Negotiable Instruments Act – Dishonour of Cheque – Vicarious Liability of Directors – Complaints filed against Managing Director/Directors for dishonour of cheques issued by company – Company itself not made an accused in the complaint – Held: Prosecution under Sections 138 and 141 N.I. Act cannot be maintained against directors in absence of arraigning the company as...
SARFAESI Act – E-Auction Purchaser – FIR – Quashing – Petitioner purchased mortgaged property in e-auction conducted by Union Bank of India as the highest bidder — FIR lodged alleging collusion with bank officials in undervaluation of the property — valuation of property challenged before DRT, Ranchi in S.A. No. 88 of 2024, which affirmed the valuation and dismi...
Criminal Law – Human Trafficking – Immoral Traffic – Quashing of Charge – Sections 370, 370-A(2) IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5, 7 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 – Petitioner, owner-cum-manager of a Spa at Mapusa, sought quashing of order framing charges arising from a police trap operation in which a decoy customer paid marked currency notes for massage services...
Criminal Law – Dowry Harassment – Quashing of Proceedings – Omnibus Allegations – Section 498A IPC – FIR registered against husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law of complainant under Sections 341, 323, 498A, 34 IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act – High Court quashed proceedings against sister-in-law holding allegations again...
Defamation – Section 500 IPC – Online Publication – Redisplay of Defamatory Social Media Post – Petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash defamation proceedings – Accused Nos. 2 to 4 (a film-sector publication and its editorial staff) redisplayed on their website highly derogatory statements originally posted by Accused No.1 on a Facebook group against the complaina...
Criminal Law – Bigamy – Matrimonial Cruelty – Quashing – Petitioner prosecuted under Sections 494 and 498A IPC on the basis of a cohabitation alleged to be a marriage, entered into by signing a non-judicial stamp paper without performance of any customary rites – Complainant subsequently alleged a 'temple marriage' during investigation, contradicting her own F...
Criminal Law – Quashing of FIR – Sections 21(1) and 21(2) of the BUDS Act - Digital Gold Business – Petitioners challenged FIR alleging that their business model involved sale of physical gold backed by bullion stored in third-party vaults and therefore did not constitute “deposit” under BUDS Act – State alleged that large sums were collected from the public thr...
Prevention of Corruption Act – Trap Case – Quashing under Section 482 CrPC – Accused added during investigation – Complaint lodged with Lokayuktha on 03.01.2019 alleging demand/acceptance of illegal gratification – Pre-trap mahazar drawn and trap laid on same day – Tainted currency seized from hands of Accused No.1 – Petitioner (PSI) not named in FIR but a...
Look Out Circular – Nature and Scope – Coercive Measure – LOC is a coercive measure intended to secure presence of an accused who is deliberately evading arrest or judicial process and where there is likelihood of fleeing the country – Mere pendency of investigation or seriousness of allegations is not sufficient to justify continuation of LOC [Paras 44–45].
Crimin...
Qalandra under Section 66 of the Punjab Police Act, 2007 quashed for violation of Section 195 Cr.P.C. – SHO not competent to file complaint when original representations were addressed to Commissioner of Police – DGP Punjab directed to institutionalise sensitisation programme for police officials on compliance with Section 195 Cr.P.C./Section 215 BNSS.
“When The Whistle-Blower...