Anticipatory Bail – SC/ST (POA) Act – Appeal under Section 14A(2) – Alleged offences under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and BNS 2023 – FIR lodged by complainant alleging caste-based abuse and assault in public view – Appellant contended complaint was result of personal financial dispute and delay in lodging complaint unexplained – FIR filed nearly 2 year...
Criminal Law - FEMA – Summons – Section 37 FEMA – Applicability of Section 160 CrPC – Petitioner, a woman, challenged personal summons under Section 37 FEMA, citing protection under Section 160(1) CrPC exempting women from appearing outside their residence – Held: Section 160 CrPC not applicable to proceedings under Section 37 FEMA, which are civil-regulatory in natur...
Criminal Law – Kidnapping and Rape – Conviction Set Aside – Accused convicted for offences under Sections 366A and 376 IPC for allegedly enticing and raping a 16-year-old girl – Victim voluntarily accompanied accused to Kanchipuram on pretext of marriage – No evidence of inducement or threat – Medical reports confirmed absence of physical injuries or recent inte...
NDPS Act – Bail – Commercial Quantity – Section 37 – Mandatory Twin Conditions Ignored – Bail Orders Cancelled – Accused persons Akash, Shilpa, and Seema were granted bail by the trial court despite seizure of 472.55 grams of heroin in a single raid forming a continuous transaction – Trial court failed to apply or even mention Section 37 NDPS Act – H...
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – Section 102 – Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 – Section 18A – Freezing of Bank Accounts – Mutually Exclusive Powers – The High Court held that freezing of accounts for PC Act offences can only be done via the attachment procedure in Section 18A (applying Ordinance of 1944) and not Section 102 CrPC – Held: The powers under...
Criminal Law – Murder, Extortion, Conspiracy – Section 302, 120-B IPC & Arms Act – Partial Relief – Trial Court convicted Pradeep (A1) for murder, conspiracy, extortion and Arms Act offences, and Divya (A2) for conspiracy and destruction of evidence – On appeal, Court upheld conviction of Pradeep based on ransom calls, eyewitness account, and ballistic evidence &n...
Bail – Attempt to Murder – KCOCA – Bail rejected for Accused Nos.3 and 4 – Petitioners alleged to have assaulted CW.2 with deadly weapons causing grievous injuries – Seizure of blood-stained dagger and cricket bat from petitioners confirmed by FSL report – CCTV footage corroborates incident – Petitioners involved in multiple prior criminal cases and are re...
Criminal Law – Murder – Appeal Against Conviction – Acquittal - First Information Report (FIR) – Omission of Accused’s Name – informant (PW-1) lodged the FIR based on immediate information provided by the eyewitness (PW-2). The FIR stated the assailants were "two unknown masked persons" and did not name the Appellant, who was well-known to the eyewitne...
Criminal Law – Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – Section 3(1)(s) – "Place within public view" – Allegations that Appellants hurled caste-based abuses at the complainant inside her house – Held: To constitute an offence under Section 3(1)(s), the place must be open where members of the public can witness or hear ...
Criminal Procedure – Direction to File Challan – Trial Court’s Power – Section 193 and 319 Cr.P.C. – Trial Court while convicting co-accused in FIR No. 381 of 2010 directed the Home Secretary and D.G., CID Vigilance to file challan against DSP Veer Singh and three constables within two months – Held: Such directions could not be issued post-trial without recours...