Supreme Court Restores Rape Case Acquittal As Forensic Evidence Contradicts Prosecution Version

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 11) restored the acquittal of a man for an offence of rape of a minor, holding that the absence of blood on the victim's clothes and the lack of any injury on her body, as reflected in the forensic and medical evidence, created a grave doubt about the prosecution's case. A bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar set aside the...

Jharkhand High Court Upholds Mother's Life Sentence For Killing 4 & 2-Year-Old Sons, Says 'Instead Of Protecting, She Devoured Them'

The Jharkhand High Court has upheld the conviction and life sentence of a woman for the murder of her two minor sons, aged four and two years.A Division Bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Justice Arun Kumar Rai found that the circumstances on record pointed towards the woman's involvement in the killings. The Court dismissed her appeal against a 2021 trial court judgment convicting her...

Orissa High Court Denies Pre-Arrest Bail To Journalist Booked For Claiming Odisha Minister Offered Him Bribe

The Orissa High Court has recently denied anticipatory bail to the editor of a digital media platform for his alleged defamatory remarks against the State Education Minister Nityananda Gond over multiple errors found in school textbooks.The petitioner Sudhanshu Sekhar Rout, who is the Editor-in-Chief of an online news platform called 'Focus Plus', allegedly made certain comments claiming that...

'Omnibus Statement' To Elicit Different Views Not Blasphemous: Karnataka High Court Quashes FIR Against News Anchor Over Remarks On Prophet

The Karnataka High Court has recently quashed an FIR registered against Suvarna News anchor Ajit Hanumakkanavar for allegedly making disrespectful remarks about Prophet Mohammad during a televised debate. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 288]The single judge bench of Justice Ravi V Hosmani, while allowing the petition, observed that another complaint was registered against petitioner and Manager of...

Sister-In-Law's Advice To Take Care To Prevent Miscarriage Isn't Harassment For Not Bearing Child, Doesn't Amount To Abetment: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has observed that merely asking a woman to take care of her health, particularly her food habits to prevent a future miscarriage, may not be sufficient to conclude that she was being harassed or tortured for not bearing a child. The Court made the observation while granting bail to a woman accused of abetting the suicide of her sister-in-law, holding that...

Adverse Entry For Specific Period Won't Bar Selection Grade Based On Subsequent Unblemished Service: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that where an adverse entry against a government servant is confined to a specified period, the service he renders after that period counts towards the ten years of satisfactory service required for grant of selection grade. It further held that a selection grade falling due on the day immediately after superannuation remains admissible to him.The bench...

Police Can Freeze Bank Accounts During Investigation Under Section 106 BNSS: Karnataka High Court In Jar Gold Case

The Karnataka High Court has held that investigating officers are empowered to freeze bank accounts during investigation under Section 106 of the BNSS and are not required to invoke Section 107 for attachment of property in every case. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 286]The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna made the ruling while allowing criminal petitions filed by the State of Karnataka...

Rajasthan High Court Flags 'Menace' Of Fake Birth Certificates In Habeas Corpus Cases, Orders Steps To Prevent Illegal Issuance

The Rajasthan High Court has flagged the growing "menace" of forged and illegally issued birth certificates being produced in habeas corpus petitions to portray missing minor girls as majors, directing the State Government to ensure that such certificates are not issued without due verification of facts and in violation of statutory provisions.The division bench of Justice Mahendra Kumar...

24 Knife Wounds On One Victim Made Sole-Assailant Theory Doubtful: Patna High Court Orders Further Probe Into Double Murder

The Patna High Court has directed the Bihar Police to conduct further investigation into the 2023 murder of two retired professors, observing that the nature of the injuries suffered by the victims indicated a strong possibility that more than one person was involved in the crime.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Jitendra Kumar passed the direction while hearing a writ petition filed by...

Breach Of Promise To Marry Not Cheating Unless Proved To Be Dishonestly Made At Inception: Orissa High Court Reiterates

The Orissa High Court has held that a man cannot be convicted of the charge of cheating under Section 417 of the IPC in an alleged case of sex on false promise of marriage, if it is not proved by the prosecution that his initial promise of marriage was dishonest or fraudulent and the same induced the victim to submit herself to the intercourse. [2026 LiveLaw (Ori) 91]Clarifying the...

'Identical Eyewitness Accounts Bear Imprint Of Tutoring', Supreme Court Upholds Acquittal Of 20 Persons In Murder Case

The Supreme Court recently upheld the acquittal of twenty persons in a murder case, after finding that the conviction was based on the strikingly similar nature of the eyewitness accounts, which the Court deemed improbable given that the incident involved a large number of persons being witnessed by several individuals positioned differently. “It is a settled principle that an identical...

No Contact With Wife For Over 5 Months Before Suicide: Allahabad High Court Acquits Husband; Says Giving Dowry Is Also An Offence

The Allahabad High Court recently acquitted a husband who had been convicted of subjecting his wife to cruelty, abetting her suicide and offences under the Dowry Prohibition Act, observing that when the trial court itself found that the husband had no contact or communication with his wife for more than 5 months before she died by suicide, it could not be said that he had abetted the...