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...
Abetment of Suicide – Section 306 IPC – Mere cruelty or harassment without proof of direct or indirect instigation not sufficient – Letters proved dowry demand and cruelty – Conviction under Section 306 IPC set aside – Convictions under Section 498A IPC and Section 3 Dowry Prohibition Act upheld – Sentence under DP Act reduced to three years – Appeal partl...
Dishonour of Cheque – Section 138 NI Act – Ingredients of Offence – The Court reiterated that to constitute an offence under Section 138 NI Act, the complainant must establish issuance of cheque, its presentation, dishonour, statutory notice to the drawer, and failure to pay within 15 days – These conditions are mandatory [Para 7].
Vicarious Liability of Directors &ndash...
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...
Remission Policy – Right to be considered – State of Haryana’s 2002 circular imposing stricter conditions for release of certain categories of life convicts challenged – Held: A convict has no fundamental right to remission but has a legal right to be considered for remission in terms of applicable rules/policies – Such right flows from Prisons Act, statutory rules an...
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 ...
Murder – Familial Mass Homicide – Death Penalty Justified – Section 302 IPC – Rare and Diabolic Nature of Crime – Upheld – The accused Sonia and her husband Sanjiv (A-1 and A-2) were convicted for the premeditated and cold-blooded murder of eight family members including three children – Held: The nature of the crime was grotesque, calculated, and executed...
Criminal Law – Sanction for Prosecution – Section 197 CrPC – PC Act Ss. 13(1)(c), 13(2) – IPC Ss. 409, 468, 471 – Allegation that petitioner misused official position as Secretary, TN Legislative Assembly, and claimed travel allowance for private visit – Petitioner obtained Speaker’s permission and undertook travel; no records of meeting with Secretary Gen...
Criminal Law – Rape and Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Last Seen – Extra-Judicial Confession – Recovery – Conviction Upheld – Appellant convicted for kidnapping, rape and murder of 10-year-old girl – Conviction based on chain of circumstantial evidence including last seen theory, extra-judicial confession, recovery of articles and forensic eviden...
Criminal Law – Communal Violence – Reinvestigation – SIT – Witness Protection – Victims’ Rights – Fair Trial – Appointment of Public Prosecutors – Judicial Oversight – Directions Issued – Supreme Court directed constitution of a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by former CBI Director R.K. Raghavan to undertake fur...