LiveLaw Calcutta High Court Monthly Digest: August 2026
Srinjoy Das
12 Sept 2026 2:49 PM IST
Section 141 NI Act Inapplicable To Sole Proprietorships; Family Members Can't Be Prosecuted As 'Partners': Calcutta High CourtCase: PRAKASH SHARMA -VS- M/S. VISION CELL (PVT.) LTD.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 313The Calcutta High Court has held that the vicarious liability provision under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 cannot be invoked against family members of...
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Section 141 NI Act Inapplicable To Sole Proprietorships; Family Members Can't Be Prosecuted As 'Partners': Calcutta High Court
Case: PRAKASH SHARMA -VS- M/S. VISION CELL (PVT.) LTD.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 313
The Calcutta High Court has held that the vicarious liability provision under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 cannot be invoked against family members of the proprietor of a sole proprietorship concern, reiterating that a sole proprietorship has no separate legal identity and is outside the ambit of the provision.
Case Title: Md. Ayan Nawaz v. Election Commission of India & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 314
The Calcutta High Court recently directed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Appellate Tribunal to expeditiously decide the appeal of a Ph.D. aspirant whose admission to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur had allegedly been stalled after his name was struck off the electoral roll.
Case Title: Poulami Tarafdar (Saha) v. Dibesh Saha
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 315
The Calcutta High Court has held that while a father may voluntarily create a fixed deposit to secure the future of his child, such a deposit cannot be treated as a substitute for monthly maintenance. At the same time, if monthly maintenance is ultimately awarded, the father cannot be compelled to continue the fixed deposit in addition to making periodic maintenance payments.
Case: Anna Sing @ Anan Singha VS Smt. Saswati Mallick
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 316
The Calcutta High Court has held that the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 cannot be invoked to evict a tenant in a landlord-tenant dispute, observing that such disputes must be adjudicated under the applicable tenancy laws before the competent civil court.
Case: Abhishek Banerjee v State of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 317
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee's plea seeking permission to travel abroad for eye treatment after he declined the Court's suggestion to appear before a medical board at Kolkata's SSKM Hospital to determine whether the treatment could be provided in India.
Case: Amit Kumar Agarwal Vs. Union of India, Ministry of External Affairs & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 318
The Calcutta High Court has held that the mere pendency of criminal proceedings cannot be a ground for passport authorities to automatically restrict the validity of a passport to one year where the competent criminal court has permitted its renewal.
Case: Amit Roy v State of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 319
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday dismissed as premature a public interest litigation challenging the constitutional validity of the West Bengal Goonda Control Bill, after the State submitted that the legislation has not yet been notified and has therefore not come into force.
Case: Sk. Rafijul @ Tutul v. State of West Bengal with Ukil Ali @ Akil Ali v. State of West Bengal (CRA (DB) 54 of 2024 & CRA (DB) 74 of 2024)
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 320
The Calcutta High Court has set aside the conviction of two men in a 2014 minor rape and murder case, ruling that the trial court wrongly relied on the alleged extra-judicial confession of a juvenile co-accused to convict them. While finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a complete chain of circumstantial evidence, the Court also accepted the plea of juvenility raised by one of the appellants and held that his trial before a Sessions Court was without jurisdiction.
Case: PARTHA SARATHI TRIPATHY -VS- STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 321
The Calcutta High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against the manager of a dairy manufacturing company in a case concerning lassi allegedly found to be contaminated with E. coli and coliform bacteria, holding that the manager could not be proceeded against vicariously when the manufacturing company itself had not been arraigned as an accused.
Case: KUNAL KUMAR GHOSH VS STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 322
The Calcutta High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh seeking directions to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker to allow him to participate in debates and raise objections on Bills introduced in the House.
Case: KRIPAL SINGH KHURANA VS STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 322
The Calcutta High Court has declared Section 17 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, ultra vires Section 30 of the Advocates Act, 1961, thereby lifting the embargo on advocates appearing before Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals constituted under the Senior Citizens Act.
Case: Md Iqbal v State Of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 323
The Calcutta High Court on Monday permitted Jamiat-e-Ulama to hold a protest rally in Kolkata against the removal of loudspeakers from mosques.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya allowed the rally to be held from Rajabazar to Moulali on August 11, between 11:30 AM and 1 PM. The Court, however, capped the number of participants at 750.
Case: The Member-Secretary, State Legal Service Authority, West Bengal & Anr. Vs. Achiya Bibi @ Achiya Sardar & Others
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 324
The Calcutta High Court has held that an adult victim receiving compensation under the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme has the right to decide how to utilise the amount and that the State Legal Services Authority cannot arbitrarily impose restrictions on its use. The Court accordingly dismissed appeals challenging a Single Judge's order which had set aside directions requiring victims of human trafficking and sexual offences to deposit 75% of their compensation in a bank for 10 years.
Title: Ashley Brian Hyams vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 325
The Calcutta High Court has declared the real estate project “Aqua Golf Villa” at Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas as illegal and unauthorised, and directed the Zilla Parishad, North 24 Parganas, to take steps for its demolition within four weeks.
