Preparing Joint Consent Memo To Search Both Accused Amounts To Violation Of Mandatory Requirement U/S 50 NDPS Act: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that when two accused are searched under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, each must be individually informed of their right under Section 50 of the Act.Relying on the Supreme Court judgements of State of Rajasthan v. Parmanand & Anr., 2014 & Ranjan Kumar Chaddha v. State of Himachal Pradesh, 2023 the Court held...

Inimical Relationship Between Victim & Accused Requires Cautious Evaluation: HP High Court Upholds Acquittal In Molestation Case

The Himachal Pradesh High Court upheld the acquittal of an accused in a molestation case, observing that when the victim submits that she does not have cordial relations with accused and was not on talking terms with him, her testimony requires greater caution.Justice Rakesh Kainthla held that: “The informant admitted that she had an inimical relationship with the accused, and she was not...

Date Of Passing Final Exam Relevant For Batch-Wise Recruitment, Not When Certificate Was Issued: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that for batch-wise recruitment, the year and month of passing the final examination must decide the candidate's batch and not the date on which the certificate was issued.Rejecting the State's contention, Justice Sandeep Sharma observed that “…it is nowhere mentioned in the R&P Rules that date of issuance of certificate given in the certificate...

Sub-Tenant Bound By Eviction Order If He Fails To Establish Direct Tenancy Under Landlord's Predecessor-In-Interest: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that if the sub-tenant fails to establish direct tenancy under landlord or predecessor-in-interest, the eviction order passed against tenant would be binding on them as well.Justice Satyen Vaidya remarked that: “The sub-tenant was not a necessary party to an eviction petition on the ground of sub-letting, but since in the instant case the landlord...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Weekly Round-Up: September 22 To September 28, 2025

Citations: 2025 LiveLaw (HP) 167 to 2025 LiveLaw (HP) 175 Nominal Index: Bhutto Ram V/s State of H.P.,2025 LiveLaw (HP) 167Mahesh Ram V/s State of Himachal Pradesh & Others., 2025 LiveLaw (HP) 168Vidya & Ors v/s Vinita & Ors.,2025 LiveLaw (HP) 169Kamla Devi vs State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors.,2025 LiveLaw (HP) 170Prem Lal V/s State of H.P. & Ors.,2025 LiveLaw (HP)...

Using MGNREGA Funds To Pay Skilled Employees Cannot Justify Denial Of Regularisation: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that MGNREGA is designed only for unskilled manual work, and cannot be used to deny regularization to skilled roles like Computer Operators.The Court observed that the State wrongly used MGNREGA funds to pay for skilled services despite having sanctioned posts.Rejecting the State's contention, Justice Sandeep Sharma remarked that: “Unskilled manual...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Commutes Death Penalty Of Convicts In Four-Year-Old Child's Murder Case

The Himachal Pradesh High Court commuted the death penalty awarded to Chander Sharma (26) and Vikrant Bakshi (22) in the 2014 Yug Gupta murder case, directing that they will serve life imprisonment “till their last breath.” The Court held that “…it is very difficult for us to proceed on the assumption that the convict had treated Yug with brutality justifying the imposition of...

Conviction Of Employee Does Not Lead To Automatic Dismissal, Disciplinary Enquiry Must: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that a government employee cannot be dismissed from service solely on the ground of conviction, and that the disciplinary authority must conduct an enquiry or record reasons for not conducting an enquiry.Rejecting the contention of HRTC, Justice Sandeep Sharma remarked that: “Though learned counsel for HRTC argued that Rule 19(i) permits...

Centre Notifies Appointment Of Two Advocates As Judges Of Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Central Government on Friday (September 26) notified the appointment of two advocates as judges of Himachal Pradesh High Court. They are Jia Lal Bhardwaj and Romesh Verma.Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal took to X to notify the appointments. The post reads:"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice...

Employer Liable To Reimburse Customs Duty Paid By Contractor If Exemption Certificate Not Provided At Import Stage: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed an appeal under section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act) filed by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (HPPCL) upholding an arbitral award in favour of Orange Business Service India Technology Pvt. Ltd. The court held that the failure to provide exemption certificate by employer at the time of importation of...

HP High Court Upholds Acquittal Of Rape Accused, Says Lack Of Injuries On Victim's Body Shows Presence Of Consent

The Himachal Pradesh High Court upheld the acquittal of the accused in a rape case, observing that the medical evidence, which revealed no injuries on the prosecutrix, supported the view that she may have consented to the alleged act.Division Bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur & Justice Sushil Kukreja noted that: “The medical evidence clearly shows that the prosecutrix did not sustain...

Right To Appeal Cannot Be Made Conditional Upon Deposit Of Decretal Sum: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that an appellate court cannot impose the condition of depositing the decreetal amount as a precondition for condonation of delay under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.Justice Ajay Mohan Goel remarked that: “The learned 1st Appellate Court had no authority to issue a direction that the application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act is allowed subject...