Rajasthan High Court Orders Tehsildar To Personally Pay ₹2 Lakh Compensation For 53-Day Illegal Detention, Directs Inquiry

The Rajasthan High Court came down heavily upon the State for illegal detention of a HIV+ person for 53 days after the order of his release was passed and imposed a personal cost of Rs. 2 lakhs on the concerned erring Tehsildar. [2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 250]Terming the act as “diabolical”, the division bench of Justice Farjand Ali and Justice Sunil Beniwal observed that the incident was not...

Can Customer Of Sex Worker Be Prosecuted For Trafficking? Telangana High Court Explains Scope Of Sections 370 & 370A IPC

The Telangana High Court has held that a customer of a sex worker cannot be prosecuted for the offence of trafficking under Section 370 of the IPC; however the customer can be prosecuted under Section 370A(2) IPC if the sex worker is a trafficked person and the customer had knowledge or reason to believe the same. [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 88]For context, Section 370 IPC states that whoever, for...

If Officials Can Pay Costs For Disobedience, Frivolous Litigants Must Pay For Abuse Of Contempt Jurisdiction: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a contempt petition with costs of ₹50,000, holding that the proceedings were a clear abuse of the judicial process and were pursued despite full knowledge that the underlying order had already been set aside in appeal [2026 LiveLaw (PH) 201].Justice Sudeepti Sharma said, "the time has come when not only deterrent costs must be imposed upon...

Telangana High Court Refuses To Quash Suicide Abetment FIR Against Journalist, Advocate Over Allegedly Defamatory YouTube Interview

The Telangana High Court has refused to quash abetment to suicide FIR under Section 108 BNS registered against a journalist and an advocate, over an interview containing defamatory statements against the deceased uploaded on YouTube and circulated on social media. [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 87]The allegation was that in an interview given to the journalist in the presence of the advocate, relatives...

Habeas Corpus Can't Be Granted Despite Non-Communication Of Grounds Of Arrest After Judicial Remand: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has held that a writ of habeas corpus cannot be maintained to challenge an arrest on the ground that the arrestee was not communicated the grounds of arrest, once judicial remand orders have been passed, even though such non-compliance amounts to a violation of the mandatory constitutional and statutory safeguards under Article 22(1) of the Constitution and Section 47...

Compensatory Afforestation Must Be In Same Or Nearby Locality; Trees Planted Elsewhere Can't Compensate Residents: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court while emphasising on the importance of trees, recently made it clear that compensatory afforestation, which is usually done after cutting down trees for a development work, cannot be permitted to be done at a distant or remote place and rather must be done in the close proximity of the very place from where the trees were initially felled.A division bench of Justice...

Revocation Of Sanction Under Maharashtra Public Trusts Act Permissible Only On Proof Of Fraud: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that revocation of a sanction granted under Section 36(1) of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act can be ordered under Section 36(2) only upon proof that the sanction was obtained by fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment of material facts. The Court observed that the jurisdiction under Section 36(2) is not appellate in nature and does not permit the...

Membership Of Bar Associations Voluntary, Can't Restrict Lawyer From Practicing: Telangana High Court Reads Down BCI Rule

The Telangana High Court read down Rule 6 of the Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015 and held that membership in a Bar Association cannot be made compulsory for advocates and non-membership shall not disentitle or restrict an advocate from practising law. [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 86]A Single Judge Bench of Justice N. Tukaramji observed:“Rule 6 cannot...

Rajasthan High Court Rejects Husband's Plea Seeking Wife's Narco, Polygraph & DNA Tests To Rebut Impotency Allegations

The Rajasthan High Court has upheld the rejection of a husband's application seeking joint medical examination of himself and his wife, to refute the allegations of physical incapacity and impotency levelled by the wife in her divorce petition. [2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 248]The bench of Justice Sanjeet Purohit observed that firstly, the application was filed at a belated stage of the proceedings,...

NDPS Act | Separate Contraband Recoveries Can't Be Treated As Commercial Quantity Absent Proof Of Joint Possession: Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court has held that separate recoveries of contraband cannot be treated as a single commercial quantity, in the absence of evidence showing that the accused were acting together or were in joint possession of the contraband. [2026 LiveLaw (Gau) 82]On that basis, the Court modified the conviction of three appellants under the NDPS Act and reduced their sentence from 15...

Payment Of 'Pagri' Doesn't Make Tenancy Non-Terminable, Landlord Can Still Seek Eviction: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that payment of pagri (one-time upfront amount to secure long-term tenancy rights) by a tenant does not make a tenancy non-terminable and does not alter the fundamental landlord-tenant relationship. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna was dealing with the dispute concerning a shop which had been let out to the Appellant under a rent agreement dated January 1,...

Legal Heirs Can't Continue Suit Filed By Deceased Trustee In Representative Capacity, Right Vests In Surviving Trustee: P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that legal heirs of a deceased trustee cannot be impleaded to continue a suit filed by the trustee in a representative capacity, reiterating that the right to pursue such litigation vests only in surviving or duly appointed trustees. [2026 LiveLaw (PH) 200].Justice Vikas Bahl dismissed a revision petition challenging the trial court's refusal...