Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Acquittal Ordered – Prosecution case rested on circumstantial evidence of accused hiring taxi, staying at hotel, recovery of ornaments, and letter allegedly written by accused – Hotel waiter, the sole direct witness, not examined – Register entries not legally proved – Recovery of common ornaments not connected to deceased &nda...
Criminal Law – Murder – Sections 302, 460, and 380 IPC - Circumstantial Evidence – Standard of Proof – Conviction Set Aside – Appellants were convicted of murder, house trespass, and theft based solely on circumstantial evidence—Supreme Court found key links in the prosecution chain—such as re-employment and recovery—either not proved or unreliable&m...
Land Acquisition – Discrimination in Exclusion of Land – Unequal Treatment of Similar Cases – Orders Quashed – Appellants challenged land acquisition under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, alleging arbitrary and discriminatory exclusion of other similarly situated landowners whose properties had structures – Government excluded certain plots with 'A...
Criminal Law – Quashing - FIR, Investigation, Search and Seizure – CrPC Sections 154, 156, 157, 165 and PC Act Section 13 – Appeal Allowed – High Court erred in quashing G.D. Entry, FIR, investigation and directing return of seized articles – Held: G.D. Entry disclosed cognizable offence of demand and acceptance of ₹1 lakh bribe; it could be treated as FIR; sufficie...
NDPS Act – Conviction under Section 21 – Seizure of Buprenorphine – Conviction Upheld – The appellant was found in possession of 25 ampoules of 'Tidigestic' (Buprenorphine) and arrested on the spot – Trial Court acquitted the appellant citing discrepancies in prosecution evidence – High Court reversed the acquittal and convicted the appellant – Sup...
Criminal Law - Criminal Conspiracy – Circumstantial Proof – IPC Ss.120-A, 120-B – Agreement sufficient – Conspiracy can be inferred from conduct and surrounding circumstances – Secrecy and routing of MUL funds through BRs and pay orders while masking them as MUL-UCO transactions established concert between A-1, A-3 and A-5 – Held: conspiracy proved, though A-2 n...
Criminal Law – Murder - High Court Acquittal Set Aside – High Court acquitted accused without considering testimony of three injured eyewitnesses and ignored consistent medical corroboration – Held: Failure to examine eyewitness testimony amounts to gross miscarriage of justice – Appellate Court bound to consider evidence on record before reversing conviction – Acquit...
Criminal Law – Murder – Conviction under Sections 302/34, 396, 460, 404 IPC and Sections 11/13 of the M.P. Dakaiti Aur Vyapharan Prabhavit Kshetra Adhiniyam set aside – Acquittal by trial court restored – Sole testimony of six-year-old child witness and retracted confession of co-accused held unsafe to rely upon – Recovery evidence weak and motive insufficient –...
Criminal Law – Explosives – TADA – Police constable found in possession of explosives (detonators, timers, splinters, tools etc.) from quarter allotted to father-in-law but occupied by appellant – Conviction under Sections 3, 4 Explosive Substances Act and Sections 3, 5 TADA upheld – Evidence of police officers sufficient and trustworthy – No rule that absence o...
Criminal Law – Economic Offences – Anticipatory Bail – Alleged Ponzi Scheme – Sections 406, 409, 420 IPC and MPID Act – Applicant accused of being part of financial fraud involving over ₹1.13 crore collected through investment scheme – Co-accused (husband and wife, main operators of company) already granted anticipatory bail – Entire amount deposited bef...