Criminal Complaint – Allegation of Theft – Contradiction by Subsequent Conduct – Complaint Quashed – The complainants alleged that the first appellant (wife) stole ornaments and valuables from her matrimonial home; however, the third respondent (husband) had filed a petition under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act for restitution of conjugal rights after the alleged theft...
Criminal Law – Challenge Registration of FIR - Section 156(3) CrPC – Mandatory Compliance with Section 154(1) and (3) CrPC – Non-Compliance Found – The complainant did not exhaust remedies under Section 154(1) and (3) before invoking Section 156(3) – The requirement of prior applications and averments was not satisfied – Application under Section 156(3) not main...
Criminal Trial – Conviction under Section 302 IPC – Violation of Section 313 CrPC – Conviction Modified - Appellant convicted under Section 302 IPC without being confronted with incriminating evidence relatable to Section 302 charge – Statement under Section 313 CrPC confined only to dowry death allegations under Section 304-B IPC – Held: Serious prejudice caused to a...
Criminal Law - Murder – Alteration of Conviction – Sudden Fight Without Premeditation – Conviction Altered to Section 304 Part I – The appellant was convicted under Section 302 IPC for assaulting the deceased with a stick while his co-accused used the blunt side of an axe – Held: The incident occurred in a sudden fight without premeditation, and the nature of weapons ...
Criminal Law – Quashing – FIR - Freedom of Speech – Social Media Post – No Incitement to Violence – The petitioner, a journalist, was charged under Sections 153A and 505 IPC based on a tweet analyzing Karnataka’s budget allocations for different religious communities – The tweet merely presented factual information derived from a public document (state bud...
Criminal Law – Conviction under Section 302 IPC Modified to 304 Part II IPC – Sentence Reduced – Appellant Jage Ram, aged 77 at the time of the incident, was convicted for causing a fatal lathi blow on the head of the deceased—High Court held: The occurrence was sudden, and the appellant used a lathi, a non-lethal weapon—Considering his advanced age and absence of rep...
Criminal Law - Quashing of FIR – Preliminary Stage of Investigation – Permissibility of High Court Interference – High Court declined to quash FIR observing that investigation was at infancy stage and liberty was granted to produce documents before the investigating agency – Held: Such approach is unheard of and mechanical – Court is duty-bound to examine the plea for...
Criminal Law – Challenge Summoning under Section 319 CrPC – Duty to Consider Entire Evidence – Supplementary Report Ignored – Trial Court erred in not considering supplementary investigation report which exonerated the appellant and her father-in-law – Material collected post-application under Section 319 CrPC cannot be overlooked – Trial Court and High Court fa...
Criminal Law – Copyright Infringement – Expert Report – Appellant alleged that respondents copied the design of its bookbinding machine, leading to registration of FIR under Copyright Act, IPC, and IT Act – High Court initially ordered expert opinion by FSL with involvement of an engineer – FSL and IO submitted a report dated 21.03.2019 – Respondents dissatisfie...
Criminal Law - Attempt to Murder – Appeal against conviction - Firing in Open Court – Conviction Upheld – Heinous Act – Appellant, present in courtroom during cross murder trial, fired from close range at PW2 Ram Bharose Lal with country-made pistol – Court held act was intentional and premeditated, backed by enmity – Held: Appellant rightly convicted under Sect...