Death Sentences Set Aside In Minor's Rape-Murder Case: P&H High Court Remands Matter After Finding Defects In Trial

In a significant ruling arising from the brutal rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the death sentences awarded by the trial Court to both convicts and remanded the matter for retrial from summons stage.The Court found that the Investigating Officer had failed to forward the FSL report to the post-mortem doctors for their final opinion on...

State Can't Solve Its Financial Crisis By Withholding Employees' And Pensioners' Dues: P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a batch of Letters Patent Appeals filed by the Punjab Government and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), affirming that once the State adopted the Central Government pattern for grant of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief, it incurred a binding obligation to release the accrued instalments and could not defer them indefinitely...

Granting Protection To Minor In Live-In Relationship Would Implicitly Sanction What Law Expressly Prohibits: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a petition seeking police protection filed by a minor girl and her major partner, holding that granting protection in such cases would amount to implicitly sanctioning relationship involving a minor—something the statutory framework expressly prohibits.Justice Sumeet Goel dismissing the plea said, "Ergo, in adjudicating upon a petition...

Minor Procedural Lapses By NCB Can't Justify Anticipatory Bail In Commercial Quantity Drug Case: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has said that when dealing with cases emanating from border-centric drug cartels involving commercial quantities of contraband and organised networks, courts are duty-bound to exercise heightened circumspection and strict scrutiny, and that minor procedural lapses on the part of the investigating agency cannot form the basis for granting the...

Cross Border Drug Smuggling Poses Threat To National Security, Destroys Generations Of Youth: P&H High Court Rejects Pre-Arrest Bail

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has said that border-centric drug cartel cases involving commercial quantities pose "existential threat to public health, national security, and the socio-economic fabric of society, destroying entire generations of youth", and in such matters individual liberty must be carefully balanced against the overriding societal interest.Justice Alok Jain said,...

High Court Bars Punjab Govt From Undertaking Large-Scale Advertisement Campaigns Till Employees Are Paid Dearness Allowance Arrears

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday dismissed the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) appeal against a Single Judge's direction to release pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) to its employees and pensioners.Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor also restrained the State from undertaking any large-scale advertisement...

LiveLaw Punjab & Haryana High Court Weekly Round-Up: July 20 - July 26, 2026

Nominal Index [Citations: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 236 - 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 243]State of Punjab v. Mohinder Singh and others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 236Jagdish Ram v. State of Punjab 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 237Diljit Singh @ Diljeet Singh v. State of Punjab 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 238 Renu Kumari Rohal v. State of Haryana and others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 239 XXXX v. State of Punjab 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 240Amritpal Kaur @...

P&H High Court Upholds Increment Stoppage Against Official For Non-Compliance With PIO's Directions Under RTI Act

The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed two pleas challenging disciplinary proceedings and a consequent penalty imposed on a Section Officer of the Punjab State Planning Board for failing to comply with the directions of a Public Information Officer (PIO) under the Right to Information Act, 2005. [2026 LiveLaw (PH) 248]It rejected the contention that the RTI Act's own statutory...

Mere Demand For Loan Repayment Without Overt Act Of Instigation Not Abetment To Suicide: P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed proceedings under Section 306 IPC against two accused named in a suicide note left behind by a family of four, holding that persistent demands for repayment of a loan, even accompanied by allegations of harassment, do not by themselves satisfy the ingredients of abetment of suicide in the absence of any overt act of instigation proximate to...

'Orphan' Means Both Parents Dead; Candidate With Surviving Mother Can't Be Given Recruitment Weightage: P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a candidate whose mother is alive cannot be treated as an "orphan" for claiming five marks of recruitment weightage, ruling that the expression "orphan" under the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) advertisement requires the death of both parents. [2026 LiveLaw (PH) 249]The Court accordingly set aside a Single Judge's order directing HSSC...

Abuse Hurled Over Telephone Cannot Satisfy 'Place Within Public View' Requirement Under SC/ST Act: P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld a trial court's order discharging an accused of offences under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, holding that caste-related abuse allegedly hurled over a telephone call could not be said to have occurred in a "place within public view" as required to attract...

'Being An Advocate, Presumed To Be Well-Aware Of Consequences': P&H High Court Denies Bail To Lawyer Accused In Land-Grabbing Case

The Punjab and Haryana High denied regular bail to a practising advocate accused of colluding with co-accused persons to legitimize forged trust documents and manipulating court proceedings.[2026 LiveLaw (PH) 246]Justice Manisha Batra observed, "Being an Advocate by profession, he is presumed to be well-aware about the consequences of the actions done by him, by manipulation of the...