'No Person Can Practise As Advocate Without Enrolment': Rajasthan High Court Imposes ₹50,000 Costs On 'Fake Lawyer'

The Rajasthan High Court has imposed a cost of Rs. 50,000/- on a man accused under Section 319(2) BNS, for representing himself to be an advocate without enrolment with the Bar Council and making appearances before the trial court. Section 319(2) prescribed punishment for the offence of cheating by personation. The bench of Justice Ravi Chirania opined,"No person can be permitted to practise...

Departmental Exoneration No Ground For Discharge: Kerala High Court Permits Trial In 2013 Gold Smuggling Case Against Customs Official

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (September 8) upheld the order of the Additional Special Court (SPE/CBI) – II, Ernakulam dismissing the discharge plea filed by three of the accused in the 2013 gold smuggling case. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 493]The case relates to the smuggling of around 56 kg of gold worth Rs. 17.86 crores through Cochin International Airport, causing a loss of Rs. 1.83...

Unemployment, Poor Business, Loan Repayments Can't Justify Failure To Pay Wife's Maintenance: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that a husband's financial constraints, lack of employment, poor business performance or outstanding loans cannot be used as an escape route to avoid his obligation to pay maintenance to his wife, including a divorced wife. The Court observed that the wife's right to maintenance cannot be sacrificed on account of financial difficulties arising from...

Magistrate Can Reject Police Final Report And Summon Accused If Case Diary Discloses Prima Facie Offence: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that a Magistrate may take cognizance of an offence under Section 190(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and summon the accused even where the police have filed a final report concluding that no case is made out, and that in doing so he is not required to follow the procedure prescribed under Sections 200 and 202 of the Code. It held that at that stage...

Convicts Must Be Informed Reasons For Rejection Of Remission, Right To Challenge Order: Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court on Wednesday (September 2) directed the States of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh to file affidavits stating the number of convicts whose remission applications have been rejected and whether the reasons for such rejection have been communicated to them. A Division Bench comprising Justice Michael Zothankhuma and Justice Anjan Moni Kalita was hearing a...

Karnataka High Court Quashes Order Pardoning Approver Pradosh In Renukaswamy Murder Trial, Cites 'Procedural Aberrations'

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday (September 8) set aside a trial court's order granting conditional pardon to an accused-turned-approver Pradosh in the Renukaswamy murder case allegedly involving Kannada actor Darshan, holding that the procedure adopted suffered from 'procedural aberrations'. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 341]Darshan, accused No.2 in the murder case, had approached the High...

Karnataka High Court Allows Private Complaint Against Mallikarjun Kharge Family Trust Over 'Illegal' BDA Land Allotment To Proceed

The Karnataka High Court has recently held that a defective affidavit accompanying a private complaint is a curable defect, and the same cannot be used as grounds to abandon the statutory procedure under Section 175 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and opt for a complaint enquiry under Section 223 BNSS instead. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 340]The single judge bench of Justice...

Woman Marrying Divorcee Can't Claim Maintenance If She Fails To Verify Finality Of Divorce Decree: Karnataka High Court

The Dharwad Bench of Karnataka High Court has held that a woman who knowingly marries a man believing him to be a divorcee cannot claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) if she failed to verify whether the divorce decree had attained finality or was stayed in appeal. Justice Geetha K.B. dismissed a revision petition filed by a woman challenging the...

Has Section 193(9) BNSS Changed Law On Further Investigation?

The power of the police to conduct further investigation after filing a police report has long occupied an uneasy space between investigative autonomy and judicial control. Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) expressly preserved the power of further investigation even after a report under Section 173(2) had been submitted. Yet the provision did not require prior permission of the Magistrate. Over time, the Supreme Court supplied that safeguard judicially. Section 193(9)...

'Violation Of Fundamental Rights': Bombay High Court Directs ₹2 Lakh Compensation To Man Detained Without Notice, Grounds Of Arrest

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to pay Rs. 2 Lakh as compensation to a 26-year-old man who was arrested without being informed of the grounds of arrest or being issued a proper notice. A Division Bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Justice Raj D. Wakode reiterated the well-settled principle that High Courts under Article 226 of...

When Acquittal Isn't Really Acquittal: Section 300 CrPC And Second Cheque-Bounce Complaint

Under the Indian legal system, every law student learns Sec. 300(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) , 1973, Sec. 337 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) almost as an article of faith. Once a person has been acquitted or convicted by a competent court, he cannot, subject to the statutory conditions, be tried again for the same offence. The doctrines of autrefois acquit and autrefois convict are firmly entrenched in our criminal jurisprudence, with Article 20(2) of the...

Kerala High Court Directs Fresh Consideration Of Actor Ansiba Hassan's Plea For Police Probe Against Lakshmi Priya Over Sexually Coloured Remarks

The Kerala High Court on Monday (September 7) asked the Magistrate to consider afresh the private complaint made by Drishyam actor Ansiba Hassan accusing actor Lakshmi Priya and two CAN Channel representatives of making sexually coloured remarks and circulating objectionable content against her.Justice Jobin Sebastian was considering Hassan's plea challenging an order of the Magistrate...