LiveLaw High Courts Daily Highlights: October 07, 2026

Advocate Moves Madras High Court Seeking FIR Against TN Minister Marie Wilson For His Statement Admitting That He Gave BribeDelhi High Court Orders Criminal Complaint Against 6 CBI Officers For Making False Statement In CourtWife Spending On Child's Birthday From Her Own Earnings Not Cruelty By Husband: Karnataka High CourtInforming Accused In Prison About Plea To Extend Investigation Period Not Enough; Must Produce Them Before Court: Bombay High CourtMaharashtra Has Become 'Centre' Of Maoist...

'We Don't See Any Improvement': Bombay High Court Pulls Up BMC Over Garbage, Poor Hygiene Across Mumbai

Just because South Bombay and Worli are clean does not mean that the entire city of Mumbai is clean, remarked the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (October 7) while pulling up the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for not undertaking effective measures to maintain proper health and hygiene across all the 24 wards in the city. A division bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Dr Neela Gokhale said that the problem of waste dumping on streets, open spaces has not stopped yet,...

Penalty For Delayed Compensation Under Employees' Compensation Act Cannot Be Imposed Without Finding Of Unjustified Delay: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that while interest on delayed payment of compensation follows the default under Section 4-A(3)(a) of the Employees' Compensation Act, 1923, imposition of penalty under Section 4-A(3)(b) requires a specific finding by the Commissioner that the delay was unjustified and can be made only after giving the employer an opportunity to show cause.The Court clarified that a mere prayer for penalty by an employee, or the fact that compensation was...

MP High Court Directs Father To Return Daughter's Custody To Mother If He Remarries Or Enters Live-In Relationship

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted custody of a four-year-old child to her father, until he remarries or enters into a live-in relationship. [2026 LiveLaw (MP) 408]Noting that the child's mother (the wife) was residing with another man and does not wish to return to her husband, the bench of Chief Justice Alpesh Y Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain deemed it appropriate to grant custody to...

Migrated In Search Of Employment, Unable To Pay Fine: Madras High Court Reduces Default Sentence Imposed On Bangladeshi National

The Madras High Court recently upheld the conviction of a Bangladeshi national for violating the provisions of the Foreigners Act and entering India without a valid passport, visa, or travel documents. [2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 487] Though Justice Nirmal Kumar upheld the sentence of 2 years and a fine of Rs 10,000, the court noted that the individuals had migrated to India in search of employment and were unable to pay the fine amount. Thus, considering the pecuniary circumstances, the court...

'Merely Running School Is Not Charitable Purpose': Bombay High Court Rejects Education Trust's Property-Tax Exemption Bid

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Jai Hind Sindhu Education Trust seeking exemption from property tax, holding that an educational institution must establish for every financial year that its buildings and lands are solely occupied and used for a public charitable purpose. The Court held that merely running an educational institution, or being a linguistic...

P&H High Court Initiates Criminal Contempt Case Against The Hindu, Dainik Bhaskar Over Ads Alleging 'Conspiracy' Against Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Paid narratives insinuating Courts are party to a conspiracy against an accused or convict, obstructs justice administration, Court said.

'We Are Living In Era Of Article 21': Jharkhand High Court Questions Detention Of Woman After Acquittal

The Jharkhand HC has held that the liberty of a person cannot be taken away without authority of law and questioned the continued custody of a woman despite her acquittal in a criminal case.A Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Akhil Kumar was hearing a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking production of Rina Devi before the Court for judicial scrutiny of the legality and continuance of her detention.The petition was filed by a social worker dealing...

Covid Ex-Gratia Claims Cannot Be Rejected Merely Because Test Was Conducted At Unauthorised Laboratory: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that non-authorisation of the laboratory which conducted a Covid-19 test cannot, by itself, be treated as a ground to deny ex-gratia compensation under the Bihar Covid Sahayata Yojana, 2022. The Court observed that “nowhere in the said eligibility criteria does the accreditation, empanelment or authorisation status of the testing laboratory that conducted the RT-PCR/RAT test find mention as a disqualifying factor.”A Single Judge Bench of Justice Alok Kumar was...

Karnataka High Court Allows Minor To Change Name For Astrological Beliefs, Says Everyone Has Right To Be Recognized By Their Name

The Karnataka High Court has recently allowed an appeal filed by a minor girl seeking a declaration to change her name from 'Lakshmi N.'to 'Veena N.' in her school records due to numerological & astrological beliefs of her parents, holding that the right to be recognized by one's name is a civil right and that a civil suit for change of name is maintainable.[2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 404]The...

'Signature Variations Alone Cannot Establish OMR Tampering': Patna High Court Dismisses NEET Aspirants' Pleas

The Patna HC has held that mere dissimilarity between signatures appearing on a candidate's admit card and OMR answer sheet cannot, by itself, establish that the OMR sheet was tampered with or swapped, particularly where the examination authority produces the original OMR records and there is no convincing evidence of manipulation.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Harish Kumar was hearing petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution filed by NEET-UG 2026 aspirants challenging the marks and OMR...

'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...