(1) SUPREME COURT
Writ petition
Constitution of India, 1950 Article 32 Writ petition—Supreme Court declined to entertain the writ petition under Article 32—Liberty granted to petitioner to approach appropriate court for remedy sought—Petition dismissed with said liberty. [Paras 2 to 4] ...
(2) SUPREME COURT
Bail granted
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Sections 74, 79, 89, 118(1), 3(5)—Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Sections 35(3), 48—Bail—Statutory compliance—The Sessions Court granted bail without adhering to the mandatory requirements prescribed under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—On examination of the legality of such grant, the High Court interfered and set aside the bail order—The Supreme Court found no infirmity in the High Court’s approach and affirmed the same, reiterating that bail orders passed in disregard of statutory safeguards cannot be sustained—The accused was directed to surrender before the competent court within one week and was granted liberty to seek bail afresh on merits—The Sessio...
(3) SUPREME COURT
Criminal proceedings
Criminal Procedure—Exemption from surrender during pendency of criminal revision—The petitioner, who stands convicted and sentenced for offences punishable under Sections 325 read with 149 and Section 147 of the Penal Code, preferred a criminal revision before the High Court. In terms of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Rules, 2008, the High Court required the petitioner to surrender before the trial court as a condition precedent for consideration of the revision—The Supreme Court, considering the attendant circumstances, granted interim exemption from surrender for a period of eight weeks and directed the High Court to examine the application for exemption in a sympathetic manner—While doing so, the High Court was required to keep in view the possible adverse consequences on the petitioner’s status as an elect...
(4) SUPREME COURT
Bail
A. Bail—Criminal Procedure—The order of the High Court granting bail to the convicted person was stayed by the Supreme Court having regard to exceptional factual circumstances—It was noted that the accused was already undergoing custody pursuant to a separate conviction under Section 304 Part II of the Penal Code, and therefore continuation of bail was not warranted—The Court clarified that the victim is legally entitled to independently challenge such bail orders before the Supreme Court by filing a separate special leave petition. (Paras 6–9) B. Victim—Independent statutory remedy—A victim of an offence has a distinct and enforceable statutory right to approach the Supreme Court by way of a special leave petition without seeking leave or consent—To ensure meaningful access to justi...
(5) SUPREME COURT
Conviction, Criminal Law
Criminal Law—Conviction—Stay of conviction—Held, the conviction of the petitioner is stayed to the limited extent that no disqualification shall ensue on account thereof from continuing as a Member of the State Legislative Assembly—However, such stay shall not entitle the petitioner to hold any office of profit. [Paras 5] ...
(6) SUPREME COURT
Writ petition
Criminal Procedure Code—Writ Petition—Reliefs intermingled in a single writ petition—Petition permitted to be withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh writ petition confined to challenging the vires of the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020—Liberty also granted to approach the jurisdictional Court for quashing of FIR and for seeking pre-arrest bail—Interim protection from arrest granted for a period of two weeks to enable the petitioner to take appropriate legal steps. (Paras 1 to 4) ...
(7) SUPREME COURT
A. Protection of Forest Land—Unauthorized Occupation—Suo Motu Intervention—The Supreme Court took note of widespread and organized encroachment upon forest land by private persons, coupled with inaction on the part of the State authorities—Exercising its suo motu jurisdiction, the Court widened the scope of the proceedings and ordered the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand along with the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to set up an Enquiry Committee to investigate the matter in detail and place a factual report before the Court. (Paras 1–5) B. Forest Land—Transfer, Encumbrance and Construction—Preventive Measures—To safeguard forest land from further misuse, the Court prohibited private individuals from transferring, mortgaging, or otherwise creating third-party interests in such ...
(8) SUPREME COURT
Reservation
A. Constitution of India, 1950—Articles 14, 16, 335—Reserved category candidates securing higher merit—Where candidates belonging to reserved categories obtain marks higher than the cutoff fixed for the General/Open category, they are entitled to be treated as General/Open category candidates for all further stages of selection, provided no concession or relaxation attached to reservation has been availed by them—Excluding such meritorious candidates from the General/Open category despite their higher merit offends the guarantees of equality and fairness embedded in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. (Paras 20, 63, 67, 70, 74) B. Constitution of India, 1950—Articles 14, 16—Recruitment process—Shortlisting in multi-stage examinations—In selection processes involving multiple tier...
