Calcutta High Court Refuses To Quash Dowry Case, Says Woman Can File Complaint From Parent's Home If Cruelty PersistsCase Title: Arun Kr. Mondal @ Arun Kumar Mondal & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Anr. Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 272The Calcutta High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a husband and his family members in a dowry harassment and matrimonial...
Case Title: Arun Kr. Mondal @ Arun Kumar Mondal & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Anr.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 272
The Calcutta High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a husband and his family members in a dowry harassment and matrimonial cruelty case, holding that a woman who leaves her matrimonial home can initiate proceedings from the place where she takes shelter if the effects of cruelty continue there. The Court further held that withdrawal of proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act does not bar prosecution under the Indian Penal Code, and that allegations of mala fide or retaliatory litigation are matters to be tested during trial rather than grounds for quashing.
Case Title: Aloke Ghosh v. State of West Bengal & connected appeal (C.R.A. 498 of 2017 and C.R.A. 511 of 2017).
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 273
The Calcutta High Court has come down heavily on the functioning of Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs), observing that the practice of illegally allotting vacant berths to unreserved passengers for money is the primary reason behind several drugging-and-robbery incidents on trains. The Court remarked that TTEs "sell empty berths in trains like vegetables in a market" and directed that a copy of its judgment be forwarded to the General Manager of Eastern Railway and other Railway authorities across the country to ensure maximum penalties against erring officials.
Case Title: Union of India & Others v. Gujjudi Varaprasad
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 274
The Calcutta High Court has upheld the termination of a probationary Constable of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for suppressing his involvement in pending criminal cases while filling up his attestation form, holding that the concealment of criminal antecedents justified termination under the CISF Rules without holding a departmental enquiry.
Case Title: Smt. Shasthi Chatterjee v. Sri Jibananda Chatterjee
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 275
The Calcutta High Court has held that insisting on the examination of the priest who conducted the second day's marriage ceremonies to prove a Hindu marriage stretches the standard of proof "beyond rational, logical and legal limits." Setting aside a 30-year-old acquittal in a bigamy case, the Court observed that once several witnesses consistently testify to the marriage and surrounding circumstances establish that the parties lived as husband and wife, the absence of one priest's testimony cannot defeat the prosecution.
Case Title: Court on its own motion v. Raju Das & Ors., CRLCP 5 of 2025 with CRLCP 6 of 2025 and CRLCP 7 of 2025.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 276
The Calcutta High Court has held eight persons, including Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, guilty of criminal contempt for acts that the Court found scandalised the judiciary and interfered with the administration of justice during the April 25, 2025 protest by SSC recruitment candidates outside the High Court.
Case Title: Union of India & Ors. v. Sanjit Sahu
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 277
The Calcutta High Court has held that a member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) found carrying a spy pen camera with a memory card while on duty at a sensitive installation cannot seek leniency merely because the device was not used. The Court restored the disciplinary punishment imposed on the constable, observing that members of a disciplined force entrusted with securing installations of national importance are expected to maintain the highest standards of discipline and integrity.
Case: Sudipta Ghosh v. State of West Bengal & Anr., CRR 3434 of 2022.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 278
The Calcutta High Court has held that a criminal trial under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act cannot be sustained where the accused was asked to answer a completely different cheque transaction at the stage of recording the plea under Section 251 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Case: Amardeep Singh Johal v. Union of India & Ors., WPA 14474 of 2025.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 279
The Calcutta High Court has held that the Border Security Force (BSF) cannot deny promotion to the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) to an officer solely on the ground of his medical category, particularly when the same medical condition did not prevent his promotion to higher ranks on three earlier occasions after the injury
Case Title: Dr. Banani Bhattacharyya & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Ors., WPA 22644 of 2025.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 280
The Calcutta High Court has set aside the West Bengal Public Service Commission's (WBPSC) recruitment process for the post of Keeper at the State Archaeological Museum, holding that the Commission failed to adhere to its own Rules of Procedure, 1982 and the terms of the recruitment advertisement.
Case: Md. Ajmal Siddique & Anr. v. The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 281
The Calcutta High Court has held that a municipal authority cannot curtail the statutory right of appeal available against a demolition order by directing its implementation within a period that effectively renders the appellate remedy illusory.
Case: Smt. Bipasha Paria @ Mondal v. Sri Kanak Kanti Paria, FMA 259 of 2026
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 282
The Calcutta High Court has dismissed a wife's appeal seeking to set aside an ex parte divorce decree, holding that mere irregularities in the service of summons cannot be a ground to recall the decree when the defendant had prior knowledge of the matrimonial proceedings. A Division Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya passed the order.
Case: Suman Molla v. The State of West Bengal & Ors., WPA (H) 58 of 2026.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 283
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted a petitioner one final opportunity to produce documents establishing the Indian citizenship of a person detained as a foreign national, observing that land records, by themselves, do not constitute proof of Indian citizenship.
Failed Contingent Contract Doesn't Defeat Claim For Services Actually Rendered: Calcutta High Court
Case: Pulinat Ettan Thomas v. Finorchem Limited, AD-COM 02 of 2026
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 285
The Calcutta High Court has held that although a contingent employment contract failed because the agreed condition precedent never occurred, the failure of the contract did not deprive a consultant of remuneration for services actually rendered and accepted by the employer.
Case: Shaista Khan v. Union of India, CRM (NDPS) 1437 of 2026.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 286
The Calcutta High Court has granted interim bail to a woman accused in a high-value narcotics trafficking case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, holding that while pregnancy is not by itself a ground for bail, humanitarian considerations relating to the health of the mother and the unborn child justified her temporary release.