Wife Is Absolute Owner Of Streedhan, Taking It Away Does Not Attract Criminal Breach Of Trust Under Section 406 IPC: Allahabad High Court Government Need Not Adjudicate If Employee Is 'Workman' Before Referring Dispute To Labour Court: Gujarat High Court Bidder Cannot Be Disqualified For Submitting Certificate From Unspecified Agency If Tender Document Is Silent: Delhi High Court Driver Clicking Selfies With Licensed Firearm Doesn't Make Owner Liable Under Arms Act: Punjab & Haryana High Court Quashes FIR High Court Imposes Blanket Ban On Tree Felling In Haryana, Cites Impending Ecological Catastrophe Due To Dismal Forest Cover No Fresh Summons Needed For Legal Heirs If Suit Was Already Proceeding Ex-Parte Against Deceased Defendant: Allahabad High Court Serving Judicial Officer's Anticipatory Bail Denied in Theft From Deceased Judge's Home: "No Person, Whatever His Rank, Is Above Law" Missing Murder Weapon Not Fatal When Eyewitnesses Are Reliable - Brother Stabs Brother: Tripura High Court Advocate and Cop Conspired to Frame Innocent Witness in Fake Gang Rape Case: Delhi High Court Upholds Conviction, Calls It "Clear Abuse of Process of Law" Direction To 'Act In Accordance With Law' Does Not Determine Substantive Rights, Non-Impleadment Not A Ground For Review: Chhattisgarh High Court State Cannot Grab Citizen's Land For Road Construction Pleading Delay And Laches: Himachal Pradesh High Court "Bail Is Rule, Jail Is Exception" Principle Does Not Apply Post-Conviction: Jharkhand High Court Failure To Furnish Written Grounds Of Arrest Renders Arrest Illegal, Entitles Accused To Bail In NDPS Case: Supreme Court Medical Certificate On Reverse Side Of Dying Declaration Does Not Affect Its Sanctity: Supreme Court Supreme Court Directs All State Capitals To Conduct Inquiry Into Misuse Of Residential Areas For Commercial Purposes Tolls Collected By NHAI On National Highways Fall Exclusively Under Union List: Supreme Court Family Courts Lack Jurisdiction To Transfer Cases Inter-Se Under Section 24 CPC: Rajasthan High Court 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

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Law – Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act – Bail Application – Rejection – Bail under Section 37 – Stringent Conditions – Petitioner Amritpal Singh filed for regular bail in a case registered under Sections 8(c)/21(c)/23(c)/29 of the NDPS Act for alleged involvement in drug trafficking. The case involved smuggling of 102.784 kg of heroin conc...

Public Servant – Necessity of Sanction for Prosecution – Section 19 of PC Act and Section 197 of CrPC – Charges Quashed – The petitioner, who was the Sarpanch at the time of the alleged offense, was charged under Sections 13(1)(c)(d) and 13(2) of the PC Act, and Sections 409 and 467 IPC, for misappropriation of public funds and forgery in connection with the construction of...

Negotiable Instruments Act – Quashing of Complaint Based on Compromise – Petition Allowed – The petitioner sought quashing of a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, citing a mutual settlement between the parties – Held: Continuation of proceedings after a mutual compromise amounts to abuse of process of law – It was observed that the co...

Criminal Law – Last Seen Theory – Applicability in Circumstantial Evidence – Conviction Upheld – The appellant Surya Kanta Behera @ Katiki was last seen accompanying the deceased on the evening of 12.12.2007 on a motorcycle. Hours later, the appellant returned alone with the deceased’s motorcycle, offering no explanation for the deceased's whereabouts. The proximi...

Criminal Law – Appeal Against Conviction – Acquittal – Appellant convicted for the offence under Section 376(2)(l) IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5(k), and 6 of the POCSO Act by the trial court – Sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment – Allegation of sexual assault on a deaf and mute minor girl by the appellant – High Court analyzed the inconsistencies, lacu...

Criminal Law – Rape and Murder of Minor – Conviction – Appeal against Death Sentence – The appellant, aged 61, was convicted by the Special Court for kidnapping, raping, and murdering a 5-year-old girl – Death penalty imposed by the trial court under the POCSO Act, IPC Sections 302 and 376AB, and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act challenged – High Court modif...

Criminal Law – Abetment of Suicide and Cruelty – Quashing of Complaint – Lack of Specific Instigating Act – Application under Section 482 of CrPC – Petition by Accused No. 4 to quash the complaint in S.C. No. 539/2021, involving charges under Sections 498(A), 306 read with 34 IPC, alleging that petitioner, along with her family, subjected the victim to cruelty which u...

Criminal Law – Passport Renewal – Pending Criminal Case – Permission Granted – Petitioner sought renewal of passport amid trial under Sections 498-A IPC and 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act – Trial Court dismissed application citing risk of non-return and trial impediment – High Court reversed, allowing renewal upon compliance with terms – Court noted ...

Criminal Law – Joint Recording of Section 313 Statements – Defective Procedure – Vitiation of Trial – Statements under Section 313 Cr.P.C. of co-accused Lakha Singh and Swaran Singh recorded jointly – Held: Such joint recording causes ambiguity and violates the statutory purpose of personal explanation of circumstances – Procedural defect curable by remand, but ...

Rash and Negligent Driving – Conviction under Sections 279 and 304(A) IPC – Upheld - The appellant drove his lorry in a rash and negligent manner, causing the death of the deceased and six cattle – The eye-witness accounts consistently established the appellant’s guilt, and the suggestion that the accident was caused by cattle trampling was rightly rejected – The Supr...