LiveLaw Punjab & Haryana High Court Weekly Round- Up: August 31 To September 06, 2026

Nominal Index [Citations 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 302 - 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 312]

Sheetal Rani v. State of Haryana and others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 302

State of Haryana v. Arun and others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 303

DALJITINDER KAUR @ DALJIT INDER ARORA vs AMARINDER SINGH BRAR AND ORS 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 304

Satnam Singh (since deceased) through his LR Rajwinder Kaur v. State of Punjab 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 305

Manpreet Singh v. State of Punjab 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 306

Lal Chand v. State of Punjab and others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 307

Salwinder Singh v. State of Punjab and others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 308

Akash v. State of Haryana; Vishal v. State of Haryana; Vishal and another v. State of Haryana 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 309

Gursher Singh Sandhu v. State of Punjab & others 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 310

AMRIK SINGH @ AMRIKA v. STATE OF HARYANA 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 311

Sandeep Gupta v. Directorate of Enforcement 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 312

Reports

'Violates Article 21': High Court Quashes Haryana's Blanket Ban On Govt Employees' Foreign Travel

Sheetal Rani v. State of Haryana and others

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 302

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has struck down a Haryana Government instruction imposing a blanket ban on foreign travel, official or personal, by government employees, holding that such an indiscriminate prohibition, applied without regard to individual circumstances, violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

Disclosure Statement Must Pass 6-Fold Test To Qualify U/S 27 Evidence Act: P&H High Court Acquits Four In Minor Sisters' Rape-Murder Case

Case Title: State of Haryana v. Arun and others 

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 303

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted four men who had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two minor sisters, holding that none of the disclosure statements relied upon by the prosecution to justify recovery of physical evidence met the requirements for admissibility under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Absence Of Medical Certificate Can't Defeat Plea For Virtual Evidence Recording Due To Physical Infirmity: P&H High Court

Case: DALJITINDER KAUR @ DALJIT INDER ARORA vs AMARINDER SINGH BRAR AND ORS

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 304

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that trial court cannot reject a person's application for recording evidence through video conferencing solely on the ground that no medical certificate was furnished for citing physical infirmity.

P&H High Court Orders Acquittal In 26-Year-Old Judicial File Theft Case, Says Suspicion Is Not Proof

Title: Satnam Singh (since deceased) through his LR Rajwinder Kaur v. State of Punjab

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 305

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted the accused in a case involving the theft of a judicial file from the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, holding that the prosecution had, at best, raised suspicion but failed to establish a complete and unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence connecting the accused to the offence. [2026 LiveLaw (PH) 304]

'School Bus Driver Owes Higher Duty To Drive Safely': P&H High Court Refuses To Reduce Sentence For Rash Driving

Case Title: Manpreet Singh v. State of Punjab

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 306

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to reduce the sentence of a school bus driver convicted for rash and negligent driving after the bus he was driving overturned, leaving several school children, teachers and the conductor injured. 

Immediate CCTV Access Must Be Given To Warrant Officer Inspecting Police Station For 'Illegal Detention': P&H High Court Issues Directions

Case Title: Lal Chand v. State of Punjab and others

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 307

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that a Warrant Officer appointed by the Court in a habeas corpus matter must be given immediate and unhindered access to CCTV systems and relevant recordings when visiting a police station to verify allegations of illegal detention.

Re-Investigation Can't Nullify Subsisting Acquittal, Even If Trial Court Pronounced Judgment In Breach Of Stay: P&H High Court

Case Title: Salwinder Singh v. State of Punjab and others

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 308

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a judgment of acquittal cannot be ignored in collateral proceedings merely because it was pronounced in defiance of a stay order.

The Court held that invalidity of such an acquittal must first be established before a competent forum and that a court-ordered re-investigation, without an express direction setting aside the acquittal or directing re-trial, cannot be used to summon already-acquitted persons afresh under Section 300 Cr.P.C.

Accused Entitled To Default Bail When Extension Of NDPS Investigation Granted Without Notice Or Hearing: P&H High Court

Title: Akash v. State of Haryana; Vishal v. State of Haryana; Vishal and another v. State of Haryana

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 309

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted default bail to two accused in an NDPS case, holding that an order extending the statutory period for completing investigation beyond 180 days cannot be relied upon against an accused who was neither noticed nor given an opportunity to oppose the extension — even if the extension application was framed as a composite one covering all co-accused in the same FIR.

P&H High Court Quashes DSP's Dismissal Over Lawrence Bishnoi Jail Interview, Holds Alleged Non-Cooperation Can't Justify Dispensing With Enquiry

Case Title: Gursher Singh Sandhu v. State of Punjab & others

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 310

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the dismissal of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who was removed from service by invoking the extraordinary power under Article 311(2)(b) of the Constitution in connection with the widely reported jail interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, holding that alleged non-cooperation and evasion of a charge-sheet, even if true cannot by itself satisfy the constitutional threshold for dispensing with a regular departmental enquiry.

25 Criminal Cases Against Accused Can't Be Sole Reason To Deny Bail After Prolonged Custody: P&H High Court

AMRIK SINGH @ AMRIKA v. STATE OF HARYANA

2026 LiveLaw (PH) 311

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted regular bail to an accused in a car theft-related case registered under Sections 379/411 IPC, holding that an accused's involvement in numerous other criminal cases cannot, by itself, be the sole ground for denying bail.

PMLA | Abuse Of Fiduciary Structures Warrants Greater Circumspection: P&H High Court Denies Bail In ₹236 Cr Bank Fraud Case

Title: Sandeep Gupta v. Directorate of Enforcement

 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 312

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a regular bail application in a money-laundering case arising from an alleged ₹236 crore bank fraud, holding that economic offences involving calculated design, manipulation of records and misuse of corporate or fiduciary structures warrant a more circumspect approach than offences committed in a moment of passion or impulse.

Other Developments

P&H High Court Orders Inquiry Into Officers Responsible For Prolonged Murder Trial, Grants Interim Bail To Accused

NEERAJ V/S STATE OF HARYANA AND ANOTHER

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the District and Sessions Judge, Panipat, to conduct a fact-finding inquiry to identify the officials responsible for the prolonged pendency of an eight-year-old murder trial, while granting interim bail to an accused who has been in custody since 2018 for want of resources to furnish bail bonds despite an earlier bail order in his favour.

Nearly 50% Punjab Jail Inmates Drug-Dependent, 'Serious Challenge' Requiring Highest Priority: High Court

Case Title: Court on its own motion v. State of Punjab and others

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in a suo motu PIL triggered by a district judiciary report on high rates of opioid substitution treatment among jail inmates, has substantially expanded the scope of the proceedings after Punjab's status report revealed that nearly half of all inmates lodged in its jails are drug-dependent. It directed that the Health Departments of Punjab, Haryana and the Union Government, the UT of Chandigarh, and PGIMER, Chandigarh be impleaded as respondents.

Punjab Government Opposes Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra's Appointment As Chief Justice Of P&H High Court

The Punjab Government cabinet on Sunday passed a resolution against the Central government decision for the appointment of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that decision was taken “without its consent.”