(9) SUPREME COURT
Decree
A. Specific Relief Act, 1963—Section 28—Doctrine of merger—Decree passed by the higher court supersedes and replaces the decree of the lower court—Executing court cannot independently extend time for execution unless such power is expressly conferred—Mere delay beyond the stipulated time does not automatically result in rescission of the contract if the plaintiff establishes continuous readiness and willingness to perform contractual obligations. [Paras 5 to 8, 12] B. Doctrine of merger—Applicability and scope—There cannot exist more than one operative decree at the same point of time—Once an appeal is entertained and decided on merits, the decree of the lower court merges into that of the appellate court, irrespective of whether it is affirmed, modified or reversed. [Paras 9, 1...
(10) SUPREME COURT
Arrest
A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Sections 482 and 438—Constitution of India, 1950—Article 226—Interim protection from arrest—High Court while dismissing petitions for quashing of FIR cannot grant interim protection from arrest—Such directions are impermissible in law—Grant of protection from arrest, without satisfying statutory requirements under Section 438 CrPC, amounts to grant of anticipatory bail in disguise—Law laid down in Neeharika Infrastructure (P) Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra and State of Telangana v. Habib Abdullah Jeelani reiterated—High Courts cautioned against passing such orders. [Paras 15 to 16] B. Investigation—Timelines for completion—Judicial limits—Court’s power to impose timelines for investigation is not absolute—Timelines ma...
(1) PATNA
Writ jurisdiction
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972—Sections 4, Coverage, Continuous Service; Writ Jurisdiction—Article 226; Bihar and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914—Certificate Proceedings—Establishment covered under Act where employee strength exceeds 10; employee rendering continuous service over five years entitled to gratuity under Section 4; burden of maintaining statutory employment records lies on employer, failure invites adverse inference; concurrent findings of Controlling and Appellate Authorities on coverage and continuous service upheld in writ jurisdiction (Paras 8, 9, 16, 17, 21, 23, 25)—High Court cannot re-appreciate pure findings of fact as super-appellate authority unless perversity, arbitrariness, or jurisdictional error is shown (Paras 26, 29)—Act being beneficial legislation, provisions must ...
(2) PATNA
Matrimonial Dispute
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 482; Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 354C, 379, 500, 504, 506, 34—Quashing of Criminal Proceedings, Matrimonial Disputes, Defamation, and Abuse of Process of Law—Allegations including secretly video recording mother-in-law while bathing, theft, intimidation, and abuse in matrimonial disputes constitute serious prima facie offences; subsequent complaints by accused (daughter-in-law) do not automatically justify quashing as “counterblast” or due to belated filing; High Court declined to interfere with cognizance order (Paras 34, 35, 41, 47, 49)—Abuse of father-in-law in his clinic, spreading false rumours, constitutes defamation under Sections 500/34 IPC; cognizance order upheld (Paras 36, 37, 42, 49)—Complaints by husband repeating allegations already ta...
(3) KERALA
Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Sections 32(5), 50, 60, 112; Hindu Succession Act, 1956—Intestate Succession; Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Order 41 Rule 27—Legitimacy, Admissibility of Evidence, Presumption of Legitimacy, and Partition of Property—Verbal statement of deceased father acknowledging paternity of child conceived before marriage is admissible under Section 32(5) if it relates to blood relationship, maker had special means of knowledge, and statement made before dispute arose (Paras 10, 12)—Father's conduct accepting the child as his own, despite premarital conception, is relevant under Sections 50 and 60 as externally perceptible evidence of opinion on paternity (Paras 9, 11–13)—Section 112 conclusive presumption of legitimacy applies to child born during valid marriage; burden of pr...
