Criminal Law - Money Laundering – Freezing of Property – Requirement of "Reason to Believe" – Section 17(1A), PMLA – Freezing orders dated 05.09.2018 passed by ED under Section 17(1A) were held invalid as they were based solely on "suspicion" without material or reasons recorded in writing – Court held "suspicion" is not equivalent to &qu...
Criminal Law – Anticipatory Bail – Allegation of Forgery and Land Grab – Accused No. 3 sought pre-arrest protection under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 in FIR No. 559 of 2025 registered under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B, and 34 of IPC – FIR alleged that applicant conspired to execute forged conveyance deed by altering Power of Attorney an...
NDPS Act – Bail – Commercial Quantity – Section 37 NDPS Act – High Court granted bail without recording mandatory satisfaction under Section 37 – Allegation involved concealment of 731.075 kg of ganja ingeniously hidden in a lorry owned and driven by accused – Supreme Court held that such bail violates settled law requiring strict compliance with Section 37 &nda...
Criminal Law – UAPA – Regular Bail – Section 43-D(5) – Prolonged Custody – Appellant in custody for over 2 years and 10 months without trial due to pendency of sanction under Section 45 of the UAPA – No evidence linking weapons recovered from appellant to terrorist activity or declared terrorists – Held: Long incarceration without trial violates Article 21...
Criminal Procedure – Successive Anticipatory Bail Application – Maintainability – Petition under Section 482 BNSS filed for grant of pre-arrest bail by accused previously denied same relief – Held: Successive applications for anticipatory bail are maintainable in law if there is a material change in circumstances – However, they must be placed before the same Judge to...
Narcotic Drugs – Conviction under NDPS Act – Recovery of contraband ganja – Accused A1 and A2 apprehended while in possession of 1.5 kg ganja – Trial court convicted both under Section 8(c) r/w 20(b)(ii)(B) NDPS Act – Acquitted under Sections 25 and 29(1) – A3 absconded and later acquitted – On appeal, A1 reported dead, appeal abated against him – Co...
Criminal Law – Murder – Circumstantial Evidence – Hostile Witnesses – Conviction Upheld – Appellant convicted for murdering his minor daughter by strangulation using cloth string – Though complainant-wife and other family members turned hostile, prosecution proved the case through reliable circumstantial evidence including written complaint, FIR, medical evidenc...
Quashing of FIR and Criminal Proceedings – Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. for quashing FIR lodged at Crime No.999 of 2018 under Sections 498A, 323, 506, 34, 325, and 313 of IPC after mutual divorce settlement – Involves matrimonial dispute between petitioners and respondent no. 2, leading to various legal proceedings and eventual mutual divorce [Paras 2, 4-5].
Matrimoni...
Criminal Procedure – Additional Evidence – Section 311 CrPC – Prosecution allowed to produce video clip at defence evidence stage – Accused objected citing prolonged trial since 2018 and alleged abuse of process – Held: Trial court rightly exercised discretion to allow additional evidence to discover truth – Technical objections cannot defeat justice [Paras 1&nd...
Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR – Causing Death by Negligence – Section 304-A IPC – Conviction – Petitioner convicted under Sections 304-A & 279 IPC based on death caused due to rash and negligent driving of a JCB – Post-conviction, compromise reached with complainant (father of deceased) – Held: Compromise between accused and legal heirs of deceased ca...