Citations: 2026 : LiveLaw (Ker) 383 - 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 396Nominal IndexDr. Manoj T.R. v. University of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 383Shiny S Nair v State of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 384Geetha v State Police Chief and connected matters, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 385Aboobacker v State of Kerala and Anr., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 386Dilha Jan Govindan v. State Bank of India and Ors....
Citations: 2026 : LiveLaw (Ker) 383 - 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 396
Nominal Index
Dr. Manoj T.R. v. University of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 383
Shiny S Nair v State of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 384
Geetha v State Police Chief and connected matters, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 385
Aboobacker v State of Kerala and Anr., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 386
Dilha Jan Govindan v. State Bank of India and Ors. and connected cases, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 387
Arun P.K v State of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 388
Union of India and Ors. v K Sub Maj (Hony Capt) Mohnraj TK, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 389
Lamiya P v State of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 390
A v. B. and Anr., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 391
C.D. Boby @ Dr. Boby Chemmanur v. State of Kerala, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 392
Bahadur Shah Anakkot Nasirali v. Union of India and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 393
The Kerala Hockey v Rajeev P.J and Ors and connected cases, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 394
Ambika Mohanan v State of Kerala and Ors., 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 395
N. Prakash v. Adv. Asha R.K. @ Asha Unnithan, 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 396
Judgments/ Orders This Week
Case Title: Dr. Manoj T.R. v. University of Kerala and Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 383
The Kerala High Court on Monday (July 20) closed the plea filed challenging the appointment of Advocate Girija Gopal as standing counsel for the Kerala University by its Vice-Chancellor after removing Advocate Thomas, who was appointed by the Syndicate in 2016.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas noted that the plea has become infructuous since Advocate Thomas Abraham had resigned.
Case Title: Shiny S Nair v State of Kerala and Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 384
The Kerala High Court has held the mere fact that a cheque is typewritten is not a legally sustainable ground to doubt its genuineness or refuse to invoke the statutory presumptions under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
Justice A. Badharudeen delivered the judgment in a criminal appeal challenging the acquittal of the accused under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act by the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Mavelikkara.
Case Title: Geetha v State Police Chief and connected matters
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 385
The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the State Police Chief to constitute special squads in every district to trace offending vehicles and offenders involved in hit-and-run accidents, observing that such cases are often pushed to the back burner unless they attract media attention. The Court also urged the Union Government to overhaul the compensation framework for hit-and-run victims by studying the models followed in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Justice G. Girish issued the directions while disposing of three writ petitions arising from separate hit-and-run incidents in which the offending vehicles remained untraced despite prolonged police investigations.
Case Title: Aboobacker v State of Kerala and Anr.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 386
The Kerala High Court has held that an accused grabbing a child's chest with sexual intent would satisfy the requirement of sexual assault prescribed under Section 7 POCSO Act, and that the anatomical different between chest and breast is immaterial.
Justice A. Badharudeen delivered the judgment while partly allowing an appeal by a man convicted by the Special POCSO Court, Manjeri.
Case Title: Dilha Jan Govindan v. State Bank of India and Ors. and connected cases
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 387
The Kerala High Court has ruled that banks can refuse education loan to students if their parent, who signs the loan as a co-borrower, has a poor credit score.
Justice M.A. Abdul Hakhim dismissed a batch of petitions filed by students challenging the banks' refusal to grant them educational loan.
Patients Cannot Dictate Diagnostic Tests, Must Follow Doctor's Medical Advice: Kerala High Court
Case Title: Arun P.K v State of Kerala and Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 388
The Kerala High Court has held that patients cannot insist on specific diagnostic tests such as CT or MRI scans, observing that the decision to prescribe such investigations lies within the medical judgment of treating doctors.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas delivered the judgment while disposing of a writ petition filed by a retired Indian Air Force veteran, who sought a direction to the Health Department and doctors at General Hospital, Ernakulam, to conduct a proper medical examination and order diagnostic tests, including CT and MRI scans, for persistent head pain and abnormal sensations.
Case Title: Union of India and Ors. v K Sub Maj (Hony Capt) Mohnraj TK
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 389
The Kerala High Court has held that the mere characterization of diabetes and hypertension as "lifestyle diseases" cannot, by itself, justify denial of disability pension to an armed forces personnel invalided out of service.
A Division Bench of Justice K. Natarajan and Justice Johnson John was considering a writ petition filed by the Union of India challenging an Armed Forces Tribunal order directing grant of disability pension to Honorary Captain Mohanraj T.K., who had been invalided out of service after being diagnosed with Type-II Diabetes Mellitus and Primary Hypertension.
Case Title: Lamiya P v State of Kerala and Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 390
The Kerala High Court has recently held that the State Government has an independent constitutional obligation to consider a representation by a person detained under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (KAAPA) expeditiously, which cannot be kept pending subject to Advisory Board's decision.