(4) KERALA
Burden of Proof
Hindu Succession Act, 1956—Section 4; Hindu Law—Sanyasa; Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Section 115; Constitution of India, 1950—Article 300A—Civil Death, Renunciation, Estoppel, and Family Settlement—Adoption of ascetic life (Sanyasa) severs a Hindu’s connection with natural family and entails “civil death” under Mitakshara law; Section 4 of Hindu Succession Act or Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act does not abrogate this principle (Paras 12, 15, 17, 20, 23)—Property held at renunciation passes to natural heirs; subsequent property accrues to spiritual heirs (Paras 12, 22)—Plaintiff’s conduct—joining ashram, Gazette Notification changing name, letters indicating renunciation—induces family to partition ancestral property excluding him, giving rise to estoppel...
(5) KERALA
Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Order VI Rule 17; Section 11 (Res Judicata); Waqf Act—Amendment of Pleadings, Limitation, and Recovery of Waqf Property—Court may allow amendment of pleadings after commencement of trial only if it does not cause injustice, prejudice, or circumvent a legal bar such as res judicata (Paras 10, 13–15)—Amendment to incorporate a prayer for recovery of possession in W.O.S. No.8/2023 refused where identical relief had been previously disallowed on merits in W.O.S. No.45/2022; allowing amendment would re-agitate a matter already decided and contravene settled law (Paras 7–9, 15–17)—Power to allow amendment even if a fresh suit would be barred by limitation does not override res judicata when the issue was directly and substantially decided in a prior suit between same par...
(6) KERALA
Criminal conspiracy
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988—Section 13(1)(d) r/w Section 13(2); Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 120B—Criminal Conspiracy, Misappropriation of Public Funds, Appreciation of Evidence, and Sentence Modification—Bank Manager (A1) conspired with builder (A2) to misappropriate housing loan sanctioned in the name of a third party (PW18); loan amount (Rs. 3 lakh) encashed largely by builder through staff (PW15) for his benefit, with only nominal construction done, constituting offence under PC Act and IPC (Paras 3, 7, 9, 10, 17, 19)—Recovery of loan amount by Bank from borrower does not absolve builder of criminal liability (Para 17)—Testimony of staff member (PW15) and documentary evidence (cheques, sanction, passbook) sufficient to uphold conviction, despite hostile aspects (Paras 7, 10, 11, 15, 19)&md...
(7) MADHYA PRADESH
Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971—Sections 2(g), 5, 6, 7, 14; Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Section 11—Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants, Licence Expiry, Payment of Damages, Recovery of Arrears, and Res Judicata—Where a licence for an industrial plot expired and was not renewed, continued occupation constitutes “unauthorised occupation” under Section 2(g) (Paras 18, 20, 21, 26)—Acceptance of licence fees after expiry does not imply renewal (Paras 26, 27)—Under Section 5, an Estate Officer may order eviction following due process, opportunity to be heard, and consideration of evidence; eviction upheld if procedure is proper and no breach of natural justice exists (Paras 22, 24, 28, 30)—Damages for unauthorised occupation under Section 7 must be based on cogent...
(9) PATNA
Criminal Trial, Rape, Appreciation of evidence
A. Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)—Ss. 366A, 120B, 376—Appeal against conviction—Minor Victim—Age of victim—Medical evidence regarding the victim’s age was inconclusive—The doctor suggested an approximate age of 17 years and noted that the third molar eruption range (17–25 years) made precise age determination difficult. (Paras 6, 25) B. Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)—Ss. 366A and 376—Appreciation of Evidence—Testimony of prosecutrix (P.W. 5)—Consistency and reliability—The prosecutrix’s testimony during cross-examination materially contradicted her earlier statement under Section 164 CrPC. She admitted that her Section 164 statement, implicating the accused in kidnapping and rape, was made under the pressure and direction of the Sub-Inspector and was not voluntary&mdas...
(10) KARNATAKA
Mohammedan Law
Mohammedan Law—Succession and Partition—Partition suit—Rights of heirs—Under Mohammedan Law, heirs have no pre-existing or vested right in the property of an ancestor during his lifetime—Succession opens only on the death of the owner—Right of an heir-apparent accrues for the first time upon the demise of the ancestor—No heir entitled to claim any share, right, title or interest during the lifetime of the owner—Partition during the lifetime of a Muslim owner is legally impermissible—Mutation entry or statement before revenue authorities does not amount to partition or vatni patra—Doctrine of partial partition not applicable—Heirs succeed as tenants-in-common—Each heir entitled to a definite fractional share in every part of the estate and not to specific properties&md...