'In Poor Taste': Delhi High Court Expresses Displeasure After Lawyer Appears With Red Tape On Lips Claiming He Was 'Silenced' In Court

The Delhi High Court expressed "strong displeasure" with the conduct of a lawyer appearing in a contempt matter with red tape on his lips, which he claimed symbolized that he had been "silenced" during arguments in the hearing of the case. During the hearing on December 1, the senior counsel appearing for the Delhi government had apprised the Court about the re-consideration of proposal by the State Government and the fresh offer made to the petitioner by the State Government, in writing....

Ayurvedic Treatment Centre Classified As 'Hospital', Not 'Hotel', Luxury Tax Cannot Be Imposed: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that an Ayurvedic Treatment centre is to be classified as a 'hospital' and not 'hotel', and therefore, luxury tax cannot be imposed. Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V. Menon stated that the Ayurvedic Treatment Centre admits patients undergoing prescribed Ayurvedic treatment for a minimum duration, without offering hotel amenities,...

Sabarimala Gold Theft: Kerala High Court Denies Pre-Arrest Bail To Former Devaswom Board Officials

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (December 4) denied pre-arrest bail to S. Sreekumar, the former Administrative Officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board, who is arraigned as the 6th accused in the high-profile Sabarimala gold theft case.The Court also rejected the anticipatory bail plea of TDB's former Secretary, S. Jayasree, who stands arrayed as the 4th accused.They are accused of the offences under Section 120B [Conspiracy], 403 [Dishonest misappropriation of property], 406 [Criminal breach...

Bhima Koregaon Case: After 5 Yrs In Jail, Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Former DU Professor Hany Babu

The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Delhi University Professor Hany Babu, who has been booked for his alleged role in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case. A division bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale granted him bail. A detailed order in the matter is awaited. For context, Babu was arrested in July 2020 by the NIA under the UAPA over alleged links to Maoists in the Bhima Koregaon case. His initial appeal against...

Lack Of Independent Witnesses Does Not Dilute Cruelty Allegations In S.498A IPC Cases: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that the absence of independent witnesses in cases arising under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code cannot, by itself, weaken the prosecution's case. The Court stressed that evidence from close relatives is not to be discarded merely because of their relationship with the victim.For context, Section 498A of IPC deals with cruelty towards a woman by her husband or a relative of the husband. Justice M B Snehalatha, was delivering the judgment in a criminal...

Gujarat High Court Allows Pfizer's Additional Claims Worth ₹15 Crore Under Central Sales Tax Act, Sets Aside VAT Tribunal Order

The Gujarat High Court has allowed writ petition by Pfizer, a pharmaceutical major against the Value Added Tax (VAT) Tribunal order that expressly barred the consideration of any additional Form-F. In a judgment dated November 20, 2025, the Division Bench comprising Justice Pranav Trivedi and Justice A.S. Supehia noted the 11-year pendency in litigation in relation to production of...

Bombay High Court Condemns SEC's 'Last-Minute' Action To Postpone Local Body Polls; Defers Combined Results To December 21

In a stinging rebuke, the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) on Tuesday came down heavily on the State Election Commission (SEC) for its 'last-minute' decision to postpone elections in several Nagar Panchayats and Nagar Parishads areas across the state. While the Court stood short of quashing the postponement orders to avoid derailing the democratic process, it issued a crucial directive to safeguard electoral purity and stopped declaration of phased wise results in line with the...

“Most Unfortunate Incident”: Rajasthan High Court Calls For Inquiry, Soft-Skills Training After SHO Misbehaves With Lawyers

While hearing a matter of police officers misbehaving with and mishandling a lawyer who was accompanying a rape victim at the police station, Rajasthan High Court observed that the advocates and police personnel are two limbs of justice delivery system who must act in tandem with each other with mutual respect and cooperation.The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma...

'Unilateral Appointment Of Arbitrator Violates Principles Of Natural Justice': Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Arbitral Award

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday set aside an ex-parte arbitral award ruling that unilateral appointment of a sole arbitrator by one of the parties is violative of the Principles of Natural Justice and fatally vitiates the arbitral process, thereby resulting in nullity. Justice Shampa Sarkar in a judgement delivered on 2nd December, 2025, allowed the application filed by YD...

Non-Examination Of First IO Not Fatal To Criminal Prosecution If Place Of Occurrence Otherwise Proved: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has recently observed that the failure to examine the first Investigating Officer in a criminal case is not fatal to the prosecution's case if the place of occurrence of the incident can be proved through other evidence.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Alok Kumar Pandey was hearing an appeal against conviction under Section 304B of the IPC and sentence of ten years rigorous imprisonment.Per facts, the marriage of the informant's daughter was solemnised with the appellant on...

Delhi High Court Rejects Novo Nordisk's Injunction Plea, Allows Dr. Reddy's to Manufacture and Export Semaglutide

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant Novo Nordisk an interim injunction against Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. and OneSource Specialty Pharma Ltd. over semaglutide, the active ingredient used in its anti-diabetic and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. It held that the Danish company had failed to establish a prima facie case of infringement of its species patent IN'697. A single bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora refused interim relief, holding that Novo Nordisk had...

Allahabad High Court Questions State's Challenge To Minor Rape Victim's Second Statement, Insistence On Polygraph Test

The Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) on Wednesday came down heavily on the Superintendent of Police, Balrampur, after finding that his personal affidavit in a case involving a minor rape victim contained 'shocking' inaccuracies and concealed vital facts from the Court. While seeking personal affidavit of the Principal Secretary (Home), UP Govt, the HC also expressed shock at the State's decision to challenge an order of the court allowing a minor rape victim's plea to re-record her...