'Seven Years, Three Witnesses & Incomplete Testimony': J&K&L High Court Reopens Acquittal Case For Retrial

Taking serious note of a criminal trial in which the prosecution examined only three witnesses over a period of seven-and-a-half years, including an injured victim whose testimony remained incomplete, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has invoked its inherent jurisdiction to reopen the case and remand it for a fresh trial in accordance with law.The Court held that although the injured victim had no statutory right to maintain an appeal against acquittal under Section 417(2) of the...

Arms Licence Scam: J&K&L High Court Declines Plea By IAS Officers Seeking DoPT To Consider Their Representations Before Deciding Sanction

In the Arms Licence Scam matter, two IAS officers had approached the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court seeking intervention/impleadment in a PIL concerning the arms licence scam, and seeking directions to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, to consider their representations before deciding on the proposal for grant of prosecution sanction.A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajnesh Oswal declined to entertain...

72-Year-Old Landowner's 15-Year Legal Battle: J&K High Court Quashes Orders Setting Aside His Land Mutation Without Examining Limitation

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed orders of the Divisional Commissioner and Financial Commissioner setting aside a land mutation attested in favour of 72-year-old Prem Singh in 2011, after nearly 15 years of litigation.The Court found that the revenue authorities had overturned the mutation without first deciding whether the appeal challenging it was filed within...

J&K&L High Court Denies Bail To Juvenile Tried As Adult In Terror Case; Says Alleged Links With JeM Handler Raise Concerns Of Danger

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that the alleged association of a child in conflict with law with persons connected to a terrorist organisation can be considered while examining whether his release would expose him to moral or psychological danger under Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.Dismissing an appeal filed by a youth...

J&K&L High Court Orders Compensation For Owners Whose Land Was Wrongly Declared As Evacuee Property After 45 Years

After nearly 45 years of waiting for restoration of their land, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has directed the Government to pay compensation at the prevalent market rate to five residents of Rajouri whose ancestral land was wrongly declared as evacuee property and subsequently allotted to a displaced person.Justice M.A. Chowdhary held that the petitioners were entitled...

Advocates' Strike Not An Exceptional Ground To Extend 120-Day Deadline For Filing Written Statement: J&K&L High Court

So far as suspension of work by the advocates is concerned, the same does not form a ground for extending the time for filing written statement and, in any case, the said ground cannot be categorised as an exceptionally hard circumstance that would make it impossible for a defendant to file written statement within the stipulated time, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has...

Relatives' Antecedents Cannot Disqualify: J&K&L High Court On Non-Appointment Of Lambardar Candidate After CID Report Linked Family To Militancy

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that a candidate cannot be denied consideration for appointment as Lambardar merely because of the alleged militant or anti-national antecedents of his relatives, particularly when no illegal activity has been attributed to the candidate himself.The Court set aside an order appointing another person as temporary Lambardar of Village...

J&K&L High Court Denies Default Bail To UAPA Accused; Holds Charge-Sheet Filed Within 180 Days Extinguishes Right To Statutory Bail

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has dismissed a default-bail application filed by a man accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, holding that his indefeasible right to statutory bail stood extinguished after the prosecution filed the charge-sheet within the prescribed period of 180 days.The Court observed that even if the period allegedly spent by the accused in...

Municipal Contracts Cannot Be Awarded Through Private Negotiation, Without Tenders: J&K&L High Court

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu has held that a Municipal Corporation, being a statutory body and an instrumentality of the State, is under a constitutional obligation to act fairly, reasonably and transparently in all matters involving the distribution of public largesse and the award of public contracts.The Court held that such exercise of power cannot be left to...

Major Adults Entitled To Marry As Per Their Choice; Police Duty-Bound To Protect Their Life And Liberty If Approached: J&K&L High Court

Any person having attained the age of majority is entitled to contract the marriage as per his/her wishes and the police department is duty bound to protect their life and liberty, if approached, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has observed while directing the police authorities to consider the request for protection of a couple who claimed to have married against the wishes of...

Fair Trial Under Article 21 Does Not Require Certified Copies Of Trial Proceedings Before Confirmation Of Sentence: J&K&L High Court Upholds BSF Rule

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar has held that the Constitution guarantees a fair opportunity to defend, but does not prescribe that such opportunity must invariably take the form of possession of certified copies of trial proceedings.The Court upheld the constitutional validity of Rule 129 of the Border Security Force Rules, 1969, holding that the...

Amendment Of Injunction Suit To Seek Possession Of Encroached Land Does Not Change Nature Of Suit: J&K&L High Court

Mere conversion of a suit for permanent prohibitory injunction into one seeking recovery of possession does not fundamentally alter its nature or character when both reliefs arise from the same property dispute, the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held.The Court observed that an amendment seeking possession of portions of the very same land allegedly encroached upon during...