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...
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 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...
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...
Criminal Law – Rape/POCSO – Appreciation of Evidence – Sole Testimony of Prosecutrix – Grandfather accused of raping minor granddaughter – FIR lodged after 21 days delay – Victim claimed she was threatened but did not disclose this in Section 164 statement – Incident allegedly occurred in daylight in a populated area, yet no alarm raised – Held: Whil...
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 – 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 ...
Family Law – 125 CrPC - Maintenance – Assessment of Income – Reliance on ITR – Petitioner-husband claimed low income but his ITR for AY 2018-19 showed annual income of Rs. 5,18,268/- (approx. Rs. 43,189/- pm) – Petitioner claimed subsequent ITRs showed reduced income – Held: Family Court rightly relied on the ITR of AY 2018-19 as the most reliable indicator, rej...
Probate – Validity of Will – Suspicious Circumstances – Will Upheld – Appellant-objector (son of testator) challenged probate granted to respondent no. 1 alleging that the testator had already sold the property via documents dated 30.04.1998 – Trial court found Will dated 14.09.1998 valid and genuine – Appellant failed to prove due execution or consideration of ...
Criminal Law – Appreciation of Evidence – Injured Witnesses – Police party ambushed by extremists; SP Pakur and 5 others killed; 3 injured witnesses (PW-12, 30, 31) survived – Held: Testimony of injured witnesses is entitled to a higher degree of credence as their presence is guaranteed – Minor discrepancies regarding the exact location of taking cover (ditch vs. near...