A. Indian Succession Act, 1925—Section 63—Will—Proof—Suspicious circumstances—Held: The propounder of a Will must prove that the testator executed the Will voluntarily, while in a sound disposing state of mind and with full knowledge and understanding of its contents. Where the execution of the Will is surrounded by suspicious circumstances, the burden lies upon the propounder to remove every legitimate suspicion and satisfy the judicial conscience of the Court. Mere registration of the Will does not, by itself, dispel suspicious circumstances or establish its due execution, particularly where the document contains discrepancies or uninitialled cuttings. (Paras 27 to 32, 57 to 65) B. Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Section 100—Second appeal—Scope of interference—Held: The jurisdicti...

A. Child Custody—Interim custody arrangement—Best interest of child—Reference to mediation—Held: In a child custody dispute involving multiple proceedings pending between the parties before different fora, the Supreme Court, without expressing any opinion on the merits, referred the parties to the Supreme Court Mediation Centre in the paramount interest of the child. The Coordinator was directed to appoint a Mediator, and the parties were directed to participate in mediation. (Paras 2–3) B. Child Custody—Interim shared custody—Visitation and access—Held: Pending further consideration of the matter, the Court devised a detailed interim custody schedule balancing the child's welfare and the parental rights of both parties. The child was directed to remain primarily with the mother, with...

A. Code of Criminal Procedure—Anticipatory bail—Interim protection pending consideration of petition—Held: Where the petitioners contended that they had not faced any apprehension of arrest for several years after registration of the FIR and that the police had only recently begun visiting their residence, the Supreme Court granted interim anticipatory bail pending disposal of the petition. It was directed that, in the event of arrest, the petitioners be released on anticipatory bail to the satisfaction of the concerned Investigating Officer. (Paras 2–4) B. Code of Criminal Procedure—Anticipatory bail—Interim relief—Conditions—Held: While granting interim anticipatory bail, the Court directed the petitioners to cooperate with the investigation and made the protection operative till the ne...

A. Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987—Section 3(3) read with Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 120B—Suspension of sentence pending appeal—Held: Suspension of sentence and grant of bail pending disposal of the appeal is justified where the appellant has already undergone a substantial part of the sentence imposed and the appeal is not likely to be heard in the near future. In the present case, the appellant, sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment, had already undergone about three years and nine months of incarceration. Considering the period already undergone and the likelihood of delay in disposal of the appeal, the sentence was suspended and the appellant was directed to be released on regular bail on such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the Trial Court. (Paras 2–...

A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 120-B—Suspension of sentence pending appeal—Long period on bail and incarceration—Held: Where the appellant, convicted under Section 120-B IPC, had remained on bail for nearly twenty years during the pendency of proceedings and had thereafter undergone more than five years and eight months of incarceration, the Supreme Court held that these circumstances justified suspension of sentence pending disposal of the appeal. (Paras 2–5) B. Criminal Procedure—Suspension of sentence—Pending appeal before Supreme Court—Relevant considerations—Held: Where leave had been granted and the appeal involved substantial questions of fact and law requiring adjudication, and the appellant had earlier remained on bail for a prolonged period without misuse of liberty be...

A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 302—Conviction reversed in appeal against acquittal—Suspension of sentence pending appeal—Held: Where the Trial Court had acquitted the appellant of the charge under Section 302 IPC but the High Court reversed the acquittal and convicted him, sentencing him to imprisonment for life, the existence of conflicting findings by the two Courts, coupled with the period of incarceration already undergone by the appellant, constituted sufficient grounds for suspension of sentence pending disposal of the appeal. (Paras 1–2) B. Criminal Procedure—Suspension of sentence pending appeal—Life imprisonment—Relevant considerations—Held: While considering suspension of sentence in an appeal against conviction, the Court may take into account the divergent findings r...

A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 326 and 448 (Section 307—Acquittal by High Court)—Sentence undergone pending appeal—Interim bail—Held: Where the appellant had been acquitted by the High Court of the offence under Section 307 IPC, while the convictions under Sections 326 and 448 IPC were affirmed, and it was submitted that he had already undergone more than ten years of incarceration, the Supreme Court directed that, if the appellant continued to remain in custody, he be released on bail forthwith to the satisfaction of the Trial Court, unless his detention was required in connection with any other case. (Paras 2–4) B. Criminal Procedure—Interim directions pending appeal—Continued incarceration after substantial custody—Held: Pending further hearing of the appeal, where the appel...

A. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985—Section 21—Regular bail—Possession of intermediate quantity of heroin—Criminal antecedents—Held: Bail was rightly declined where the petitioner was charged under Section 21 of the NDPS Act for possession of 29.84 grams of heroin (intermediate quantity) and had five criminal antecedents. The petitioner's criminal history disentitled him to the grant of bail on merits. (Paras 1–2) B. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985—Section 64A—De-addiction/Rehabilitation—Benefit of immunity and rehabilitation—Scope—Held: The benefit contemplated under Section 64A of the NDPS Act is not available to an accused charged under Section 21 for possession of intermediate quantity of narcotic drugs. In the absence of ...

A. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Section 155(2)—Non-cognizable offences—Investigation without Magistrate's order—Challenge to investigation—Held: Where the FIR discloses only non-cognizable offences, the contention that the police could not have conducted the investigation without obtaining an order of the Magistrate under Section 155(2) CrPC is a question that can appropriately be raised before the jurisdictional Magistrate at the stage of consideration of the final report. The Supreme Court left the issue open to be urged before the Magistrate. (Paras 2, 5–6) B. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Section 482—Quashing of FIR—Filing of final report during pendency of proceedings—Held: In view of the filing of the final report before the Magistrate during the pendency of t...

A. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016—Section 7—Artificial Intelligence (AI)—Reliance on fake or hallucinated precedents—Effect—Held: Any judicial or adjudicatory decision founded upon non-existent, fake or AI-generated hallucinated precedents is no decision in the eyes of law and is liable to be set aside irrespective of whether such material had a direct or indirect bearing on the outcome. Courts and Tribunals must adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards citation or reliance on unverified AI-generated authorities in order to preserve the sanctity and integrity of the adjudicatory process. (Paras 1, 6–20) B. Artificial Intelligence—Judicial Process—Professional responsibility of Bar and Bench—Held: While Artificial Intelligence may be legitimately employed as an aid to legal rese...