Citations: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 140 - 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 151Legal Heirs Entitled To Compensation Even If They Are Not Dependent: Punjab & Haryana High Court Upholds MACT AwardTitle: Paramjit Singh @ Pammi v. Jaspal Singh And OthersCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 140Mr. Sanjeev Patiyal, Advocate for Respondents.The Punjab & Haryana High Court has upheld a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal...
Citations: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 140 - 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 151
Title: Paramjit Singh @ Pammi v. Jaspal Singh And Others
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 140
Mr. Sanjeev Patiyal, Advocate for Respondents.
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has upheld a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) award granting compensation to the legal heirs of a deceased man, reiterating that the right to claim compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act is not confined to dependents alone.
Justice Virinder Aggarwal dismissed an appeal filed by the vehicle owner challenging the MACT, award dated February 23, 2005, which had granted ₹2,70,800/- along with interest to the claimants on account of the death of Darshan Singh in a motor accident.
Title: Duni Chand v. State of Haryana and others
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 141
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that denial of salary for services rendered over several years amounts to a violation of fundamental rights, including the right to livelihood under Article 21 and protection against forced labour under Article 23 of the Constitution.
Title: Gurtej Singh @ Gurtej Singh Brar v. State of Punjab
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 142
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that an accused already granted regular bail cannot seek anticipatory bail merely because a graver offence has been added later, reiterating that such an accused is deemed to be in “constructive custody of law.”
Justice Manisha Batra noted that the previous petition filed by the petitioner had been dismissed by the Court only on 06.04.2026 and instantly thereafter, the present petition has been filed on 16.04.2026. "The petition does not disclose any change in circumstances, what to say about any substantial or drastic change. On this very ground, the petition cannot be stated to be maintainable. Even otherwise, the petitioner was extended benefit of regular bail by the learned trial Court, vide order dated 05.08.2024,".added the Court.
Title: ABHISHEK MALHOTRA AND ANOTHER v. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 143
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation challenging the levy of charges for downloading FIRs and related documents from the Punjab Police's SAANJH portal, directing the authorities to consider the petitioner's representation.
Title: KXXXX v. GXXXXX
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 144
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that a petition under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking maintenance on behalf of a minor child is maintainable even when filed by the maternal grandmother, if she is the one actually caring for the child.
The Court underscored that beneath the technical objection of maintainability lay a deeper issue—whether a minor's statutory right to maintenance can be frustrated merely because the petition was not instituted by the mother.
Title: Kuldeep Singh v. State of Punjab
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 145
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has dismissed a petition seeking quashing of an FIR, holding that an accused cannot directly invoke the Court's inherent jurisdiction for quashing after failing to secure anticipatory bail, especially when he has neither surrendered nor joined investigation.
Title: Smt. Kamlesh Kumari (deceased) through LR and anr. v. Union of India and ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 146
The Punjab & Haryana High Court enhanced compensation from ₹5.76 lakh to ₹46.46 lakh in a motor accident death case involving a young engineering student, emphasizing that assessing the monthly income of a young engineering student at ₹6,000 is “unrealistic”.
Title: Public Action Committee and others v. State of Punjab and others
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 147
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation challenging the State Government's decision directing various development authorities to provide ₹2500 crore to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), holding that the impugned action does not violate the provisions of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995 (the Act).
Title: XXX v. XXX
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 148
The Punjab & Haryana High Court upheld an order directing two sons to pay ₹30,000 per month as interim maintenance to their aged widowed mother, while restructuring the mode of payment to ensure effective enforcement through salary deductions and auto debit from their account to mother's.
Justice Neerja K. Kalson said, "It becomes necessary to recall that the obligation of a child to maintain his parents is not merely statutory, it is deeply rooted in our civilisational ethos. The ancient injunction of “Matru Devo Bhava” is not ornamental; it is foundational.
Title: Ram Kumar Pandey v. State of Punjab
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 149
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted regular bail to a cab driver accused in a case involving recovery of commercial quantity of Tramadol, observing that prima facie the contraband was recovered from a passenger who had booked the ride through the Rapido app and that the question of conscious possession would be determined during trial.
Justice Subhas Mehla noted, "The petitioner is a cab driver and was operating a cab that had been booked by the co-accused through 'rapido' app. The said co- accused/customer was apprehended in possession of contraband (i.e. from rear seat)"
Title: Trident Limited v. State of Punjab & another
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 150
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed that the apprehension of political vendetta behind a raid conducted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Trident Limited appears “reasonably palpable”, noting the proximity of the action to the change in political allegiance of the company's Chairman Emeritus.
It was alleged by Trident Limited that PPCB raided the factory after owner of the Company— MP Rajinder Gupta, left the Aam Aadmi Party to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Title: SANJEEV KUMAR v.STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 151
Observing that the State, which is supposed to act as a parent to its employee becomes a "reluctant roadblock" instead, the Punjab & Haryana High Court directed Haryana Government to reconsider the case of a PwD employee for promotion to the post of Deputy Forest Ranger.
Justice Sandeep Moudgil said, "It is a somber observation that despite the shield of beneficent legislation forged to safeguard the dignity and promise of persons with disabilities the journey to justice remains an arduous pilgrimage. A statute born of compassion should be a sanctuary, not a promise perpetually deferred."
Other Developments
The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meeting held on May 4, 2026, has approved the elevation of ten advocates as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
In the first set of recommendations, the Collegium cleared the names of seven advocates: Monica Chhibber Sharma, Harmeet Singh Deol, Puja Chopra, Sunish Bindlish, Navdeep Singh, Divya Sharma, and Ravinder Malik.
Punjab AG Threatened After State Blocks 'Lawrence Of Punjab' Trailer
Punjab Advocate General Maninderjit Singh Bedi has received death threats following State's crackdown on content glorifying gangster culture, including the blocking of trailer of “Lawrence of Punjab”— a web series allegedly inspired by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Bishnoi is presently lodged in high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in connection with several cases of murder, extortion, drug trafficking etc.
Punjab & Haryana High Court National Lok Adalat Settles 182 Cases, Awards Over ₹7.83 Crore
The National Lok Adalat was organised on Saturday at the Punjab and Haryana High Court Legal Services Committee as part of the nationwide initiative of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).
The Lok Adalat was conducted under the overall supervision of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Patron-in-Chief of the High Court Legal Services Committee, and Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu.
Five Lok Adalat Benches were constituted to hear matters suitable for amicable settlement. The Benches were headed by Justice Sandeep Moudgil, Justice Alok Jain, Justice Sudeepti Sharma, Justice Rohit Kapoor and Justice Ramesh Chander Dimri.