Orissa High Court Sets Aside POCSO Conviction, Orders Victim To Refund Compensation As She Turned Hostile

The Orissa High Court has recently set aside the judgment of a Special Court under the POCSO Act, which found a man guilty of committing repeated penetrative sexual assault with a minor girl, on account of lack of substantial evidence connecting the accused to the crime and even the victim turning hostile against the prosecution. [2026 LiveLaw (Ori) 79]Giving relief to the accused-appellant,...

Supreme Court Acquits Husband In Dowry Death Case, Criticises Mechanical Trial Of 17 In-Laws

The Court also warned appellate courts against causally ordering the remand of trials.

'Mere Telephone Records Can't Prove Illicit Affair' : Supreme Court Upholds Acquittal Of Woman & 2 Men In Husband's Murder Case

Mere production of telephone records cannot substitute substantive proof of an illicit affair leading to murder, the Supreme Court has held while upholding the acquittal of a woman accused of murdering her husband along with her alleged lover and another co-accused in 2007. The Court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish an unbroken chain of circumstances necessary to sustain...

Frame Murder As Main Charge, S. 304-B IPC As Alternative If 'Dowry Death' Appears Homicidal: Allahabad High Court Directs UP Courts

The Allahabad High Court has issued a mandatory direction to all the trial courts across Uttar Pradesh that if evidence collected during an investigation indicates a 'homicidal' death inside a matrimonial home, the main charge must be framed under Section 302 IPC (Murder) and an alternative charge under Section 304-B IPC (Dowry Death). A bench of Justice Salil Kumar Rai and Justice Dr...

Long Continuous Consensual Relationship Not 'Rape': Allahabad High Court Discharges Man, Notes Financial Dispute Between Parties

The Allahabad High Court recently observed that a long, continuous physical relationship between consenting adults cannot be termed 'rape' when a promise to marry fails, especially when the underlying dispute is predominantly civil and financial in nature. Allowing two connected criminal appeals, a bench of Justice Santosh Rai discharged the accused (Saurabh Pal Singh) of all...

Bombay High Court Suspends Sentence Of Mother, Alleged Paramour Convicted Of Drowning 10-Year-Old Boy In Canal

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail and suspended the lifetime rigorous imprisonment imposed on a woman and her alleged lover, both of whom were convicted for killing the woman's son as he allegedly learnt about their affair. Sitting at the Kolhapur bench, a division bench of Justice Milind Jadhav and Justice Nandesh Deshpande noted that the motive attributed to the convicts...

Victim Not A 'Sterling Witness', Her Family Was Present In House: Why Allahabad High Court Upheld Acquittal In 2014 Rape Case

The Allahabad High Court last week dismissed a state appeal challenging the acquittal of a man accused of rape as it observed that it was highly improbable for the crime to have been committed while the victim's children and other family members were present inside the house. The High Court also noted a material discrepancy in the statement of the victim with regard to the commission of...

Section 354 IPC Not Covered By Section 42 POCSO Act, Trial Court Erred In Not Awarding Separate Sentence: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that a trial court erred in not awarding a separate sentence for the offence under Section 354 IPC (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) in a case involving sexual assault on a six-year-old girl, clarifying that the provision is not among the IPC offences covered by Section 42 of the Protection of Children from Sexual...

Empty Berths Sold "Like Vegetables In A Market" By Ticket Checkers: Calcutta High Court In Train Murder-Robbery Case

The Calcutta High Court has come down heavily on the functioning of Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs), observing that the practice of illegally allotting vacant berths to unreserved passengers for money is the primary reason behind several drugging-and-robbery incidents on trains. The Court remarked that TTEs "sell empty berths in trains like vegetables in a market" and directed that a copy...

Mere Marriage To Extremist, Presence At Encounter Site With Child Can't Sustain Conviction: Jharkhand High Court Acquits Woman

The Jharkhand High Court has acquitted a woman convicted under various provisions of the IPC, Arms Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act in connection with an encounter involving alleged extremists, holding that mere marriage to an extremist and presence at the place of occurrence with her 1½-year-old child were insufficient to sustain her conviction in the absence of evidence showing any overt...

Mere Smell Of Alcohol Without Blood Test Or Breathalyser Cannot Establish Drunken Driving: Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court has held that the smell of alcohol on the breath of an accused, without a blood test or breathalyser establishing that the alcohol concentration exceeded the statutory limit under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, cannot establish drunken driving or justify framing a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya...

Calcutta High Court Refuses To Quash Dowry Case, Says Woman Can File Complaint From Parent's Home If Cruelty Persists

The Calcutta High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a husband and his family members in a dowry harassment and matrimonial cruelty case, holding that a woman who leaves her matrimonial home can initiate proceedings from the place where she takes shelter if the effects of cruelty continue there. The Court further held that withdrawal of proceedings under the Protection...