ACQUITTAL
KERALA HIGH COURT | ‘Ought to have complied with Section 115 of Mental Healthcare Act’; Conviction of a mother who killed her infant son and then attempted suicide, set aside
In an appeal filed by the appellant (‘accused’), challenging her conviction and sentence imposed under Sections 302 and 309 of Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’), the Division Bench of Raja Vijayaraghavan V and P.V. Balakrishnan*, JJ., when the Act came into force on 07-07-2018, the Trial Court, in compliance with Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (‘the Act’), ought to have, desisted from proceeding with trial of the case and pronouncing the judgement. Further, in the present case, no material had been adduced to show that the accused was not having severe stress. Thus, the Court stated that conviction and sentence imposed against the accused could not be sustained and accordingly, set aside the impugned judgment. Read more HERE
ARBITRATION
GUJARAT HIGH COURT | ‘Novel plea of non-receipt of signed award copy cannot be raised in appeal’; NHAI’s appeals against dismissal of S. 34 applications due to delay, rejected
In a batch of appeals filed by the National Highways Authority of India (‘NHAI’) against orders passed by the Civil Court under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘Arbitration Act’), rejecting NHAI’s applications filed under Section 34 for being beyond the limitation prescribed in Section 34(3), the Division Bench of Sunita Agarwal*, CJ., and Pranav Trivedi, J., rejected the appeals holding that the contention that NHAI never received the signed copy of the award, should have been raised before the Civil Court on the first instance when the Section 34 application was being decided, but since NHAI did not do so, such novel plea could not be appreciated in appeal under Section 37. Read more HERE
DELHI HIGH COURT | ‘Migrated Gas’ extraction by Reliance Industries violated Public Trust Doctrine; Arbitral award, set aside
An appeal was filed Union of India through the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas of the Government of India under Section 37 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 read with Section 13(1) of Commercial Courts Act, 2015 assailing the order dated 09-05-20233 passed by the Single Judge, whereby the application under Section 34 of Act preferred by it, against the Arbitral Award dated 24-07-2018. Saurabh Banerjee, J., held that the impugned order dated 09-05-2023 passed by the Single Judge and the Arbitral Award passed by the learned Arbitral Tribunal dated 24-07-2018, being contrary to the settled position of law, are set aside as there was a ‘patent illegality’ on the face of the Arbitral Award. Read more HERE
ARMED FORCES
PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT | Ex-gratia allowance granted to cadet who developed a disability due to strenuous military training in 1999
In a writ petition filed by an ex-military cadet for the grant of ex-gratia allowance due to him developing a disability during his military training, a Single Judge Bench of Vinod S. Bhardwaj, J., allowed the petition and directed the grant of ex-gratia allowance along with arrears with an interest rate of 6 percent per annum within three months holding that the records clearly showed that the cadet suffered from the disability due to training. Read more HERE
BAIL
PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT | Anticipatory bail plea rejected in Rs. 7 Crores cybercrime through fake hearing before former CJI D.Y. Chandrachud
In an anticipatory bail application filed for an FIR registered under Sections 308(2), 319(2), 318(4), 351(2), 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66-C and 66-D of Information Technology Act, 2000, a Single Judge Bench of Mahabir Singh Sindhu, J., dismissed the application stating that it was clear that the accused along with his co-accused had defrauded the complainant of Rs 7 Crores. The Court also remarked that for a thorough investigation of the modus operandi employed by the accused, his custodial interrogation was necessary. Read more HERE
BOMBAY HIGH COURT | ‘Victim had sufficient knowledge, full capacity to know import of her actions’; Bail granted to 24-year-old accused of raping his then 14-year-old girlfriend
In a bail application filed by a 24-year-old who was incarcerated for more than five years for allegedly raping his 14-year-old girlfriend when he was 19 years old, a Single Judge Bench of Milind N. Jadhav, J., allowed the application holding that the victim had sufficient knowledge and capacity to know the full import of her actions and had voluntarily stayed with the accused. Read more HERE
PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT | ‘Accused cannot be made to suffer due to police official’s error’; Trial Court’s order recalling denial of anticipatory bail, upheld
In a petition filed under Section 483(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking the cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to respondents-accused persons by the Trial Court vide the impugned order, a Single Judge Bench of Manjari Nehru Kaul, JJ., dismissed the petition holding that the facts presented an exceptional situation where recalling the earlier order was warranted to ensure that justice was not compromised due to an inadvertent error. Further, the Court held that the petitioner failed to demonstrate any compelling reason justifying the cancellation of bail, as the impugned order did not suffer from any legal infirmity or jurisdictional overreach. Read more HERE
CRIMINAL TRIAL