It further held that the State has violated Article 22 (5) of the Constitution by keeping the detenu's representation pending until after receiving the Advisory Board's opinion.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. delivered the judgment.
Case Title: A v. B. and Anr.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 391
The Kerala High Court has held that the property, purchased under the joint names of both spouses cannot be claimed by the husband alone by claiming that he paid the entire amount, unless theres is evidence to show that the property was held on trust or that the property was fraudulently purchased in the name of one spouse.
The Division Bench of Dr. Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Preeta A.K. allowed a wife's appeal challenging the Family Court's order declaring her husband as the absolute owner of the property purchased in their joint names.
Case Title: C.D. Boby @ Dr. Boby Chemmanur v. State of Kerala
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 392
The Kerala High Court on Thursday (July 23) quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against businessman Boby Chemannur in the sexual harassment case filed by a Malayalam movie actress in 2025. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 392]
Justice Jobin Sebastian today allowed the plea filed by Chemmanur to quash the proceedings pending before Additional District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam after noting that a settlement has been reached between the parties.
Case Title: Bahadur Shah Anakkot Nasirali v. Union of India and Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 393
The Kerala High Court has upheld the Aadhaar-based OTP authentication for online tatkal ticket booking in trains on IRCTC platform.
The Court, however, asked the IRCTC to consider whether an option can be provided to users to choose between PAN card and Aadhar-based OTP authentication.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. delivered the judgment.
Case Title: The Kerala Hockey v Rajeev P.J and Ors and connected cases
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 394
The Kerala High Court has clarified that although the recognition of Kerala Hockey remains suspended pending proceedings under Section 31A(2) of the Kerala Sports Act, the association will continue to serve as the official channel for forwarding player nominations to Hockey India through a court-appointed technical committee.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sathish Ninan and Justice P. Krishna Kumar issued the clarification while disposing of review petitions filed by Hockey India and Kerala Hockey against the court's earlier judgment in writ appeals concerning the governance of hockey in the State.
Case Title: Ambika Mohanan v State of Kerala and Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 395
The Kerala High Court has recently observed that repeated offences involving theft, house-breaking, and lurking house trespass could create fear and insecurity among the public, thereby affecting public order within the meaning of the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (KAAPA).
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. was considering a petition challenging the preventive detention under KAAPA.
Case Title: N. Prakash v. Adv. Asha R.K. @ Asha Unnithan
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 396
The Kerala High Court recently refused to take contempt action against a lawyer, who participated in a channel discussion and said that a judge made unnecessary comments to attract media attention and to become popular.
The Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar delivered the judgment.
Other Developments This Week
Case Title: Suo Motu v. State of Kerala and Ors.
Case No: W.P.(C) No. 40608 of 2025
The Kerala High Court on Monday (July 20) noted that the final scientific report from the CSIR National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand has been received by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala Gold Theft case.
The Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar today perused the report from the lab, which was received only on July 6.
Case Title: Sreelekha R. v. State of Kerala and Anr.
Case No: Crl.MC 2092/2026
The Kerala High Court on Monday (July 13) passed an interim order directing the investigating officer to desist from taking any coercive action against former Director General of Police (DGP) and Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Councillor Sreelekha R. IPS who is booked for allegedly disclosing the the names of victims in three rape cases through her YouTube channel and blog.
Justice Jobin Sebastian was considering a plea filed by her seeking to quash the FIR registered against her by the Museum Police based on an order of the Magistrate under Section 175 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Kerala High Court Passes Fresh Order Granting Police Protection To Viral Kumbh Mela Star
Case Title: MB v. State of Kerala and Anr.
Case No: WP(C) No. 21065 of 2026
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (July 21) passed a fresh order granting police protection to viral Kumbh Mela star.
The order was passed in a plea moved by the star alleging that hate campaigns were propagated against her on mainstream media and online platforms following her marriage to her husband Mohammed Farmaan, a Muslim man.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas was informed by the counsel for the star that she had approached the police with a representation to give her protection after the initial order granting protection was vacated.
Kerala High Court Seeks Statewide Data On Children's Courts, Pending POCSO Cases
Case Title: District Court Bar Association and Anr. v State of Kerala and Ors.
Case No: WP(PIL) 75/ 2026
The Kerala High Court has recently (15 July) directed the State Government and the Registry of the District Judiciary to furnish comprehensive data on the functioning of Children's Courts and the pendency of cases involving offences against children across the State.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. issued the direction in a public interest litigation filed by the District Court Bar Association, Thodupuzha–Muttom, and its Secretary.
Case Title: Ivanov Alexander and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.
