No Inflexible Rule That Alibi Can Be Proved Only In Trial : Supreme Court Quashes S. 498A IPC Case Against BSF Personnel

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 11) held that the documentary evidence, including official service records establishing the accused's absence from the place of occurrence, constitutes unimpeachable material that can be considered at the threshold stage for quashing of the criminal case. The Court said that the rule that an accused must ordinarily prove alibi during trial is not...

Patna High Court Directs CBI Probe Into Missing Man After Alleged Detention, Custodial Violence By Excise Officials, Slams Police Inaction

The Patna High Court has transferred to the CBI the investigation into the disappearance of a man who allegedly went missing after being detained and brutally assaulted by Excise Police officials in Bhojpur district.A Division Bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Alok Kumar Sinha said that the case presented “rare and exceptional” circumstances warranting transfer of the...

Mere Ownership Of Land Where Transformer Is Installed Insufficient To Prosecute For Electrocution Death: Karnataka High Court

Clarifying the criminal liability for electrocution deaths, the Karnataka High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a doctor who was charge-sheeted for the death of a labourer due to electrocution on her agricultural land. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 292]The single judge bench of Justice Anant Ramanth Hegde held that mere ownership of property where a transformer is installed cannot...

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...

Mother Can't Settle POCSO Case Registered Against Father For Sexually Assaulting Minor Daughter: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently observed that the mother of a minor cannot settle or compromise the criminal case initiated against the father for sexually assaulting or sexually harassing their minor daughter. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 437]Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath denied bail to a man, who was arrested for sexually assaulting his minor daughter, and refused to accept that the case has...

'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) 291]The single judge bench of Justice Ravi V Hosmani, while allowing the petition, observed that another complaint was registered against petitioner and Manager of...

'Hydroponic Weed' Is 'Ganja'; Growing Method Does Not Change Its Legal Status: Allahabad High Court Grants Bail In NDPS Case

Allahabad High Court observes that hydroponic weed is cannabis/ganja and its cultivation method does not change its legal status; the Court grants bail after noting that the 2.3 kg recovery was below commercial quantity.

WhatsApp Messages Inadmissible Without Section 65B Certificate, Oral Evidence Cannot Cure Defect: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that WhatsApp messages relied upon as electronic evidence cannot be read in evidence without the mandatory certificate under Section 65B(4) of the Indian Evidence Act. It added that oral evidence cannot cure the absence of the statutory certificate.A Division Bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri and Justice Rana Vikram Singh made the observation while setting aside...

Rajasthan High Court Grants Bail To 60-Year-Old Woman In NDPS Case Arrested Over Calls With Co-Accused Son-In-Law

Rajasthan High Court granted bail to a 60 year woman, accused in an NDPS Case solely based on the confessional statements of the co-accused, who was her son-in-law as well as their call details that revealed conversations between the two. The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand took note of the “special circumstances” of the relationship between the applicant and the co-accused. It opined...

'Police Can't Conduct Roving Enquiry In Guise Of Inquest': Karnataka High Court Quashes Notices To Hospital, Staff In Unnatural Death Case

The Karnataka High Court has on August 10 [Monday] quashed the multiple notices under Section 94 and Section 179 of BNSS issued by the police to Cloud Nine Hospital and its staff-including its female employees, in connection with the unnatural death of a patient following a polypectomy procedure. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 290]“….when the petitioners have responded to every notice, furnished...

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...