eye-witnesses PW 3 (mother) and PW 4 (sister) gave direct and credible evidence of fatal assault by Appellant No. 9 – Circumstantial and direct evidence led to inescapable conclusion of deat...

Murder – Reversal of Acquittal – Confession Valid and Corroborated – Appeal Allowed – Accused was acquitted by High Court in double murder case of a film actress and her mother – Supreme Court held that the judicial confession of the accused was voluntary and truthful – Corroborated by recovery of stolen articles and unexplained presence of fingerprints inside t...

Criminal Law - Murder  – Concurrent Findings – Appeal Dismissed – Appellants challenged their conviction for murder on multiple grounds including plea of alibi, discrepancies in inquest and post-mortem reports, and delay in FIR – Supreme Court held that concurrent findings of fact by lower courts would not be interfered with unless perverse or in violation of legal pri...

Criminal Law – Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Conviction Upheld - Sandeep (A1) and Vikram (A3) were convicted for the murder of Vishal Goel – Prosecution proved chain of circumstances including last seen together, recovery of bloodstained sword and clothing, and matching blood group with victim – Extra-judicial confession discarded as unreliable, but conviction su...

Family Law - Maintenance – Enhancement under Section 127 Cr.P.C. – Increase Allowed – Revision Allowed – Petitioner sought enhancement of ₹10,000/month maintenance fixed in 2012 to ₹30,000/month citing increase in cost of living, medical needs, and respondent’s pension – Family Court had rejected plea stating no substantial change in circumstances – Hi...

Criminal Law - Defamation – Section 199 Cr.P.C. – No Bar to Magistrate's Direction under Section 155(2) – Petition Dismissed - Petitioner challenged the registration of NCR and filing of chargesheet under Section 500 IPC based on the ground that defamation offences under Chapter XXI IPC can only be prosecuted by private complaint under Section 199 Cr.P.C. – Held: Sectio...