Supreme court
Prosecutors Must Effectively Cross-Examine Hostile Witnesses To Show They're Lying; Merely Marking Contradictions Not Sufficient: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has noted a lack of thorough cross-examination by Public Prosecutors in criminal appeals, specifically with hostile witnesses.The prosecutors often only confront them with their police statement, aiming to highlight contradictions but not fully explore the witness's testimony, the Court said. The Court emphasized that the purpose of cross-examination is to challenge the accuracy and credibility of the witness's statement, uncover hidden facts, and establish if the witness is...
Section 106 Evidence Act Can't Be Applied Until Prosecution Establishes A Prima Facie Case : Supreme Court
In a notable judgment, the Supreme Court has elucidated the principles relating to the application of Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.Section 106 of the Evidence Act is an exception to the general rule( Section 101 of the Evidence Act) that the burden of proof is on the person who is asserting the existence of a fact. As per Section 106 of the Evidence Act, if any fact is within the special knowledge of a person, the burden of proving that fact is on him.While deciding a criminal...
Misuse Of 498A IPC : Supreme Court Requests Parliament To Amend Corresponding Section In Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
Raising serious concerns about the misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code proceedings against the husband and in-laws by the wife, the Supreme Court on Friday (May 3) requested the Parliament to bring out necessary changes to the new IPC i.e., Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 (“BNS”) which contained provisions such Section 85 and 86 akin to Section 498A of IPC. “We request the Legislature to look into the issue as highlighted above taking into consideration the pragmatic realities and...
Meritorious Candidates Of Reserved Category Not Availing Reservation Benefits Should Be Treated As General Category : Supreme Court
In a recent decision, the Supreme Court observed that if the meritorious candidates from the reserved category had not availed any reservation benefit/relaxation, then such reserved category candidates would be treated at par with unreserved/general category candidates on the strength of their marks. Affirming the decision of the M.P. High Court, the bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar observed that despite not availing the reservation, if the meritorious candidates of the...
JJ Act | Plea Of Juvenility Can Be Raised At Any Stage Even After Disposal Of Case : Supreme Court
Observing that the plea of juvenility of the accused may be raised before any court at any stage, even after final disposal of the case, the Supreme Court held that such a plea of juvenility couldn't be rejected without conducting a proper inquiry. Unconvinced with the approach of the High Court for not adverting to the prayer of the appellant/accused to consider his plea of juvenility as...
Supreme Court Directs Minimum 1/3rd Women's Reservation In Supreme Court Bar Association Posts From 2024 Elections
In a major development, the Supreme Court on Thursday (May 2) directed the implementation of a minimum 1/3rd women's reservation in the posts of the Supreme Court Bar Association "henceforth", including the ensuing elections (2024-2025).The Court further directed that in the ensuing elections for 2024-25, the post of Treasurer of SCBA shall be reserved for a woman candidate. "In the...
S.205 CrPC | Court Can Exempt Accused From Personal Appearance Before Grant Of Bail : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 1) observed that even before the grant of bail, the accused can be exempted from showing his personal appearance before the court. “The observation (of the High Court) that there is no provision for granting exemption from personal appearance prior to obtaining bail, is not correct, as the power to grant exemption from personal appearance under the...
S.138 NI Act | Supreme Court Sets Aside HC Decision Allowing Amendment Of Cheque Date Mentioned In Complaint
The Supreme Court recently set aside a judgment of the High Court which allowed a complainant in a cheque dishonour case to amend the date of the cheque mentioned in the complaint.The Supreme Court noted that the amendment application was moved after the evidence stage was over. Here, the date of the cheque was mentioned as 22.07.2010 in the complaint. The same date was mentioned in the...
Suit For Recovery Against 'Sick Company' Not Barred If It Doesn't Affect Company's Properties Or Revival Scheme : Supreme Court
If the recovery proceedings against the Sick Company do not pose a threat to its properties or have adversely impacted the scheme of the revival of the Sick Company, then there wouldn't be a bar for filing a suit for the recovery of the dues against the Sick Company, observed the Supreme Court.Concurring with the findings of the High Court, the bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and...
Non-Bailable Warrants Shouldn't Be Issued Unless Accused Charged With Heinous Crime Is Likely To Abscond Or Destroy Evidence: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered on May 1, cautioned against the routine issuance of non-bailable warrants. The Court said that non-bailalbe warrants not be issued unless the accused is charged with a heinous crime, and is likely to evade the process of law or tamper/destroy evidence. “While there are no comprehensive set of guidelines for the issuance of nonbailable warrants,...
Supreme Court Criminal Digest -March 2024
Anticipatory Bail Custodial interrogation is one of the effective modes of investigating into the alleged crime. It is equally true that just because custodial interrogation is not required that by itself may also not be a ground to release an accused on anticipatory bail if the offences are of a serious nature. However, a mere assertion on the part of the State while opposing the...