West Bengal Medical Education Service Members Cannot Claim Voluntary Retirement: Calcutta High Court
Case: Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharya Vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 326
The Calcutta High Court has held that members of the West Bengal Medical Education Services are not entitled to seek voluntary retirement under the West Bengal Service Rules (WBSR), as Rule 75(aaaa) expressly bars such a facility.
Case: Asmita Poddar @ Payel Poddar Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 327
The Calcutta High Court has set aside a Child Welfare Committee (CWC) order declaring the biological parents of a child “incapacitated” to take custody and directing that the child be declared legally free for adoption, holding that the Committee had failed to conduct the mandatory inquiry under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Case: Hasibur Rahaman Mondal & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 328
The Calcutta High Court has held that candidates who applied for NEET-UG 2026 under the General Unreserved or OBC-NCL category cannot subsequently claim reservation under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category after the declaration of results and commencement of counselling.
Case: Priyangshu Mukherjee Vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 329
The Calcutta High Court has directed the authorities to urgently consider the request of a NEET-UG 2026 aspirant seeking an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificate, making it clear that the deletion of his mother's name from the voter list due to a discrepancy in her name cannot be taken into consideration while deciding his eligibility.
Unarmed ATM Caretakers' Job Profile Does Not Qualify As Security Work: Calcutta High Court
Case: State Bank of India Vs Union of India & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 330
The Calcutta High Court has held that the job profile of unarmed personnel employed as ATM caretakers, involving maintaining cleanliness and keeping an overall watch over ATMs, does not qualify as security work.
Case: MD DANISH FAROOQUI VS THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 331
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation alleging that police authorities in West Bengal were orally directing mosque committees to remove loudspeakers, holding that the allegations made in the petition were vague and unsupported by specific material.No Prejudice In Awarding Marks For Wrong Questions To All Candidates: Calcutta High Court Upholds Coal India Promotions
Case: Ganesh Tiwari & Anr. Vs. The Coal India Limited & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 332
The Calcutta High Court has dismissed two writ petitions challenging a promotion process conducted by Coal India Limited (CIL), holding that the uniform award of marks to all candidates for 19 questions found to be erroneous or outside the syllabus did not amount to changing the “rules of the game” after commencement of the selection process.
Case: BHAGWATDAS JAISWAL vs. KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 333
The Calcutta High Court has directed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to immediately stop the operation of a mega garment store, M-Bazaar, being run from the premises of the erstwhile Paradise Cinema Hall at 39 Bentinck Street, Kolkata, holding that a garment business could not be operated from an assembly building without obtaining the requisite permission for change of use under Section 416 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980.
Case: Soma Mukhopadhyay Vs State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 334
The Calcutta High Court has quashed a preliminary enquiry and statements of allegations containing 93 charges against one Bagnan College teacher and 70 against another, holding that several allegations concerning unauthorised absence, attendance violations, service and academic records, promotions and alleged irregularities were either vague, frivolous or so stale that they could not reasonably be answered after decades.
Case: Srikanta Paul v. Purshottam Lal Sanganeria (HUF) & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 335
The Calcutta High Court has held that a person whose tenancy comes to an end by operation of Section 2(g) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997 cannot claim the status of a tenant for invoking the jurisdictional protection under Section 12A of the Act. The Court observed that whether such an occupant is described as a "trespasser" or a "tenant at sufferance" is immaterial, since he no longer falls within the statutory definition of a tenant.
Case Name : Koushik Chatterjee & Ors. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 336
A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Madhuresh Prasad and Justice Prasenjit Biswas held that the reserved category candidates who availed relaxed standards in the personality test are not automatically barred from competing for unreserved vacancies if the governing rules and scheme permit merit-based consideration on aggregate marks.
Union Of India Being A 'Model Employer' Cannot Violate Equality In Public Employment: Calcutta HC
Case Name : Union of India & Anr. v. Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharyya
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 337
A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee and A.C.J. Tapabrata Chakraborty held that regularization of ad hoc employees must be granted uniformly to all similarly situated individuals, and cannot be denied on the grounds of precedent being in personam when the facts and circumstances are identical.
Case: Aniket Manna v State Of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 338
The Calcutta High Court has directed the concerned SIR Appellate Tribunal to decide within two weeks an appeal challenging the deletion of the petitioner's mother's name from the electoral roll, after the issue allegedly came in the way of the petitioner's passport application.
Case: Md Shabir v State of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 339
The Calcutta High Court has directed the SIR Appellate Tribunal to decide within two weeks, an appeal challenging the deletion of a petitioner's name from the electoral roll, after the deletion allegedly came in the way of renewal of his passport.
Case: Swami Atmabodhananda @ Subrata Maharaj General Secretary, Ramkrishna Vedanta Math Vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 340
The Calcutta High Court's Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri has set aside an order directing the District Magistrate, Darjeeling to convene a meeting and consider measures for preservation and maintenance of relics and articles kept at a Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, after a petitioner alleged that sacred relics associated with Swami Abhedananda were being kept in a neglected and unsafe condition.