DELHI HIGH COURT | ‘Expedition of trial cannot be at cost of fairness’; Cross examination of Head Constable permitted in Delhi riots case
In a petition filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution read with Section 528 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking to direct Trial Court to recall Head Constable ‘S’ for cross-examination in a case pending before Sessions Court, Anup Jairam Bhambhani, J., noted that the record showed that in the statement recorded by the Head Constable under Section 161 the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (‘CrPC’), he had nowhere mentioned the petitioner (‘accused’), and yet during his examination-in-chief on 24-01-2025, i.e., almost 05 years later, the witness identified the accused in Court. Read more HERE
DEFAMATION
DELHI HIGH COURT | Social media criticism not defamation; LawSikho’s defamation suit dismissed & ₹1 Lakh costs imposed
A petition was filed by Addictive Learning Technology Limited (plaintiff) popularly known as “Law Sikho” seeking permanent injunction along with damages, relating to tweets published by defendant 1, 2, 4 and 5 on the social media platform known as ‘X’ (formerly ‘Twitter’) being harmful and derogatory to the said plaintiffs and has defamed plaintiffs in Cyber Space. Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, J., imposed costs of Rs. 1,00,000/- payable to the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within a period of four (4) weeks. Read more HERE
ENVIRONMENT LAW
MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT | Three-phase trial run for disposing 30 metric tons of Union Carbide’s toxic waste, approved
In a writ petition pertaining to the disposal of hazardous waste from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) site, a Division bench of Suresh Kumar Kait, CJ., and Vivek Jain, J., directed the respondents to proceed cautiously with three-phase trial runs to ensure public safety and compliance with environmental protocols. Read more HERE
FAMILY PROPERTY, SUCCESSION AND INHERITANCE
BOMBAY HIGH COURT | ‘Issue involves mixed question of law and fact’; Family’s plea to transfer RBI bonds of a Jain man who took sanyas, dismissed
The petitioners-mother, and wife, sought directions to the respondents to transfer/transmit the investments of their son/husband, Manoj Zaverchand Dedhia, in the form of RBI Bonds, in the name of the petitioners, as Manoj took sanyas. The Division Bench of Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale, JJ., dismissed the petition and opined that it in its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution at the first instance would not enter the arena of disputed claims between the parties. The Court left it open for the petitioners to have recourse to appropriate civil remedy before the appropriate Court/Forum. Read more HERE
INCOME TAX
BOMBAY HIGH COURT | Mere change in tax rate for future AYs, no ground to reopen assessment without fulfilling jurisdictional parameters under S. 148 of Income Tax Act
In a case wherein, the petitioner challenged the impugned notice dated 25-03-2021 under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘the 1961 Act’) and the impugned order dated 31-01-2022, whereby the petitioner’s objection to reopening of the assessment made by Respondent 1 for the assessment year 2014-2015, was rejected, the Division Bench of M.S. Sonak* and Jitendra Jain, JJ., merely because there was some change in the tax rate for the future assessment years of the petitioner, that is, its status changed to “non-resident” from “resident”, making it subject to 40% tax rate, instead of 30%, the provisions of Section 148 of the 1961 Act could not be invoked without the jurisdictional parameters of the said sections being fulfilled. The Court quashed and set aside the impugned notice dated 25-03-2021, and the consequent order dated 31-01-2022. Read more HERE
JHARKHAND HIGH COURT | ‘Retention of balance after assessing officer reduced the demand amounts to unjust enrichment’; Refund of pre-deposit amount submitted during appeal proceedings, ordered
In a petition seeking direction to the respondents to refund excess tax of Rs. 24,00,000 deposited during appellate proceedings for Assessment Year (‘AY’) 2014-15 and Rs.26,00,000 deposited during appellate proceedings for AY 2013-14, the Division Bench of M.S. Ramachandra Rao, CJ and Deepak Roshan J., stated that if the actual tax assessed from the petitioner was much less than the amount which he had deposited at the time of filing the appeal, then retention of the balance after the assessing officer, reduced the demand drastically post remand, would undoubtedly amount to unjust enrichment on the part of the respondents and would be violative of Article 14 and Article 265 of the Constitution. Thus, the Court directed the respondents to refund the amounts deposited by the petitioner after adjusting the same towards the tax finally assessed post remand by the assessing authority for the AY 2013-14 and AY 2014-15 with interest at the rate of 9% per annum from 09-01-2021 till the date of actual payment. Read more HERE
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
DELHI HIGH COURT | Ad-interim injunction granted against unauthorised use of Baazi Games’ trade mark ‘BAAZI’
In an application filed under Order 39 Rule 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (‘CPC’), seeking a perpetual and mandatory injunction against the infringement of the well-known trade mark ‘BAAZI’ of the plaintiff- Moonshine Technology Private Limited (‘Moonshine’), a Single Judge Bench of Mini Pushkarna, J., granted ex-parte ad-interim injunction in the favour of Moonshine and against the unidentified defendants. The Court restrained the defendants from accessing, using, modifying, alienating, dispositioning, or transferring the domain names in question. Read more HERE
