'Baseless Findings': 13 Sitting Allahabad HC Judges Urge CJ To Convene Full Court Against SC Order Stripping HC Judge Of Criminal Roster

In a strong and unprecedented move, at least 13 judges of the Allahabad High Court have written to the Chief Justice of the HC urging him to convene a Full Court to consider not giving effect to certain directions issued by the Supreme Court in its August 4 order taking away Justice Prashant Kumar's criminal roster until his retirement. The letter seeks consideration of the...

Delhi High Court Refuses To Stay Release Of 'Udaipur Files' Movie, Dismisses Accused's Plea For Interim Relief

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (August 7) refused to stay the release of “Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder" which is scheduled for release on Friday, i.e., August 8. The court rejected one of the accused in the case Mohammad Javed's plea for interim relief seeking stay on the release of the film. It however issued notice on the main petition against the order passed by the...

Punjab & Haryana High Court Calls For Union's Response On Plea Seeking Uniform Guidelines For Carrying 'Kirpan'

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought a response from the Union and State Governments on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the formulation of uniform guidelines governing the carrying of the 'Kirpan'—a short sword or knife with a curved blade, worn as one of the five distinguishing signs of the Sikh Khalsa.Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry was hearing a...

O.XI R.5(4) CPC | Right To Cross Examine Is Indispensable, Adverse Inference For Non-Compliance With Orders Can Only Be Drawn At End Of Trial: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court has said that the right to cross-examination, whether or not encoded in statute, emerges as a sine qua non of adjudication. It is not merely permissible, it is an indispensable right.Justice M Nagaprasanna held thus while upholding an order passed by the Commercial Court dismissing an application filed by the petitioner Sivagami N, seeking the trial court to draw...

Party Delays In Filing Written Statement, But Trial Court Unnecessarily Blamed For Delay In Disposal Of Case: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court has recently dismissed a petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution, holding that a challenge to earlier orders passed in a civil title suit could not be revived through repeated petitions once those orders had attained finality.The Court said in its Order that the petitioners had themselves invited the situation by failing to appear and file their...

[S.22 BNS] “Erratic Behaviour, Classic Signs Of Psychotic Disorder”: Chattisgarh HC Overturns Murder Conviction Over Accused's Unsound Mind

The Chhattisgarh High Court has used grounds of insanity to overturn a conviction of a 25 year old man (appellant) who murdered his father and grandmother after stating “I am Hanumanji, Bajrang Bali, Durga.”The appellant was convicted under Section 302 (punishment for murder) and Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of IPC and sentenced to undergo life...

NHAI Can't Force Public To Pay Toll If Highways Are Not Well-Maintained: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently observed that toll fees cannot be collected from the public when access to highway is hindered due to ill-maintained roads and consequent traffic congestion. It, therefore, suspended the toll collection in Paliyekkara Toll Plaza in Thrissur district for four weeks.The Division Bench of Justices A. Muhammed Mustaque and Harisankar V. Menon observed:"It is to...

Bengaluru Stampede: State Submits Judicial Inquiry Report To Karnataka High Court In Sealed Cover

The Karnataka Government on Thursday submitted to the High Court copies of the report prepared by the one member judicial inquiry commission, with regard to the Bengaluru Stampede which happened in May this year.Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty submitted copies of the original report in two volumes and also a gist of the report in a sealed cover. The development comes in a petition...

Recording Adverse ACR Against Govt Employee During COVID Medical Leave Is Arbitrary: J&KL High Court Quashes Performance Report

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court quashed a “below average” Annual Confidential Report (ACR) recorded against a government employee for the year 2020, observing that the entry was made while the petitioner was on sanctioned medical leave due to COVID-19.A bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Justice Rajesh Sekhri held that such an adverse remark, made without any observable basis of...

'Dividend Is Company Discretion': Kerala High Court Questions Cheating Charges If Complainants In Fashion Gold Case Are Shareholders

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (August 7) orally asked if the offence of cheating under Section 420 IPC would be made out if the complainants in the Fashion gold case turned out to be shareholders of the four accused companies. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas was considering the bail pleas of former MLA M.C. Kamarudheen and his business associate T.K. Pookoya Thangal, who respectively were...

Order 7 Rule 14 CPC Cannot Be Invoked To Seek Production Of Documents That Inadvertently Remained In Counsel's Brief: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that the plea that documents were inadvertently left in the counsel's brief is not a valid ground to invoke the provisions of Order VII Rule 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure.Rejecting the Contention of the Petitioner Justice Ajay Mohan Goel remarked that: “These pleas are no reasons to invoke the provisions of Order 7, Rule 14 of the Code of...

Armstrong Murder Case: Madras High Court Quashes Detention Of Accused Under Goondas Act, Says Scrutiny Of 14K Pages In A Day Impossible

The Madras High Court has set aside the detention order passed against 14 persons who have been accused to be involved in the murder of BSP Leader Armstrong in July 2024. While setting aside the detention order, the bench of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice V Laksminarayanan noted that the detaining authority, while passing the detention orders, appeared to have scrutinised 14,000 pages in...