Beas River Tragedy | HP High Court Upholds Criminal Negligence Charges Against Faculty Members Over Death Of Students On College Trip

The Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed a revision petition filed by the faculty members of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, over the death of several students on a college trip in the Beas River tragedy, holding that the faculty members were fully aware that the students were likely to die, yet they did not stop the students from entering the riverbed.The...

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...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Upholds JJB's Decision To Try 16-Yr-Old As An Adult For Alleged Rape Of 7-Yr-Old Girl

In the alleged rape of a 7 year old girl by a 16 year old boy, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that preliminary assessment conducted by the Medical Board in accordance with Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, 2015 found that that the accused had an IQ of 92 and was fully aware of the consequences of his acts as he had threatened the victim and told...

State Can't Recover Overpaid Salaries After 5 Yrs, In Absence Of Misrepresentation From Workers: HP High Court Aids Class-III Workers

The Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed 36 LPAs filed by the state, holding that the recovery of overpaid salaries after 5 years cannot be made from class-III workers, when there was no misrepresentation on the part of the workers.Upholding the finding of the Single bench, Justice G.S. Sandhawalia & Justice Ranjan Sharma held that: “since the petitioners are Class-III employees and...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Seeks Status Report On Safety Of 140-Year-Old Underground Water Tank At Shimla Ridge

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has sought a status report on the safety of the 140-year-old underground water tank at Shimla Ridge.A division bench of Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma issued notices and sought a status report from the State Government and the Municipal Corporation of Shimla on the structural safety of the 140-year-old underground water tank...

HP High Court Declares S. 163-A HP Land Revenue Act As Unconstitutional; Directs Removal Of Encroachments On Govt Land By Feb 28, 2026

In a significant ruling, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday (August 5) declared Section 163-A of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1952, which empowered the State Government to frame rules for regularisation of encroachments on government land, as UNCONSTITUTIONAL. In its order, a Bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi observed that...

Providing Sewerage Connections Is Statutory Duty Of Municipal Council, Consent Of Property Owners Not Required: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that under Section 141 of the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Act, 1994, it is the duty of the Municipal Council to provide sewerage connections, and it cannot withhold this service merely due to objections from private landowners.Rejecting the contention of Municipal Council, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel held that: “There is no statutory requirement that the...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Weekly Round-Up: July 28, 2025, To August 3, 2025

Citation No: 2025 LiveLaw (HP) 105 to 2025 LiveLaw (HP) 112Nominal Index:Rasham Raj V/s State of H.P. & Ors.,2025 LiveLaw (HP) 105State of Himachal Pradesh v/s Sarojioni.,2025 LiveLaw (HP) 106Inderpal Singh v/s Himachal Pradesh Univeristy & Others.,2025 LiveLaw (HP) 107Mahesh Thakur v/s State of H.P. & Ors., 2025 LiveLaw (HP) 108Sanjay Kumar v/s State of H.P. &...

HP High Court Denies Relief To Cops Accused Of Outraging Woman's Modesty, Says State Can't Protect Them From Probe By Filing Revision Plea

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that the State cannot challenge a court's direction for investigation merely because the proposed accused are government servants.The Court emphasised that, as per Article 14 of the Constitution of India, every individual is entitled to equality before law or the equal protection of the laws. Thus, the Court held that “the State cannot discriminate...

'Meritorious Students Don't Deserve Such Treatment': HP High Court Imposes ₹25K Cost On School Board For Denying Merit Certificate

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that it is the duty of the school education board to issue a merit certificate to a candidate after their marks are increased in the revaluation process, and it cannot shift the onus onto the school authorities.Justice Ajay Mohan Goel remarked that:“The petitioner cannot be denied the merit certificate arbitrarily just on the grounds as are propagated...

CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972 | Maternity Leave For Third Child Can't Be Denied If First Two Children Were Born Before Joining Service: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that if two children of a government servant were born before joining government service and the third child is born after joining service, maternity leave under Rule 43(1) of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 can't be denied.Justice Sandeep Sharma remarked that: “petitioner herein had given birth to two children prior to her induction...

Overloading Passenger Vehicle Did Not Lead To Accident, Not A Breach Of Policy: HP High Court Directs Insurance Company To Pay Compensation

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that overloading of a passenger vehicle is not a violation or fundamental breach of the terms of the insurance policy unless it is related to the cause of the accident.Relying on the decision of Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Swaran Singh, 2004 which held that the breach on the part of the insured must show that the accident or damage...