Petitioner sought quashing of FIR alleging forgery and tampering of complainant’s ACR to obstruct promotion to IFS – Held: As per Bhajan Lal principles, FIR can be quashed only where allegations do not disclose any offence or are absurd on face of record – Defence pleas and disputed questions of fact cannot be examined at this stage – Prima facie material including statemen...
Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR – Matrimonial Dispute – Allegations under Sections 498A, 406 IPC and Section 4 Dowry Prohibition Act – Husband sought quashing alleging FIR as counterblast to divorce petition – Court reiterated limited scope of inherent jurisdiction – At quashing stage no mini-trial permissible – Where allegations taken at face value disclos...
Contempt of Court – Non-Compliance of Supreme Court Directions – Arnesh Kumar Guidelines – Repeated filing of contempt petitions alleging violation of directions dated 02.07.2014 concerning arrest under offences punishable up to seven years – Court observes persistent non-compliance by States of Punjab and Haryana – Prima facie failure to ensure systemic adherence to ...
Bail – UAPA – Long Incarceration – Appellant in custody for over 2 years and 6 months – Only 4 out of 21 prosecution witnesses examined – Cross-examination of 3 witnesses pending – Trial not likely to conclude in near future – Held: Prolonged incarceration violates Article 21 – Long custody by itself is a significant ground for grant of bail even in ...
Conviction can be sustained only when circumstances are fully established, consistent solely with guilt, conclusive in nature, exclude every hypothesis of innocence and form a complete chain – Held: Chain of circumstances not complete – Benefit of doubt to accused [Paras 16-17].
Last Seen Theory – Hostile Witness – PW-15 Ramzan Khan turned hostile and denied seeing accus...
Criminal Law – Murder – Conviction based on Sole Eye-Witness – Double homicide allegedly committed on suspicion of witchcraft – Trial Court convicted accused under Sections 148, 302/149 and 120-B/149 IPC relying primarily on testimony of informant (P.W.1) – High Court found material contradictions between FIR and deposition regarding manner of assault and presence of ...
Criminal Law – Abuse of Process – Successive FIRs – Article 32 – Petitioners alleged repeated registration of FIRs by Anti-Corruption Bureau to nullify bail orders and keep Petitioner No.1 in custody – Court examined sequence of FIR No.9/2025, FIR No.11/2025, FIR No.20/2025 and FIR No.458/2025 – Noted that subsequent FIRs were not disclosed when interim bail was...
Rape – Consent on Promise of Marriage – Discharge – Prosecutrix alleged physical relations on false assurance of marriage – Record revealed long-standing relationship of two years – Single incident alleged – Delay in complaint and FIR – No material indicating force, coercion or false inducement from inception – Held: No prima facie material to show c...
Negotiable Instruments Act – Dishonour of Cheque – Conviction and Sentence – Accused convicted by Trial Court and conviction confirmed in appeal – During pendency of criminal revision, parties filed joint application under Section 147 of the N.I. Act read with Section 359 BNSS seeking permission to compound offence – Held, Section 147 makes offence under Section 138 c...
Criminal Law – Murder and Criminal Conspiracy – Case Based on Circumstantial Evidence – Appellants convicted under Sections 302/201/120B/149 IPC – No eye-witness to occurrence – Prosecution relied on last seen theory, CDRs, recovery of mobile and motorcycle parts and confessional statements under Section 164 CrPC – Held: None of the incriminating circumstances f...