Negotiable Instruments Act – Dishonour of Cheque – Complaint Against Trustee Without Trust as Party – Maintainability – Sections 138, 141, NI Act – Question whether complaint under NI Act is maintainable against the Chairman/Trustee of a Trust without arraying the Trust as an accused – Held: A Trust is not a juristic person capable of suing or being su...
Murder – Eyewitness Testimony – Credibility of Sole Witness – Conviction Upheld – Sarabjit Singh, grandson of one of the deceased, was the sole eyewitness – Though some discrepancies existed in his statement regarding dying declarations, Supreme Court held his testimony regarding witnessing the attack and presence of accused was credible and reliable – Minor con...
Conviction – Suspension of Conviction under Section 389(1) CrPC – Conviction Stayed – Appellant, a sitting MP, was convicted under Section 304 Part II IPC and sentenced to 3 years RI – To uphold moral standards, he resigned but sought to contest re-election – Held: Appellate Court has power under Section 389(1) CrPC to suspend not just sentence but also order of convi...
Cheque Dishonour – Vicarious Liability of Directors – Sections 138 and 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act – Criminal Proceedings Quashed – Appellant filed complaint against company directors alleging cheque dishonour – Supreme Court held that mere designation as directors is insufficient – In absence of specific averments that respondents were in charge of an...
Criminal Law – Abetment of Suicide – Sections 306 and 107 IPC – Mens rea Essential – Mere harassment or taunting insufficient – Suicide by wife allegedly due to continuous harassment and dowry demands – No suicide note – No specific instigation or intentional aid proved – Held: Mere discord or cruelty in matrimonial home does not automatically amount...
TADA Offence – Sanction under Section 20A(2) – Cognizance without Sanction Invalid – Conviction Set Aside – FIR originally registered under Explosives Act, 1884 – Supplementary charge-sheet filed invoking TADA without prior sanction from Inspector General or Commissioner of Police as required under Section 20A(2) of TADA – Held: Designated Court had no jurisdict...
Criminal Law - Registration of FIR – Duty of Police – Section 154 CrPC – FIR Must Be Registered – Petitioners alleged failure of police to act upon complaints disclosing cognizable offences related to hate speech – Held: Police is bound to register an FIR if a cognizable offence is disclosed – However, if police fails to do so, remedy lies under Sections 190 and...
Dowry Death – Section 304B IPC – Husband’s Liability Upheld – Deceased Found Hanging in Matrimonial Home – Appeal Dismissed – The appellant, Raja Lal Singh, was the husband of the deceased who died within seven months of marriage due to hanging – Evidence showed repeated dowry harassment including shortly before her death – Held: Ingredients of Secti...
Terrorism – TADA – Confessional Statements – Admissibility – Confessions recorded under Section 15 TADA Act by competent officers held admissible when procedural safeguards substantially complied with – Certificates under Rule 15(3)(b) mandatory but defect curable where recording officers testified to full compliance and voluntariness – Confessions of A-27 and A...
Criminal Procedure – Second Complaint – Dismissal of Earlier Complaint for Default – Whether Barred – Petitioner challenged maintainability of a second complaint under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, after the first was dismissed for non-filing of process fee – Contended that the learned Additional Sessions Judge was incompetent to take cognizance again under ...