Criminal Law
Journalist's News Report Causing Embarrassment Doesn't By Itself Constitute Criminal Defamation: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court has recently held that a journalist would not be criminally liable for the offence of defamation for reporting on the arrest and registration of crime against a person. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 447]Justice C.S. Dias referred to Sections 499 [Defamation], 501 [Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory] and 502 [Sale of printed or engraved substance containing...
Karnataka High Court Stays FIR Against Engineering Student Accused Of Throwing Eggs At BJP MLA
The Karnataka High Court on Friday [August 14] granted an interim stay on further investigation and proceedings against an engineering student implicated in connection with the recent clashes related to NEET protests outside the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office in Bengaluru.The FIR was registered on July 22 at the Shivajinagar Police Station following a complaint lodged by...
Failure To Pay Balance Sale Consideration Cannot By Itself Amount To Cheating: Patna High Court
The Patna High Court has held that failure to pay the balance sale consideration under an agreement cannot by itself constitute cheating unless dishonest or fraudulent intention existed when the promise was made.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Alok Kumar Pandey observed that such intention cannot be presumed merely because a party subsequently failed to keep its promise.The case arose from a...
Karnataka High Court Refuses For Now Interim Protection From Arrest To Ex-KPSC Chairman Over Veterinary Officer Recruitment Scam
The Karnataka High Court has on August 14 [Friday] denied granting interim protection from arrest to Ex-KPSC Chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar over a case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the KSPC Veterinary Officers Recruitment Scam.The petitioner had moved an anticipatory bail plea seeking interim protection as well. Sahukar had moved the high court after Additional City Civil...
NDPS Act Does Not Allow Any Other Options After Accused Chooses Gazetted Officer For Search U/S 50: HP High Court
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 does not permit the Investigating Officer or any other officer, including the Gazetted Officer before whom the personal search is to be conducted, to give an accused a fresh or third option after the accused has already exercised his statutory choice. The Court observed that...
'Calculated Assault On Public Health': Karnataka High Court Upholds FIR Against Company Allegedly Re-Labeling & Selling Expired Food Products
The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Earth Recycler Pvt. Ltd. and its directors seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them for allegedly collecting expired food products, re-labelling them, and selling them to the unsuspecting public. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 301]The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna observed that the allegations of re-labelling expired...
Orissa High Court Grants Pre-Arrest Bail To Lawyers & Claimants In Decade-Old False Accident Claims Cases
The Orissa High Court has recently granted anticipatory bail to 14 claimants and lawyers accused of laying false motor accident claims to syphon off huge amounts of compensation from insurance companies, even without registration of police complaints for involvement of vehicles in such accidents. [2026 LiveLaw (Ori) 94]Holding physical custody and interrogation of the petitioners unnecessary,...
JJ Act | Conviction Not Vitiated Because Regular Court Tried Juvenile As Adult, But Sentence Cannot Operate : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has held that a conviction on the merits need not be set aside merely because a juvenile was tried by a regular criminal court. Accordingly, while affirming the conviction of an accused who was tried as an adult, the Court set aside the sentence imposed on him after finding that he was a juvenile on the date of the offence. A bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul...
Substantial Compliance With S.42 NDPS Act Sufficient In Situations Requiring Immediate Seizure : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has held that where narcotics-related information is received in circumstances requiring the immediate interception of a moving vehicle, the requirements of Section 42 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, have to be assessed in the context of the urgency of the situation. On the facts of the case, the Court found substantial compliance with the...
'Strongly Deprecated': Meghalaya High Court Pulls Up Police For Registering FIR Under 'Appropriate Sections' Without Applying Mind
The Meghalaya High Court has strongly deprecated the police practice of directing registration of FIRs under “appropriate sections” without first examining whether the complaint discloses the commission of a cognizable offence. The Court observed that the police must apply their mind to the allegations, determine the appropriate offence and only thereafter take a decision...
'Debate On Reservation Cannot Become A Crime': Karnataka High Court Stays Proceedings Against Public TV Anchor
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday [August 13] granted an interim stay on all proceedings against Arunkumar Badiger, a news anchor with Public TV, who was booked for his remarks during a televised debate on the Delhi student protests, social justice system and reservation policy.The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna took note of the transcript of the debate and the settled...
