Criminal Law
POCSO Act | Meghalaya High Court Denies Bail To Two Teachers Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 5-Year-Old
The Meghalaya High Court has refused to grant bail to two teachers accused of sexually assaulting a five-year-old student inside a school washroom, observing that allegations of sexual assault against children must be viewed seriously given their vulnerability and the trauma such acts can cause. The Court held that the survivor's statement prima facie made out a case of sexual assault against...
Advisory Board's Opinion Not Condition Precedent For Arrest Pursuant To Preventive Detention Order: AP High Court
Obtaining an Advisory Board's opinion is not a condition precedent for arresting/detaining a person pursuant to a prevention detention order, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has held while clarifying that the Board's report is required for the State Government to decide whether to confirm or revoke the detention order. [2026 LiveLaw (AP) 185]The Division Bench presided over by Justice Ravi...
Minor Sexual Assault Victim's Inability To Describe Sexual Act Is No Ground To Discard Her Testimony: Bombay High Court Reverses Acquittal
The Bombay High Court recently held that a minor rape victim's testimony cannot be discarded just because she could not properly describe the sexual act to which she was subjected to. The High Court therefore, reversed a trial court's judgment and convicted a man for raping a minor girl in a 2012 case. Sitting at the Aurangabad seat, a division bench of Justice Sandipkumar More and...
NDPS Act | Accused Move Karnataka High Court Against Counting 'Non-Drug' Parts Of Cannabis Plant, Packaging In Ganja Quantity
The Karnataka High Court is considering pleas by persons booked under the NDPS Act challenging prosecutions concerning the manner in which seized cannabis was weighed and analysed, particularly wherein the weight allegedly included the stems, leaves, seeds of the plant as well the packaging of the contraband. The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna, was hearing two petitions...
Valmiki Corporation Scam: Karnataka High Court Relaxes Bail Condition Of Minister B Nagendra Allowing Him To Travel Outside State
The Karnataka High Court relaxed the bail conditions imposed on newly inducted minister in the State Cabinet B Nagendra, who is an accused in a case pertaining to alleged misappropriation of Valmiki Scheduled Castes Development Corporation's funds, allowing him to travel outside the State without prior court permission. The single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that the...
'Police Can't Refuse FIR Over Non-Production Of Evidence In Sexual Harassment Complaint; Can't Shift Burden On Prosecutrix': Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has observed that the police cannot refuse to register an FIR on a sexual harassment complaint moved before it merely because the Prosecutrix has not produced WhatsApp chats, call recordings or other material evidence in support of her allegations. The Court further observed that the burden of conducting a lawful investigation cannot be shifted upon the prosecutrix...
Playing Cards For Money At Home In Absence Of 'Profit-Making' Element Not Offence Under Gambling Act: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court has held that merely playing cards in a house for money does not necessarily make the house a "common gaming house" to invoke offences under Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act in absence of element of profit-making. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 220]The court was hearing a plea by five accused persons seeking quashing of an FIR under Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act.The...
Supreme Court Restores Rape Case Acquittal As Forensic Evidence Contradicts Prosecution Version
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 11) restored the acquittal of a man for an offence of rape of a minor, holding that the absence of blood on the victim's clothes and the lack of any injury on her body, as reflected in the forensic and medical evidence, created a grave doubt about the prosecution's case. A bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar set aside the...
Acceptance Of Final Report Doesn't Bar Further Investigation: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has held that acceptance of a final report by a Judicial Magistrate does not bar the investigating agency from carrying out further investigation under Section 173(8) CrPC.A bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Singh made the observation while dismissing an application challenging an order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mainpuri, which had permitted further investigation in...
No Inflexible Rule That Alibi Can Be Proved Only In Trial : Supreme Court Quashes S. 498A IPC Case Against BSF Personnel
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 11) held that the documentary evidence, including official service records establishing the accused's absence from the place of occurrence, constitutes unimpeachable material that can be considered at the threshold stage for quashing of the criminal case. The Court said that the rule that an accused must ordinarily prove alibi during trial is not...
Patna High Court Directs CBI Probe Into Missing Man After Alleged Detention, Custodial Violence By Excise Officials, Slams Police Inaction
The Patna High Court has transferred to the CBI the investigation into the disappearance of a man who allegedly went missing after being detained and brutally assaulted by Excise Police officials in Bhojpur district.A Division Bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Alok Kumar Sinha said that the case presented “rare and exceptional” circumstances warranting transfer of the...