Case: X v Y
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 342
The Calcutta High Court has held that stray instances of spouses living together after separation do not, by themselves, amount to condonation of matrimonial cruelty, particularly where the subsequent conduct of the offending spouse shows that the cruelty was repeated.
Calcutta High Court Disposes Of Abhishek Banerjee's Plea After HDFC Bank Reactivates Account
Case: Abhishek Banerjee v Union of India and Ors
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 343
The Calcutta High Court on Monday disposed of a plea filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee concerning the reactivation of his bank account, after HDFC Bank informed the Court that the account had been reactivated.
Case :Darjeeling Mary Ward Social Centre Vs. The Union of India & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 344
The Calcutta High Court has held that the principles of natural justice are “in built” into the renewal process under Section 16 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA), and that an FCRA-registered organisation must be given notice and an opportunity to present its case where the Central Government undertakes an enquiry before refusing renewal.
Calcutta High Court Directs No Coercive Steps Against TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee In Three FIRs
Case: Abhishek Banerjee v State Of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 345
The Calcutta High Court has directed that no coercive action be taken against Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee in three FIRs registered against him, holding that his custodial interrogation was not required at this stage.
Case: SUDIP RAHA VS STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 346
The Calcutta High Court has permitted rival factions of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) to hold separate programmes commemorating the organisation's Foundation Day on August 28.
Case: Sinjini Mukherjee v. State of West Bengal
Citation:2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 347
The Calcutta High Court has held that a victim in a criminal proceeding is entitled to obtain copies of documents contemplated under Section 230 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), observing that the mere mention of a wrong statutory provision in an application cannot defeat a substantive legal right.
Case: FOX AND MANDAL AND ANR. Vs SOMABRATA MANDAL AND ORS.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 348
The Calcutta High Court has held that a subsequent user of a trade mark cannot claim rights in the goodwill of a partnership firm merely by asserting an ancestral or familial connection with one of its former partners, and has consequently granted summary judgment in favour of the 1896-founded law firm Fox & Mandal in a passing off action.
Case: X v Y
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 349
The Calcutta High Court has held that a wife's insistence that her husband sever ties with his dependent widowed mother and live separately amounted to mental cruelty in the facts of the case, particularly as the wife's justification for seeking separate residence was based on an allegation of molestation of the parties' minor son which remained wholly unsubstantiated.
Case Details: Anamika Halder (Pal) & Ors. v. Union of India,
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 350
The Calcutta High Court has observed that in railway untoward incident cases, the absence of a recovered ticket from a deceased passenger cannot, by itself, lead to an inference that the person was travelling without a ticket.
Case Details: Ashok Jaiswal v. Amalendu Kumar Nandi
Citatiion: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 351
The Calcutta High Court has held that the expression “dependent” under Section 2(g) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997 must be understood in a financial context, ruling that dependency cannot be stretched to include psychological or other considerations completely divorced from financial dependence.
Case Details: Dr. Gour Das v. Bhabani Bhattacharjee
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 352
The Calcutta High Court has quashed a criminal proceeding against a doctor after noting that the complainant had alleged that he threatened her uncle in 2018, despite the fact that the doctor had died nearly eight years earlier.
Case: Tangra Dhapa Hawkers Samiti & ors. Versus KMC & Ors
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 353
The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 protects lawful vending activities, but cannot be invoked to shield unauthorised permanent structures or encroachments on public streets, the Calcutta High Court has held.
Case: RUPESH BECK v. THE STATE AND ANOTHER
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 354
The Calcutta High Court's Circuit Bench at Port Blair has upheld the conviction and 10-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to a 24-year-old man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), holding that the consent of a minor to a physical relationship cannot be treated as a mitigating factor.
Case: Purba Chatterjee & Ors. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Anr.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 355
The Calcutta High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against four persons accused of subjecting a woman to cruelty, theft and criminal intimidation in connection with a matrimonial dispute, holding that the allegations in the FIR did not disclose the ingredients of the offences against them.
Case: Arjun Singh v State of West Bengal
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 356
The Calcutta High Court has disposed of a plea filed by BJP leader and West Bengal Transport Minister Arjun Singh after the state police informed the Court that the FIRs challenged by him had already been closed following investigation.
Case Title: Husband of Victim Girl & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Anr.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 357
The Calcutta High Court has observed that matrimonial disputes may sometimes cross the “fragile threshold separating civil estrangement from vexatious criminal litigation”, and that the institution of criminal proceedings carrying grave penal consequences against an entire extended family, following invocation of civil remedies by one spouse, demands “rigorous judicial scrutiny”.
Case Title: Smt. Barnali Ghosh (Karmakar) v. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 358
The Calcutta High Court has directed the municipal authorities to issue an addendum to a minor child's birth certificate incorporating the name of his stepfather and altering the child's surname, holding that such alteration was necessary in the “best interest of the minor child”.
