Section 138 NI Act | Cheque Bounce Complaint Cannot Be Dismissed At Threshold Merely For Non-Production Of Postal Track Report: Madhya Pradesh High Court Departmental Dismissal Based On Identical Evidence Discarded By Criminal Court Amounts To 'No Evidence': Orissa High Court Kerala Lok Ayukta Amendment Upheld: High Court Rules Lok Ayukta Is Not A Court, Its Declaration Can Be Changed To Recommendation Subsidized Industrial Plots Are Meant To Generate Employment, Allottees Must Strictly Adhere To Timebound Project Schedules: Supreme Court Allottees Cannot Keep Subsidised Land Unutilised: Supreme Court Upholds Cancellation Of Piaggio's UP Industrial Plot CAG Audit Cannot Substitute Criminal Investigation To Trace Money Trails: Supreme Court Supreme Court Directs CBI To Probe Arunachal Pradesh Public Contracts, Says Constitutional Violation Not Diluted By Statistics Common Intention Under Section 34 IPC Cannot Be Presumed Merely Because Multiple Accused Participated In A Sudden Fight: Supreme Court Mere Use Of Abusive Word 'Bastard' Does Not Amount To Obscenity Under Section 294(b) IPC: Supreme Court Independent Medical Board's Opinion Crucial To Prevent Harassment Of Doctors In Consent Disputes: Supreme Court Quashes Criminal Case High Court Can Examine Questions Of Fact Under Section 482 CrPC To Prevent Abuse Of Process: Supreme Court Quashes Criminal Case Against Surgeon 'Every Link Must Be Conclusively Established': Supreme Court Acquits Constable In Murder Case, Reiterates Strict Standard For Circumstantial Evidence Murder Conviction Cannot Rest Solely On Voice Identification In Darkness: Supreme Court Acquits Police Constable After 12 Years CCTV Footage Belies Assault Claims: Supreme Court Quashes Criminal Case Against Neighbours Karta Cannot Gift Entire Joint Family Property To One Coparcener Without Consent; Settlement Void Ab Initio: Madras High Court Fresh Application For Return Of Plaint Barred By Res Judicata Despite Favourable Supreme Court Ruling On Jurisdiction: Bombay High Court Registration Of Adoption Deed Not Mandatory For Compassionate Appointment Under Hindu Adoptions Act: Madhya Pradesh High Court Insurance Company Cannot Claim Contributory Negligence Without Examining Driver Or Challenging Charge Sheet: AP High Court Accused In Child Pornography Cases Cannot Be Discharged Merely Because Age Of Unidentified Victims Cannot Be Conclusively Proved: Delhi High Court Kerala High Court Denies Relief To Petitioner Suppressing Facts, Orders Enquiry Into Allotment Of Govt Scheme Houses On Puramboke Land Candidate Missing Physical Test For Minor Illness Has No Enforceable Right To Rescheduling: Supreme Court Prolonged Incarceration And Parity Constitute Valid Grounds For Regular Bail: Supreme Court Accused In Cheque Bounce Cases Cannot File Evidence-In-Chief By Affidavit Under Section 145 NI Act: Orissa High Court 138 NI Act | Signing Board Resolution Doesn't Make Director Liable For Cheque Bounce: Supreme Court Written Reply To Show Cause Notice Sufficient, No Right To Personal Hearing For Borrowers Before Fraud Classification: Supreme Court Upholds RBI Master Directions Borrowers Have No Right To Personal Hearing Before Fraud Classification, But Full Forensic Audit Report Must Be Supplied: Supreme Court

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Law – Murder – Convictions upheld for appellants under Sections 143, 147, 148, 120B, and 302 r/w Section 149 of the IPC – Involvement in conspiracy and unlawful assembly proven – Evidence from eyewitnesses deemed credible despite minor inconsistencies – Injuries sustained by deceased correlated with witness testimony and forensic reports – Appeals dismi...

Quashing of Complaint - Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure - Environmental Compliance – Post-violation rectification – Proceedings redirected to trial court - The petitioners were initially subjected to proceedings under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, for failing to adhere to statutory requirements. They subsequently resolved deficiencies and obta...

Quashing of FIR – Section 17-A of Prevention of Corruption Act – Procedural Safeguard – Accused as Municipal Commissioner challenged FIR alleging malafides and non-application of mind during approval under Section 17-A – Held: Approval under Section 17-A must be substantive, not ritualistic, requiring application of mind to the materials presented – Court found lack o...

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 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 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 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...