Criminal Law – Cognizance – Quashing of Summoning Order – Dispute Related to Temple Management – Complaint alleged encroachment, criminal intimidation, and physical assault by petitioner due to a temple management dispute – Petitioner’s father had been appointed trustee of Kali Mandir by Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts – Prior civil litigation in fav...
Preventive Detention – Subjective Satisfaction – Validity – Detention order passed under Section 3(2) of MPDA Act against petitioner for causing public disorder and terror – Petitioner challenged order on grounds that prior offences were stale and relied upon improperly – Held: Detention based solely on two recent FIRs and two in-camera statements demonstrating habitu...
Criminal Writ – Premature Release – Policy Implementation – Life convict Ramji’s claim for premature release rejected by Government of Punjab despite eligibility under 1991 Policy – Rejection order dated 17.12.2024 found cryptic, unreasoned, and mechanically based on opinion of Presiding Judge and Committee – Held: Rejection order unsustainable for being non-spe...
Criminal Law – Sections 265 and 266 IPC – Applicability of Legal Metrology Act – Charges for fraudulent use and possession of false weights and measures quashed – Held: In view of Section 51 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Supreme Court’s decision in State of U.P. v. Aman Mittal (2019) 19 SCC 740, prosecution under IPC Sections 265 and 266 is barred where off...
Criminal Law – Abetment of Suicide – Conviction Set Aside – Appellant convicted under Section 306 IPC as mother-in-law of deceased who allegedly committed suicide nine years after marriage – Trial Court convicted appellant based on vague allegations of harassment – Held: No proximate or direct act of instigation or abetment proved against appellant – Essential i...
Criminal Law – Grievous Hurt – Murder – Section 302 vs 326 IPC – Conviction Sustained under Lesser Charge – Accused Nos. 1 to 4, armed with deadly weapons, trespassed into family property and inflicted injury on deceased’s leg during a dispute – Victim died due to profuse bleeding from a grievous leg wound – Trial court convicted under Section 326 IP...
Criminal Law – Partnership Firm – Liability of Retired Partners – Cheating and Criminal Breach of Trust – Petitioners, former partners of “Malayil Financiers”, sought discharge from prosecution alleging that the offences occurred after their retirement from the firm on 30.04.1996 – Civil Court decree and Registrar of Firms’ communication produced bef...
Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR – Cross FIRs – Petition under Section 482 Cr. PC filed seeking quashing of cross FIR No. 389/2023 and summoning order dated 20.06.2024 – Petitioners contended that the cross FIR was retaliatory and lodged to counter their complaint (FIR No. 388/2023) arising from the same incident – Alleged contradictions and inconsistencies in the compl...
Criminal Law – Bail after Conviction – Section 319 CrPC – Appellant not named in FIR nor chargesheeted after investigation – Later summoned under Section 319 CrPC based on testimony of PW1 and PW2 and convicted under IPC Sections 307, 149, 147, 148, and 506 – High Court rejected suspension of sentence – Supreme Court noted that appellant had initially been exone...
NDPS Act – Bail – Default Bail – Section 167(2) CrPC – Conditional Bail Improper – Petitioner arrested based on disclosure statement in a case involving 11 kg Ganja, classified as intermediate quantity – Trial Court granted default bail only till filing of FSL report – Held: It is legally unjustified to limit default bail to the filing of FSL report in cas...