Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985—Sections 37, 27A, 21, 22, 29—Bail—Successive Bail—Commercial Quantity—Financing Illicit Traffic—Scope of Judicial Discretion—Admissibility of Section 67 Statements—Parity—Held: The rigors of Section 37 NDPS Act apply strictly in cases involving commercial quantity and allegations under Section 27A; however, denial of bail requires the Court to form a prima facie belief, based on reasonable grounds, that the accused is guilty—such belief must be stronger than mere suspicion but need not reach the threshold of proof—Courts must assess the nature and quality of evidence, broader probabilities, and the character of accusations while balancing individual liberty against societal interest—Statements under Section 67 NDPS ...

SARFAESI Act, 2002—Sections 13(2), 14, 31—Successive Writ Petitions—Abuse of Process—Agricultural Land Exemption—Re-litigation—Non-compliance with Cost Orders—Held: Repeated challenges to SARFAESI measures on grounds already adjudicated—such as alleging the secured asset is agricultural land exempt under Section 31 or asserting mistaken identity of the sealed premises—constitute abuse of the process of law—The subject property, comprising a residential house and business unit, had already been judicially determined as amenable to SARFAESI proceedings; dismissal of earlier writ and review petitions attained finality—Despite this, the petitioner filed successive petitions on identical or fabricated grounds, reflecting mala fides and an attempt to obstruct lawful recovery&mdas...

A. Administrative Law—Licensing of Rice Husking Machines—Competent Authority—Interplay of Permissions/NOCs and Statutory Licensing Requirements—Held: Possession of NOCs from the Agriculture Department and Pollution Control Board does not entitle the petitioner to operate a movable tractor-mounted rice husking machine without a valid license from the competent authority—Under Government Orders governing rice husking mills (G.O. No. 30-FS/2003; 59-FS/2001; 31-FS/2002), the Deputy Commissioner is the designated licensing authority—The impugned circular dated 18-09-2020 directing seizure of illegal rice husking machines was issued to curb unlicensed operations and is traceable to departmental guidelines of the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department. (Paras 12, 15–18, 23–24) B....

Civil Procedure—Res Sub Judice—Revenue Proceedings—Natural Justice—Common Lands Act—Jurisdiction of Civil Court—Where a civil suit concerning title, possession, or rights over a specific property is already pending before a competent Civil Court, parallel proceedings before a revenue authority on the identical subject matter are barred by the doctrine of res sub judice under Section 10 CPC—A Tehsildar, being a subordinate authority, is bound to keep such proceedings in abeyance and cannot revive them without reference to the pending civil action—Any revival of proceedings contrary to an earlier abeyance order and without considering the civil court proceedings suffers from a fundamental legal infirmity and is void. (Paras 23, 31–34, 37–39, 42) The revenue authority’s act...

Criminal Law—Murder (Circumstantial Evidence)—Identification—Last Seen—Electronic Evidence—Motive—Sentencing—In a prosecution for murder under Sections 302, 201, 120-B RPC, where the case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence, the Court reaffirmed the settled “Panchsheel of Proof”: each circumstance must be fully established; all must point unerringly to the guilt of the accused; they must be conclusive; they must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence; and they must form a complete, unbroken chain—The prosecution successfully proved such a chain against the husband and his paramour, sustaining their conviction and life sentence. (Paras 1, 13, 21–24, 75) On identification, Test Identification Parade (TIP) is an investigative aid, not a statutory requiremen...

Goods and Services Tax—Cross-LoC Trade—Nature of Supply—SCN under Sections 73/74—Limitation—Composite SCN—Writ Jurisdiction—Alternative Remedy—Cross-LoC trade, instituted as a Confidence Building Measure and governed by the 2008 SOP, constituted trade between the then State of Jammu & Kashmir and PoK, which is treated as part of the territories of J&K—As both the location of suppliers and the place of supply fell within the same State/Union Territory, such trade was held to be intra-state, thereby falling within the ambit of the CGST Act, 2017 and the J&K GST Act, 2017. (Paras 1, 4, 11, 17, 20, 24) Show Cause Notices (SCNs) alleging that assessees engaged in cross-LoC trade had suppressed taxable supplies, withheld information, and failed to cooperate with investigation,...

Education Law—Special Scholarship Scheme (SSS) 2014-15—Unauthorized Admissions—Dentists Act—Judicial Review—Equitable Relief Without Scholarship Entitlement—Under the Special Scholarship Scheme (SSS) 2014-15 for students of the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir, revised guidelines mandated admission only through centralized counselling and allotment by AICTE—The private respondents, however, secured admission to the BDS course on their own, without sponsorship or allotment by AICTE or the J&K Government—Such admissions, having been made in violation of the mandatory SSS procedures, were unauthorized and fell outside the ambit of the scheme. (Paras 2, 4, 5, 15, 16) Admission to the BDS course is governed by the Dentists Act, 1948 and the Revised DCI/BDS Course Regulations, 2007, w...

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 378—Appeal Against Acquittal—Standard of Interference—Appreciation of Evidence—Hostile Witnesses—Forensic Lapses—Defence Evidence—In an appeal against acquittal under Section 378 CrPC, the appellate court must exercise restraint, intervening only where the acquittal is palpably erroneous, contrary to evidence, or reflects a view no reasonable court could take—If two views are possible, the one favouring the accused must prevail—However, where the trial court’s findings rest on misappreciation of evidence, interference is permissible—State of Rajasthan v. Shera Ram, (2021) 1 SCC 602, applied. (Para 8) The prosecution case under Sections 302/201 RPC and Sections 7/27 Arms Act was found doubtful—The initial FIR was lodged ag...

Jammu & Kashmir—Land Acquisition—Writ Jurisdiction—Delay and Laches—Allottee Rights—Compensation—Article 300A—Mutation under Beneficial Government Orders—Appellants, recorded as allottees of State land under Government Order No. LB-6/C of 1958 and Government Order No. S-432 of 1966, claimed ownership rights and compensation in respect of land acquired in 1993—Although the writ petition was filed after considerable delay, held, the doctrine of delay and laches is not an absolute bar to relief under Article 226, particularly where the claim concerns deprivation of property—a right recognized under Article 300A as a constitutional, statutory, and human right—Delay must be applied judiciously, especially when State inaction, unauthorized conduct, or failure to follow benefi...

A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 181(4)—Territorial Jurisdiction—Criminal Misappropriation and Breach of Trust—Under Section 181(4), an offence of criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust may be tried not only where the alleged diversion of funds occurred but also at any place where the accused was required to return or account for the entrusted property—Even if the alleged misappropriation occurred outside the territorial jurisdiction (Delhi or Mumbai), since the complainant resided in Srinagar and the funds were required to be accounted for or returned at Srinagar, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, had jurisdiction to entertain the complaint. (Paras 16, 17) B. Criminal Law—Quashing of Proceedings—Abuse of Process—Vague and Bald Allegations—Attorney Hold...