Criminal Law
JJ Act - Murder Is 'Heinous Offence', Not 'Serious Offence'; S 302 IPC Implies Minimum Life Sentence: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has held that the offence of murder punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (now Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) is a "heinous offence" under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, ruling that imprisonment for life constitutes its implied minimum punishment even though the provision does not expressly prescribe...
ED Free To Act If Illegality Found During Probe Into Disproportionate Assets Complaint Against Rahul Gandhi: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court on Monday observed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is not helpless and may proceed strictly in accordance with the law if its probe into a complaint alleging 'disproportionate assets' against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi reveals any "misdeed or illegal act".Simultaneously, observing that the affidavit filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)...
Telangana High Court Grants Bail To Man Booked For Threatening Minor Of Circulating Her Morphed Photos, Notes Probe Almost Complete
The Telangana High Court has granted bail to a man accused of stalking a minor girl, threatening to morph her photographs into obscene images and upload them on social media, and later trespassing into her house along with his relatives. [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 109]The Court noted that the petitioner had been in custody since May 23, 2026, that material witnesses had already been examined, and...
"Shocked By Total Ignorance": Bombay High Court Transfers POCSO Case To CID After Cops Revealed Victim's Identity
The Bombay High Court has transferred the investigation into a POCSO case to the Maharashtra State CID after finding glaring lapses in the manner in which the probe was conducted by the local police. The Court observed that the investigation disclosed a disturbing lack of awareness of the mandatory safeguards under the POCSO Act, including disclosure of the victim's identity, recording of...
Tinder Relationship Turning Sour Doesn't By Itself Amount To Rape On False Promise Of Marriage: Uttarakhand High Court
The Uttarakhand High Court has held that where two adults enter into a consensual relationship after meeting through a dating application like Tinder, the relationship cannot subsequently be termed as one based on a false pretext of marriage merely because it later turns sour and does not culminate in marriage. The Court observed that the allegations disclosed a consensual relationship and not...
Failure To Communicate Grounds Of Arrest To Uneducated Accused In Understandable Manner Vitiates Arrest: Tripura High Court Grants Bail
The Tripura High Court has granted bail to an accused booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after holding that the prosecution failed to establish that the grounds of arrest were effectively communicated to him in a language he understood. The Court Noted that the investigating officer had described the accused as "uneducated" and admitted that he did not...
Touching Child's Chest With Sexual Intent Attracts POCSO Act, 'Chest' And 'Breast' Distinction Immaterial: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court has held that an accused grabbing a child's chest with sexual intent would satisfy the requirement of sexual assault prescribed under Section 7 POCSO Act, and that the anatomical different between chest and breast is immaterial. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 386]For context, Section 7 states that whoever, with sexual intent, touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child...
Supreme Court Upholds Husband's Conviction For Wife's Murder, Finds Extra Marital Affair Motive Established
The Supreme Court on Monday (July 20) upheld the conviction of a husband for the murder of his wife, holding that the substantial number of call exchanges with his lover constituted valid circumstantial evidence establishing both the existence of an affair and the motive to remove the wife as a barrier to their relationship.A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra...
'74 Unnatural Deaths, Bodies Buried Without Following Procedure': Karnataka High Court Told In PIL To Inspect Dharmasthala 'Mass Burial' Sites
The mother of the girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in the temple town of Dharmasthala, told the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday (July 21) that there was 'a deeply disturbing pattern of unnatural deaths and disappearances' in and around the region.A Division Bench of the Chief Justice and Justice K.S. Hemalekha was hearing the PIL filed by the mother seeking a relief that the burial...
Repeatedly Calling Child Victims In POCSO Cases To Relive Trauma Violates Their Right To Life: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court recently observed that a child victim in POCSO cases cannot be called to the court repeatedly and made to relive the trauma. [2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 329] Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy remarked that society does not often understand the mental trauma that a child experiences when subjected to sexual harassment. The court added that though the Protection of Children...
'Investigate Murder, Not The Tweet': Karnataka High Court Stays Probe Against Law Student Booked Over Bantwal Murder Post Targeting Congress
The Karnataka High Court on Monday (July 20) stayed further investigation against a sixth-semester law student who was booked in two separate FIRs over a social media post on the murder of a young woman at the Bantwal bus stand, in which he had alleged that the Congress government would “quietly withdraw” the case against the accused.Granting interim relief, the single-judge bench of...