State Can’t Block SARFAESI Sale by Late Revenue Entries: Secured Creditor’s Charge Prevails Over Tax Dues: Punjab & Haryana High Court Slams Sub-Registrar’s Refusal Providing SIM Card Without Knowledge of Its Criminal Use Does Not Imply Criminal Conspiracy: P&H High Court Grants Bail in UAPA & Murder Case Importer Who Accepts Enhanced Valuation Cannot Later Contest Confiscation and Penalty for Undervaluation: Madras High Court Upholds Strict Liability under Customs Act "Allegations Are Not Proof: Madras High Court Refuses Divorce Without Substantiated Cruelty or Desertion" When FIR Is Filed After Consulting Political Leaders, the Possibility of Coloured Version Cannot Be Ruled Out: Kerala High Court Mere Allegations of Antecedents Without Conviction Can't Defeat Right to Anticipatory Bail: Kerala High Court Section 106 Of Evidence Act Cannot Be Invoked In Vacuum – Prosecution Must First Lay Foundational Facts: Karnataka High Court Acquits Wife And Co-Accused In Husband’s Murder Case Parity Cannot Be Claimed When Roles Are Different: Karnataka High Court Refuses Bail to Youth Accused of Brutal Killing Injured Wife Would Not Falsely Implicate Her Husband: Gauhati High Court Upholds Conviction in Domestic Stabbing Case Disputed Bids, Missing Evidence and No Prejudice: Delhi High Court Refuses to Intervene in Tender Challenge under Article 226 License Fee on Hoardings is Regulatory, Not Tax; GST Does Not Bar Municipal Levy: Bombay High Court Filing Forged Bank Statement to Mislead Court in Maintenance Case Is Prima Facie Offence Under Section 466 IPC: Allahabad High Court Upholds Summoning Continued Cruelty and Concealment of Infertility Justify Divorce: Chhattisgarh High Court Upholds Divorce Disguising Punishment as Simplicity Is Abuse of Power: Delhi High Court Quashes Dismissals of Civil Defence Volunteers for Being Stigmatic, Not Simpliciter Marriage Cannot Be Perpetuated on Paper When Cohabitation Has Ceased for Decades: Supreme Court Invokes Article 142 to Grant Divorce Despite Wife’s Opposition Ownership of Trucks Does Not Mean Windfall Compensation: Supreme Court Slashes Inflated Motor Accident Award in Absence of Documentary Proof Concealment of Mortgage Is Fraud, Not a Technical Omission: Supreme Court Restores Refund Decree, Slams High Court’s Remand State Reorganization Does Not Automatically Convert Cooperative Societies into Multi-State Entities: Supreme Court Rejects Blanket Interpretation of Section 103 Indian Courts Cannot Invalidate Foreign Arbitral Awards Passed Under Foreign Law: Madhya Pradesh High Court Enforces Texas-Based Award Despite Commercial Court’s Contrary Decree Sudden Quarrel over Mound of Earth — Not Murder but Culpable Homicide: Allahabad High Court Eligibility Flows from Birth, Not a Certificate Date: Delhi High Court Strikes Down Rule Fixing Arbitrary Cut-Off for OBC-NCL Certificates in CAPF (AC) Recruitment Bar Under Order II Rule 2 CPC Cannot Be Invoked Where Specific Performance Was Legally Premature Due To Statutory Impediments: P&H High Court Once a Court Declares a Department an Industry Under Section 2(j), State Cannot Raise the Same Objection Again: Gujarat High Court Slams Repetitive Litigation by Irrigation Department “How Could Cheques Issued in 2020 Be Mentioned in a 2019 Contract?”: Delhi High Court Grants Injunction in Forged MOA Case, Slams Prima Facie Fabrication Calling Wife by Her Caste Name in Public Just Before Suicide is Immediate Cause of Self-Immolation: Madras High Court Upholds Husband’s Conviction Under Section 306 IPC Sole Testimony of Prosecutrix, If Credible, Is Enough to Convict: Delhi High Court Upholds Rape Conviction Cheque Issued as Security Still Attracts Section 138 NI Act If Liability Exists on Date of Presentation: Himachal Pradesh High Court After Admitting Lease, Defendant Cannot Turn Around and Call It Forged—Contradictory Stand at Advanced Trial Stage Impermissible: Punjab & Haryana High Court Dismisses Revision Against Rejection of Amendment Plea Dismissed Employee Has No Right to Leave Encashment Under Statutory Rules: Punjab and Haryana High Court Section 13 of Gambling Act Is Cognizable — Magistrate Can Take Cognizance on Police Report: Allahabad High Court Clarifies Surveyor’s Report Not Sacrosanct, Arbitral Tribunal Has Jurisdiction to Apply Mind Independently: Bombay High Court Dismisses Insurer’s Challenge to Award in Fire Damage Dispute Auction Purchaser Has No Vested Right Without Sale Confirmation: Calcutta HC Upholds Borrower’s Redemption Right Under Pre-Amendment SARFAESI Law Mere Breach of Promise to Marry Doesn’t Amount to Rape: Delhi High Court Acquits Man in False Rape Case Father Is the Natural Guardian After Mother’s Death, Mere Technicalities Cannot Override Welfare of Child: Orissa High Court Restores Custody to Biological Father Assets of Wife and Father-in-Law Can Be Considered in Disproportionate Assets Case Against Public Servant: Kerala High Court Refuses Discharge

