Supreme Court Quashes Cheating Case Over Unpaid Steel Dues, Calls Criminal Cases In Civil Disputes An Abuse Of Process Of Law

The Supreme Court has recently quashed a criminal case for cheating against two company directors, holding that the complainant's grievance over unpaid dues was civil in nature and that he had misused criminal proceedings to recover money.A bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S Chandurkar held so while setting aside the Gujarat High Court's order, which had discharged the appellants of criminal breach of trust under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC, now Section 316(2)...

'Absence Of Signs Of Resistance Not Ground To Disbelieve Rape Victim': Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand HC has held that the absence of signs of struggle or resistance on the body of a rape victim cannot, by itself, be a ground to disbelieve her testimony, particularly where the victim was a minor and the medical evidence corroborates the occurrence.A Division Bench of Justice Ananda Sen and Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava heard the appeal filed by the appellants challenging their conviction under Section 376(D) of the IPC and Sections 4, 8 and 12 of the POCSO Act, 2012.The...

Karnataka High Court Reserves Order On WinZO's Plea To Shift US Bank Funds Attached By ED

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday (October 7) reserved its order on an interim plea moved by WinZO US Inc. and WinZO SG Pte. Ltd. seeking permission to shift funds lying in three US bank accounts to another account in the United States, while keeping the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) attachment intact.The ED opposed the plea, arguing that the attached funds could not be transferred to another banking partner. The two foreign subsidiaries of WinZO have challenged the provisional attachment...

Bombay High Court Rejects Anticipatory Bail To Galaxy Hospital Licensee In Illegal Abortion Death Case

The Bombay High Court has held that a hospital licensee cannot disown an illegal abortion conducted by an unqualified person merely by claiming that he had not performed any “overt act”, while rejecting anticipatory bail to the licensee of Galaxy Hospital. The Court observed that the applicant, who had control and supervision over the hospital, was duty-bound to ensure that it was being run in compliance with statutory requirements and that qualified medical practitioners and nurses were...

Karnataka High Court Quashes Case Over Facebook Post Using Term 'Jihadi'; Says Offence Of Outraging Religious Feelings Not Made Out

The Karnataka High Court has held that use of the term 'jihadi' in a Facebook post would not attract the offences of outraging religious sentiments or publishing statements intended to promote enmity between different religious communities.In doing so the court quashed an FIR against a Facebook user accused of hurting sentiments of Muslim community by posting a social media post, holding that...

Bengaluru Court Stays RSS Defamation Case Against Minister Priyank Kharge, Congress Leader Nalapad

A Bengaluru Sesssions Court has stayed further proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Karnataka Home Minister Priyank M. Kharge and Congress leader Mohammed Haris Nalapad over alleged defamatory statements against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).Judge KB Shivaprasad has decided to examine the locus standi of the organisation's member, who filed the complaint.The development comes in a criminal revision petition filed by Kharge, challenging the June 27 order passed by the...

Gujarat High Court Directs FIR Against 'Unknown Person' Over Alleged Custodial Death Of Trade Service Officer In CBI Custody

The Gujarat High Court has directed registration of an FIR "against an unknown person" and investigation by Deputy Inspector General of Police, CID Crime, into the alleged custodial death of Indian Trade Service officer who allegedly died in CBI custody in connection with an illegal gratification case. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 273]The deceased's wife had approached the high court claiming that despite disclosure of cognizable offence the police was not registering an FIR and were treating the case as...

Suicide Note Naming Accused Does Not Establish Abetment Without Proximate Instigation, Mens Rea: Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that mere reference to an accused's name in a suicide note cannot, by itself, establish abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC. The Court observed that there must be a direct or indirect act of instigation in close proximity to the suicide, coupled with the requisite mens rea to abet the commission of suicide. Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi was hearing a criminal revision filed challenging the Sessions Court's order whereby the application preferred by...

Can't Invoke SC/ST Act Against 'Stranger' In Absence Of Specific Intent: Karnataka High Court Quashes Atrocity FIR Against Cameraman

The Karnataka High Court has held that the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 cannot be invoked against a stranger who lacks any specific intent with regard to the offences under the Act. Justice V. Srishananda quashed the criminal proceedings against a cameraman working with a media agency, observing that filming a public...

SFI Activist Abhimanyu Murder: Kerala High Court Refuses In-Camera Trial, But Bars Photography/ Video-Recording Of Accused In Courtroom

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (October 7) declined the plea for in-camera trial in the SFI activist Abhimanyu murder case which is pending before the Sessions Court, Ernakulam.Abhimanyu was stabbed to death in 2018 during a campus political rivalry at Maharaja's College in Ernakulam. Presently, trial is pending before the Sessions Court against 16 accused (Accused Nos. 1 to 16) whereas investigation is ongoing against 10 accused (Accused Nos. 17 to 26).Justice C.S. Dias upheld the order of...

S. 38 BNSS | Police Must Inform Suspect Of Right To Counsel During Interrogation Even Before Formal Arrest: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court observed that, under Section 38 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the police have a duty to inform a suspect of his right to have counsel of his choice present during interrogation, even before he is formally arrested. A Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Achal Sachdev held that the police cannot avoid this safeguard by keeping a suspect formally unarrested and interrogating him at the police station. The Court made the observation while...

Kerala High Court Refuses To Quash Cruelty Case Against In-Laws Accused Of Calling Woman 'Servant', 'Cancer In Their Life'

The Kerala High Court recently refused to quash the matrimonial cruelty case against the parents-in-law of a woman, who allegedly referred to her as 'servant without wages' and 'cancer in their lives'. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 557]Justice G. Girish observed that there are multiple incidents of matrimonial cruelty attributed against the husband's parents and that the same are prima facie sufficient...