State Can’t Block SARFAESI Sale by Late Revenue Entries: Secured Creditor’s Charge Prevails Over Tax Dues: Punjab & Haryana High Court Slams Sub-Registrar’s Refusal Providing SIM Card Without Knowledge of Its Criminal Use Does Not Imply Criminal Conspiracy: P&H High Court Grants Bail in UAPA & Murder Case Importer Who Accepts Enhanced Valuation Cannot Later Contest Confiscation and Penalty for Undervaluation: Madras High Court Upholds Strict Liability under Customs Act "Allegations Are Not Proof: Madras High Court Refuses Divorce Without Substantiated Cruelty or Desertion" When FIR Is Filed After Consulting Political Leaders, the Possibility of Coloured Version Cannot Be Ruled Out: Kerala High Court Mere Allegations of Antecedents Without Conviction Can't Defeat Right to Anticipatory Bail: Kerala High Court Section 106 Of Evidence Act Cannot Be Invoked In Vacuum – Prosecution Must First Lay Foundational Facts: Karnataka High Court Acquits Wife And Co-Accused In Husband’s Murder Case Parity Cannot Be Claimed When Roles Are Different: Karnataka High Court Refuses Bail to Youth Accused of Brutal Killing Injured Wife Would Not Falsely Implicate Her Husband: Gauhati High Court Upholds Conviction in Domestic Stabbing Case Disputed Bids, Missing Evidence and No Prejudice: Delhi High Court Refuses to Intervene in Tender Challenge under Article 226 Marriage Cannot Be Perpetuated on Paper When Cohabitation Has Ceased for Decades: Supreme Court Invokes Article 142 to Grant Divorce Despite Wife’s Opposition Ownership of Trucks Does Not Mean Windfall Compensation: Supreme Court Slashes Inflated Motor Accident Award in Absence of Documentary Proof Concealment of Mortgage Is Fraud, Not a Technical Omission: Supreme Court Restores Refund Decree, Slams High Court’s Remand State Reorganization Does Not Automatically Convert Cooperative Societies into Multi-State Entities: Supreme Court Rejects Blanket Interpretation of Section 103 Indian Courts Cannot Invalidate Foreign Arbitral Awards Passed Under Foreign Law: Madhya Pradesh High Court Enforces Texas-Based Award Despite Commercial Court’s Contrary Decree Sudden Quarrel over Mound of Earth — Not Murder but Culpable Homicide: Allahabad High Court Eligibility Flows from Birth, Not a Certificate Date: Delhi High Court Strikes Down Rule Fixing Arbitrary Cut-Off for OBC-NCL Certificates in CAPF (AC) Recruitment Bar Under Order II Rule 2 CPC Cannot Be Invoked Where Specific Performance Was Legally Premature Due To Statutory Impediments: P&H High Court Once a Court Declares a Department an Industry Under Section 2(j), State Cannot Raise the Same Objection Again: Gujarat High Court Slams Repetitive Litigation by Irrigation Department “How Could Cheques Issued in 2020 Be Mentioned in a 2019 Contract?”: Delhi High Court Grants Injunction in Forged MOA Case, Slams Prima Facie Fabrication

"CRIMINAL LAW" Digest

Criminal Law - Possession Dispute – Section 145 CrPC – Magistrate’s Order Restored – Dispute over possession of land between developer and private parties – Magistrate, relying on documents and overt acts, held applicants were in settled possession as on 22.04.2017 and unlawfully dispossessed by police action – Sessions Court set aside order applying strict evid...

Quashing Petition – Further investigation, Article 20(3) protection, and Section 8 PC Act – Petition dismissed – Court upholds validity of supplementary challan, rejects self-incrimination plea, and holds Section 8 PC Act applicable to private person. Criminal Procedure – Further investigation vs. reinvestigation – Sections 173(2) & 173(8) CrPC – Quashmen...

Criminal Law – Murder and Kidnapping – Acquittal – Accused (A-1) convicted under Sections 302, 364, and 201 IPC for allegedly abducting and murdering an auto driver – Trial Court and High Court found him guilty based on circumstantial evidence and hostile witness statements – Supreme Court finds no reliable evidence to prove kidnapping or last seen theory – Both...

Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR – FIR for Cheating and Criminal Conspiracy – Civil Dispute Given Criminal Colour – FIR Quashed – FIR was filed nearly five years after a failed commercial transaction involving alleged defective machinery supplied under a sale agreement – Supreme Court found that allegations, even if taken at face value, did not disclose any fraudu...

Criminal Law – Quashing Of Summoning Order -  Cognizance on Protest Petition – Sections 190, 202 CrPC – FIR alleged kidnapping and murder by petitioner for property grab – Police investigation (U.D. Case No.1/2013, GR Case 165/2014) concluded death was natural, filing Final Report as “mistake of fact” – Complainant filed protest petition implicating p...

Criminal Writ - Criminal Investigation – Transfer of Probe – SIT Constitution – Writ Allowed – In Crime No.1025/2024, Court directed reinvestigation by SIT headed by DGP Pranab Mohanty with senior IPS officers – Mandamus issued to State to hand over probe and transmit records – SIT to submit report within 3 months – Apex Court declined to interfere –...

Criminal Law – Murder Trial Based on Circumstantial Evidence – Conviction Upheld with Modification – Appellants convicted under Sections 302/34 and 201/34 IPC for the murder of victim last seen with them on 30.10.2012 – Case rested on last-seen theory, extra-judicial confession, and recoveries under Section 27 Evidence Act – Defence challenged credibility of confessio...

Criminal Law - Section 8(c), 20(b)(ii)(C) NDPS Act  – Direction for Re-trial – Procedural Lapses in Admitting Electronic Evidence – High Court Order Set Aside – In a prosecution under the NDPS Act, the Trial Court convicted the appellant based on oral evidence and video recordings supported by a certificate under Section 65B of the Evidence Act – The High Court a...

Family Law - Marriage – Validity of Hindu Marriage – Section 7 of the HMA – Appeal dismissed – Husband sought declaration that marriage was void on ground that Saptapadi was not performed – Held: Section 7(1) allows solemnisation of marriage as per customary rites of either party, without mandating Saptapadi in all cases – Sub-section (2) applies only if Saptapa...

Criminal Law - Human Trafficking – Sections 366, 366B, 370, 370A(2) IPC – Conviction Upheld – Victim alleged that she was brought from Bangladesh by Sumi, handed over to Subir Jana, and later to Surya Pradhan in Bhubaneswar where she was forced into prostitution – Victim identified both appellants in Test Identification Parade and in court – Medical report corroborate...