DELHI HIGH COURT | ‘Deliberate attempt to misled and confuse consumers’; Costs and damages of Rs. 20 lakhs awarded to Castrol Ltd in trade mark dispute
In a suit filed by Castrol Ltd. (‘the plaintiff’) seeking permanent injunction against the defendants from manufacturing, selling, advertising and exporting any products, i.e. engine oils, coolants, gear oils lubricants bearing the marks, ACTIV, ACTIBOND, , and packaging , along with anything that was deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s marks and packaging, Mini Pushkarna, J., stated that Defendants 1 and 2 had infringed plaintiff’s trade marks, and trade dress/packaging. Thus, the Court decreed the suit in the plaintiff’s favour and stated that the cost and damages of Rs. 10,00,000 each, should be paid by Defendants 1 and 2 to the plaintiff. The Court stated that the said amount should be paid by the defendants to the plaintiff within a period of six months. Read more HERE
JUDICIARY
GUJARAT HIGH COURT | Two law graduates from allegedly unrecognized institute allowed to participate in Civil Judge recruitment process
In a civil application filed by two law graduates seeking permission to participate in the Civil Judge recruitment process despite the recognition status of their institute being disputed, a Single Judge Bench of Nirzar S. Desai, J., allowed the application and directed the Bar Council of Gujarat to issue provisional certificates of practice. Read more HERE
JUVENILES
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT | ‘Right to be forgotten’ for juvenile by destroying record of juvenile delinquency is an absolute right
In a writ petition challenging the petitioner’s termination of employment based on his previous juvenile conviction, which came to light during police verification, a single-judge bench of Anoop Kumar Dhand, J., held that termination of petitioner’s employment based on an expunged juvenile conviction is against the principles of juvenile justice and rehabilitation and quashed the termination order with direction to reinstate the petitioner with all consequential benefits. Read more HERE
MEDICAL TREATMENT AND CARE
PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT | ‘Sovereign function of free medical aid not discharged by State’; Explanation sought on lack of doctors, CT scan & MRI facilities at Civil Hospital
In a PIL filed regarding the dismal condition of large number of vacancies in the cadre of doctors at the Civil Hospital, Malerkotla (‘the Hospital’), the Division Bench of Sheel Nagu, CJ., and H.S. Grewal, J., directed the Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, to file an additional affidavit regarding vacancy of sanctioned posts and the lack of CT scan and MRI facilities in the Hospital. Read more HERE
MOTOR VEHICLES
MEGHALAYA HIGH COURT | S. 192 MV Act | FIR and chargesheet against former DGP for alleged misuse of official vehicle registration number, quashed
In a criminal petition by former Director General of Police, Meghalaya under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (‘CrPC’) for setting aside and quashing of the First Information Report (‘FIR’) registered under Section 409/467/471/120-B of the Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’) read with Section 192 Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 (MV Act’), the Single Judge Bench of B. Bhattacharjee, J., allowed the petition and quashed the impugned FIR and chargesheet. Read more HERE
GUJARAT HIGH COURT | ‘Normal life turned into misery’; Compensation enhanced for minor victim who became paraplegic in a 25-year-old road accident case
In an appeal filed under Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (‘MV Act’), against the judgment and award passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) wherein compensation of Rs 2,25,000 with 9 percent interest from the date of filing the claim petition till realisation was granted for the injury of paraplegia sustained by the minor victim, a Single Judge Bench of J. C. Doshi, J., partly allowed the appeal by granting Rs 13,09,240 as compensation and holding that the minor had become paraplegic and his life had become miserable since the functional disability was 100 per cent. Read more HERE
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT | S. 197 CrPC | Excess use of power by Customs officers to ‘extract truth’ is an act done in discharge of official duty
In a criminal revision against trial court’s order framing charges against the custom officers (petitioners) without obtaining prior sanction under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC), a single-judge bench of Manoj Kumar Garg, J., quashed the trial court’s impugned order as it violates Section 197 CrPC which requires prior government sanction for prosecution against public servants in relation to an act done in discharge of official duty, even if excessive force is used. Read more HERE
BOMBAY HIGH COURT | ‘Writ Petitions can’t be filed by raising mutually destructive pleas without any sense of responsibility’; Speculative plea against land acquisition after 77 years, dismissed
In a writ petition filed by alleged owners of a property challenging its acquisition in 1947-48 by the State, the Division Bench of M.S. Sonak* and Jitendra Jain, JJ., dismissed the petition, holding that it was an abuse of the judicial process since the petitioners kept making contradictory pleadings without any cogent material and attempted to speculate or take chances with the judicial process. Read more HERE