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Procedure – Repeated Applications under Section 311 – Invocation on Multiple Occasions – Section 311, Cr.P.C. – Petition for quashing Trial Court order dismissing application for re-examination – Held, no bar to invoke Section 311 repeatedly if situation arises – Different reliefs claimed in separate applications permissible – Denial of re-examina...

Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act – Non-compliance with Section 57 – Appeal against Conviction – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Section 374 – NDPS Act, 1985, Sections 15, 57 – Appellant convicted for possession of 800 kg of poppy straw – Non-compliance with Section 57 claimed – Held, non-compliance with Section 57 does not vitiate the prose...

Criminal Law – Appeal against Conviction – Section 307 IPC Consideration – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Section 374 – Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 34, 323, 325, 506 – Appeal against conviction for causing grievous hurt – Dispute over outstanding payment for milk – Injuries on both sides – No intent to cause death – Injuries not life-t...

Criminal Law - Quashing of FIR – Non-compliance with Proclamation Notice Requirements - Petition seeking quashing of FIR for offences under Section 174A IPC and Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Held, the mens rea for the commission of an act under Section 174A IPC arises only when there is complete compliance with Section 82(2)(i) Cr.P.C., which includes public proclamation and...

Juvenile Justice – Bail Application –Criminal Revision against the order rejecting bail by Principal Magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board – Petitioner a juvenile accused under Sections 148, 149, 302, 120-B IPC and Sections 25(1B)(a), 27(1) Arms Act – Revision allowed – Gravity of the offense is not a criterion to reject bail for a juvenile – Impugned order passed ...

Criminal Procedure – Regular Bail – Section 439 Cr.P.C. – FIR under Sections 363, 366-A IPC – Sections 376, 506, 120-B IPC and Section 4 POCSO added later – Petitioner a middle-aged lady, mother of the accused – In custody over 15 months – Not accused of sexual assault – Culpability to be determined at trial – Bail granted due to low likelihood...

Criminal Law – NDPS Act – Bail – Conscious Possession – Recovery of narcotics from a polythene bag thrown on the ground by the petitioner when the police approached – Bail granted – Court found it debatable whether the petitioner was in conscious possession of the contraband – The petitioner was not involved in any other case, and all prosecution witnesses...

Criminal Procedure – Testimony of Accused – Petition under Section 315 Cr.P.C. seeking permission for the accused to testify as a witness and present electronic evidence in defense – Trial court dismissed the petitions on grounds of irrelevance and non-production of evidence prior to the accused’s testimony – High Court held that denying the accused the opportunity to...

Criminal Procedure - Maintenance - Section 125 CrPC - Petition challenging maintenance granted to wife after 13 years of compromise and lump sum alimony - Held, petition under Section 125 CrPC justified to maintain wife and daughter for a respectable life - Filing of maintenance petition not misuse of process of law - Petition dismissed. [Para 14]   Financial Condition and Employment - ...

Criminal Procedure - Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act - Amendment and Cognizance - Petition against the summoning order issued by Chief Judicial Magistrate under Section 3(1)(x) of the Act - Held, the amendment to the Act effective from 26.01.2016 confers additional powers to the Special Court to take cognizance directly - Pre-amendment provisions applicable to ...