Bombay High Court Weekly Round-Up: May 18 to May 24, 2026

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 262 - 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 269

Nominal Index

KBC vs BSC, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 262

HRBK vs LRRK, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 263

Mayur Sakharam Sawant vs State of Maharashtra, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 264

Vinodkumar Chellappan Pillai vs State of Maharashtra, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 265

Shekhar Kakasaheb Jagtap vs State of Maharashtra, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 266

Unaided Schools Forum vs State of Maharashtra, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 267

Mumbai Press Club vs Gurbir Singh, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 268

Pradeep Rambhau Gaikwad vs State of Maharashtra, 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 269

Final Orders/Judgments

Wives Are Not 'Deemed Maids': Bombay High Court Says Refusal To Perform Domestic Chores Like Cooking, Cleaning Is Not Cruelty

Case Title: KBC vs BSC

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 262

Wives are not 'deemed maids' and thus, their failure to perform domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning etc does not amount to cruelty, held the Bombay High Court recently. A division bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande quashed and set aside a judgment of the Family Court in Mumbai, which on July 23, 2010 granted divorce to a Chartered Accountant man, on grounds of cruelty.

Even Highly Qualified Persons Not Getting Jobs Due To Rising Unemployment: Bombay High Court Says Educated Wife Can't Be Denied Maintenance

Case Title: HRBK vs LRRK

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 263

The Bombay High Court recently while dealing with case pertaining to the payment of monthly maintenance to a wife, took judicial note of the rising unemployment and observed that even the highly educated persons are jobless and thus, even if a woman is highly educated she cannot be denied maintenance. Sitting at the Nagpur seat, single-judge Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke while dismissing a husband's argument that his wife has studied upto post graduation and is an able-bodied person and thus, can maintain herself.

Recruitment Processes Must Be Conducted With Certainty & Within Timelines; Courts Can't Reopen Them On Vague Pleas: Bombay High Court

Case Title: Mayur Sakharam Sawant vs State of Maharashtra 

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 264

The Bombay High Court recently held that in cases of public recruitment processes, wherein large number of candidates apply for jobs, courts cannot casually interfere at any stage of the process and order reopening of a particular process especially on vague and unsubstantiated pleas made by any candidate. A division bench of Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Hiten Venegavkar refused to grant any relief to one Mayur Sawant (31), who had participated in the recruitment process for the post of Social Service Superintendent (Medical) and cleared the examinations for the same which were held in September 2025. 

Bombay High Court Strikes Down Rule Mandating One-Year Imprisonment For Regular Parole, Calls It Arbitrary & Unconstitutional

Case Title: Vinodkumar Chellappan Pillai vs State of Maharashtra

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 265

The Bombay High Court has struck down the portion of Rule 14(1) of the Maharashtra Prisons (Furlough and Parole) Rules, 2024, which mandated that a prisoner could become eligible for regular parole only after completion of one year of actual imprisonment. The Court held that the condition was manifestly arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

Bombay High Court Quashes FIRs Against Former Top Cop Sanjay Pandey, Lawyer Over Alleged Bid To Frame Fadnavis, Shinde In Extortion Case

Case Title: Shekhar Kakasaheb Jagtap vs State of Maharashtra

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 266

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (May 20) quashed the First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged against Sanjay Pandey— the former Commissioner of Mumbai Police who also served as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra, and a lawyer— who were accused of deliberately re-opening a criminal case against a businessman and forcing him to give certain statements against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Deputy Eknath Shinde.

Bombay High Court Stays Deployment Of Private Unaided, Minority School Teachers For Census Duties

Case Title: Unaided Schools Forum vs State of Maharashtra

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 267

The Bombay High Court on Friday (May 22) granted an interim stay on deploying the teaching and non-teaching staff of the private unaided and private unaided minority schools for the decennial census operations across Maharashtra. A vacation court presided over by a division bench of Justice Gautam Ankhad and Justice Sandesh Patil while granting interim relief to thousands of staff working in over more than 500 private unaided and private unaided minority schools across Maharashtra, prima facie, held that there was no 'express' obligation on the staff of such schools to be requisitioned for census work.

Bombay High Court Stays Order Halting Journalist's Expulsion From Mumbai Press Club Over Inviting Bhima Koregaon Case Accused

Case Title: Mumbai Press Club vs Gurbir Singh

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 268

The Bombay High Court on Friday (May 22) stayed a trial court order which had halted the expulsion of senior journalist Gurbir Singh from the Mumbai Press Club (MPC), for allegedly holding an event attended by eight accused named in the Bhima Koregaon - Elgar Parishad case. In doing so, the High Court held that the trial court, in the interim order, had not disclosed its reasons for granting sweeping ad-interim reliefs and "virtually granted the substantive final reliefs".

Bombay High Court Grants Parole To POCSO Convict To Construct New House After Old One Demolished For Navi Mumbai Airport Project

Case Title: Pradeep Rambhau Gaikwad vs State of Maharashtra

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 269

The Bombay High Court recently granted 25 days parole to a man convicted under the stringent Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, for constructing a new house, after his previous home was demolished by the Maharashtra Government following acquisition of the land parcel (on which his house stood) for the Navi Mumbai International Airport. Sitting at the Nagpur seat, a division bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Justice Nivedita Mehta noted that the convict Pradeep Gaikwad has already spent more than nine years in jail and also that despite his house being demolished, he was yet to get the compensation from the State.

Other Developments:

Bombay High Court Judge Recuses From Hearing Mumbai Press Club Plea, Cites His Appearance As Prosecutor In Bhima Koregaon Case

The ongoing controversy over Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao - both accused in the Bhima Koregaon - Elgar Parishad case, who allegedly flouted their bail conditions and together attended an event organised by journalist Gurbir Singh at the Mumbai Press Club (MPC), reached the Bombay High Court on Tuesday (May 19) with Justice Sandesh Patil recusing from hearing the matter. Notably, one of the bail conditions imposed by the special court on all the 15 accused in the case is that they will not interact with each other, however, Bharadwaj and Rao together attended Singh's event at the MPC on January 19, 2026, which was allegedly for discussing the legal and other issues concerning the case.

Bombay High Court Considers Framing Interim Guidelines For Protection Of Advocates From Violence

The Bombay High Court has considered framing interim guidelines for the protection of advocates from violence, harassment, coercion and criminal intimidation till appropriate legislation on the subject is enacted. The Court observed that the issue raised in the public interest litigation was of considerable importance and concerned assaults on advocates affecting the administration of justice.