BOMBAY HIGH COURT | ‘Cannot claim defence of illiteracy to perform illegal acts’; Rs 5 crores compensation plea of a man whose illegally constructed house was demolished, rejected
In a writ petition filed by the petitioner whose house was demolished for being an illegal construction despite the existence of an operative status quo order, the Division Bench of A. S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata*, JJ., dismissed the petition holding that the petitioner could neither prove his ownership of the land nor the fact that the structure was 50 years old. The Court also held that one could not claim defence of illiteracy to do an illegal act. Read more HERE
QUASHMENT OF PROCEEDINGS/FIR
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT | ‘Justice not a privilege for well-informed/well-represented’; 23-yr-old tree felling criminal case ‘in rem’, quashed
In a petition filed seeking quashment of criminal proceedings for constructing of the road without approval from the Forest Department and subsequent cutting of tree under, a single-judge bench of Farjand Ali, J., quashed the criminal proceedings and extended the benefit to all accused, served or unserved and further held that even if some accused did not approach the court, proceedings could be quashed in rem. Read more HERE
CALCUTTA HIGH COURT | Case against man accused of mocking West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on YouTube, quashed
A criminal revisional application was filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 by the petitioner seeking quashing of proceedings in a case registered under Sections 153, 500, 501, 509, 505, and 120-B of the Penal Code, 1860 being accused of broadcasting derogatory content against the Chief Minister of West Bengal and other political leaders on YouTube, allegedly with the intent to provoke unrest and disrupt social harmony. Ajay Kumar Gupta, J., quashed the proceedings due to the absence of any sufficient or cogent evidence or even prima facie case against the petitioner. Read more HERE
RAILWAYS AND METROS
BOMBAY HIGH COURT | ‘Discontinuation of contract, without reasons, is arbitrary’; MMRDA’s order terminating Consultancy contract for Mumbai Metro Lines, quashed
The present writ petition was filed against the impugned notice dated 3-1-2025 by which the respondent, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (‘MMRDA’) terminated the contract executed between the petitioner and MMRDA. The Division Bench of Alok Aradhe, C.J., and Arif S. Doctor, J., opined that MMRDA’s action in discontinuation of the terms of the contract with the petitioner, Systra MVA Consulting (India) Pvt. Ltd., which was extended upto 31-12-2026, without assigning any reasons, was arbitrary, unfair, and unreasonable. The Court quashed and set aside the impugned notice dated 3-1-2025 and directed MMRDA to take a fresh decision regarding either discontinuation or otherwise of the contract awarded to the petitioner afresh after hearing it, by way of a speaking order. Read more HERE
MADRAS HIGH COURT | RVNL is liable to be taxed at concessional rate of 12% GST, and not 18% for railway work contracts
In the present case, the batch of five writ petitions challenged the impugned orders for the assessment years 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, whereby the petitioner’s claim for concessional rate of 12% on works contract services of original works executed pursuant to a contract entered with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (‘RVNL’) was rejected, instead the impugned order’s levied tax at 18%. Mohammed Shaffiq, J., set aside the impugned orders and the contract for doubling of track between Vanchi Maniyachchi to Nagercoil, construction of roadbed, minor bridges, platforms, buildings, water and effluent treatment facilities, wagon / coaching maintenance infrastructure, supply of ballast, installation of tracks and other electrical, signalling and telecommunication infrastructure in Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram Divisions of Southern Railway, between the petitioner and RVNL would be covered by the Notification dated 28-06-2017 (‘the notification’) issued by Central Government and liable to tax at 12%. Read more HERE
SERVICE LAW
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT | Non-payment of salary to employee amounts to Begar under Article 23 & is impermissible
In a writ petition by an employee under the State of Rajasthan, who is denied salary since 2016, despite actively rendering services, a single-judge bench of Anoop Kumar Dhand, J., held that withholding salary amounts to exploitation and violation of fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 23 of Constitution of India. The Court ordered the respondents to pay the salary promptly, failing which strict action, including contempt proceedings, would follow. Read more HERE
TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY ACT, 1971
MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT | SoPs laid down for termination of pregnancy up to & exceeding 24 weeks in sexual assault cases
In a suo motu writ petition registered in response to conflicting judicial directions issued by two Single Benches of the Madhya Pradesh High Court regarding the termination of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act), a Division Bench of Suresh Kumar Kait, CJ., and Vivek Jain, J., laid down Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for termination of pregnancy up to and beyond 24 weeks for the survivor of sexual assault or rape or incest with additional directives. Read more HERE