Case No: WP(C) No. 17115/2026
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (July 21) orally questioned the Centre over the continued detention of the foreign crew members of the Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3 ship, which capsized in May last year, observing that India is bound by international obligations to ensure the fair treatment of seafarers.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas today orally remarked that he was of the opinion that at least some of the crew members need not stay in India until the statutory investigation is over
Case Title: Assembly of Christian Trust Services (ACTS) v. State of Kerala and Ors. and connected cases
Case No: WP(PIL) 135/2026 and connected cases
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (July 22) orally observed that there is no order restraining the State Government from reconstituting the Kerala State Waqf Board. The Court further indicated that in the interim, the Government can appoint the statutorily mandated non-Muslim members so that the Board can continue to function.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. made the oral observation while considering four public interest litigations challenging the constitution of the State Waqf Board, over non-inclusion of non-Muslim persons.
Case Title: Dr. M.Kodanda Ram v. State and Ors.
Case No: Crl.A 609/ 2026
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (July 22) voiced serious concerns over the police investigation into the suicide of dental student Nithin Raj, orally observing that there appeared to be a “large conspiracy” involving senior police officials in the manner in which the arrest of the prime accused was handled.
Justice A. Badharudeen made the remarks while considering an interlocutory application filed by the victim's mother seeking relaxation of the Supreme Court's ruling in Mihir Rajesh Shah v. State of Maharashtra (2026) on communication of grounds of arrest, in her son's case.
Case Title: SRIT India Ltd. v. State of Kerala and Ors.
Case No: WP(C) 17963/ 2026
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (July 22) suo motu impleaded the Road Safety Commissioner in the plea filed by SRIT India Ltd. alleging non-payment for installing and maintaining AI Traffic cameras as part of 'Automated Traffic Enforcement' for government's Safe Kerala Project.
When the matter had come up before the bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. on Monday (July 20), the senior counsel appearing for SRIT had told that amounts have not been disbursed inspite of the Court's directions.
2017 Actress Rape Case: Kerala High Court Refuses To Suspend Sentences Of Two More Convicts
Case Titles: Pradeep v. State of Kerala and Saleem @ Vadival Salim v. State of Kerala
Case Nos: Crl.M.Appl. No. 1 in Crl.A No. 2334 of 2025 and Crl.M.Appl. No. 1 in Crl.A No. 2337 of 2025
The Kerala High Court has refused to suspend the sentences of two more convicts in the 2017 Actress assault case.
The Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar dismissed the sentence suspension pleas of Pradeep (A6) and Saleem @ Vadival Salim (A5).
Case Title: Suo Motu v State of Kerala and Anr.
Case No: OP(Crl.) 448/ 221
The Kerala High Court on Thursday (23 July) flagged inconsistencies in official data relating to pending criminal cases against sitting and former Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), directing corrective measures and greater diligence from the State Police Chief.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. was considering a suo motu petition registered in 2021 complying with the directions of the Supreme Court in Ashwini Kumar Upadyay v. Union of India [W.P.(C) No. 699 of 2016] so as to monitor the progress of pending criminal cases against sitting/former MPs and MLAs.
Case Title: Suo Motu Proceedings v. Union of India & Ors.
Case No: WP(PIL) 104/ 2026
The Kerala Government on Wednesday (July 22) told the High Court that compensation has been paid to the family members of the deceased as well as to those injured in Mundathikode fireworks accident.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. was considering a suo motu public interest litigation initiated in the aftermath of the accident that claimed 16 lives and injured 16 others.
The Kerala High Court on Friday (July 24) orally directed the State to ensure that the Disaster Management Authority conducts hazard sweeps in other sites where work is going on, after the recent landslide in Wayanad that occurred on July 7.
The landslide occurred at the site of the Kalladi tunnel (also known as Anakkampoyil Meppadi tunnel project), which is intended to connect Wayanad and Kozhikode districts.
The Division Bench of Dr. Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Preeta A.K. was considering the suo motu proceedings on disaster management that was initiated in the wake of 2024 Wayanad landslides.
Case Title: Dr. M.Kodanda Ram v. State and Ors.
Case No: Crl.A 609/ 2026
The Kerala High Court on Friday (July 24) expressed concern over recurring cases of investigating officers failing to communicate the grounds of arrest in the manner mandated by law, ultimately enabling accused persons to secure release.
Justice A. Badharudeen made the observations while hearing the case relating to the alleged suicide of dental student Nithin Raj.
Case Title: All India Digital Cable Federation and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors.
Case No: WP(C) 17422/ 2026
The Kerala High Court on Friday (July 14) vacated its interim order staying the provision that says viewership arising out of Landing Page shall not be counted in the viewership measurement and Landing Page can be used only as a marketing tool.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas yesterday vacated the stay granted in a plea preferred by All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) and DEN Network Ltd seeking to strike down the afore proviso.
Case Title: The High Court Legal Aid Committee v. The State of Kerala and Ors.
Case No: WP(C) No. 16603 of 2026
The Kerala High Court recently passed an order directing the State government to take measures to improve the Mental Health Centre at Thiruvananthapuram after flagging certain issues during its recent visit to the establishment.
The Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Basant Balaji inspected the Centre last Saturday (July 18) along with amicus curiae Advocate V. Ramkumar Nambiar and other official stakeholders.