Sessions Court Can't Relegate Accused Seeking Anticipatory Bail To Approach Police For Relief U/S 41A CrPC Or S.35 BNSS: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that Sessions Courts cannot ask accused seeking anticipatory bail to approach the police for relief under Section 41A of the CrPC/Section 35 BNSS. In doing so the court emphasized that the competent courts cannot shut their doors and refer the petitioners to go to other fora for protection of their liberty.Section 41A of CrPC pertains to Notice of appearance...

Juvenile Over 16-Yrs Age Accused Of 'Heinous Offence' Also Entitled To Bail U/S 12 JJ Act: Patna High Court Reiterates

The Patna High Court granted bail to a juvenile accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl, observing that Section 12 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 does not provide any classification on grant of bail and the provision applies to all children-in-conflict with law without any discrimination. It further observed that the even juveniles who are above...

Temples In Bihar Should Match Cleanliness Of South Indian Temples : Patna High Court

Observing that temples in South India maintain high standards of cleanliness and provide a pleasant experience to devotees, the Patna High Court recently questioned why temples in Bihar cannot be kept equally 'neat', 'clean', and 'green'. A bench of Justice Rajiv Roy made the remark in a matter relating to the constitution of a permanent committee for Shri Baba Kusheshwar Nath...

Before Serving Harshest Punishment Disciplinary Authority Must Consider Delinquent Officer's Explanation: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has quashed the dismissal of a Bihar government officer accused of accepting a bribe, holding that the disciplinary proceedings leading to his termination were vitiated by serious procedural irregularities and a complete disregard for the principles of natural justice.The Court observed that while a corruption charge found by the disciplinary authority based upon the...

Patna High Court Criticizes Lawyers Booked In 1994 Murder Case For Undermining Trial Court's Authority, Denies Relief

The Patna High Court rejected pleas by two Dharbhanga lawyers booked in a 1994 murder case who had challenged trial court's dismissal of their application seeking exemption from personal appearance in the case. This, after the high court noted that one of them had continued to appear before the trial court in a separate case in a professional capacity. The high court thus remarked that...

Patna High Court Allows Convict To Raise Plea Of Juvenility 32 Yrs After Alleged Offence, Says It Can Be Raised At Any Stage

The Patna High Court has reiterated that the plea of juvenility can be raised by an accused in a criminal case at any stage of proceedings, even after final disposal of the case. Justice Jitendra Kumar thus directed the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) Siwan, to conduct an inquiry into the juvenility claim of one of the eight appellants convicted in a 1993 attempt to murder case. The direction...

Centre Notifies Appointment Of Advocate As Patna High Court Judge

The Central Government on August 1 notified the appointment of Advocate Ajit Kumar as a Judge of the Patna High Court.The Supreme Court Collegium, on July 1, had recommended the elevation of Advocate Ajit Kumar, along with another Advocate, to the Patna High Court....

State Can't Bypass Procedural Safeguards: Patna High Court Quashes Order Revoking 50-Yr Land Lease, Evicting 'Bonafide' Flat-Owners

The Patna High Court has set aside the Bihar government's 2004 order cancelling a Khas Mahal lease directing resumption of possession of land along with multi-storey apartments constructed over it including initiation of eviction process of flat-owners, terming the action prima facie illegal.In doing so, the court held that the State could not bypass the mandatory procedure under the Transfer...

Justice Vipul M Pancholi Sworn In As Chief Justice Of Patna High Court

Justice Vipul M Pancholi on Monday was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. The oath was administered to Justice Pancholi by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.Born on 28th May 1968 in Ahmedabad, Justice Pancholi earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad (Gujarat University), followed by a Master of Law (Commercial Group) from Sir LA Shah...

Patna HC Stays Case Against Rajat Sharma Over India TV's Alleged Report Labelling Man As 'Fake Currency Trader'

The Patna High Court on Friday granted relief to Journalist Rajat Sharma, the Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder of 'India TV', in connection with a news report allegedly labelling a man as a 'fake currency trader'. A bench of Justice Chandra Shekhar Jha stayed coercive action as well as the proceedings of the complaint case filed against Sharma by the complainant, Amit...

Appointing Counsellors In Family Courts Mandatory, Failure Will Violate Section 9 Of Family Courts Act & Rules: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that non-appointment of Counsellors in the Family Courts resulting in cases not being sent in conciliation amounts to violation of Section 9 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, and the Rules framed thereunder. Justice Bibek Chaudhuri said that where there is a violation of the Family Courts (Patna High Court) Rules, 2000, an adversarial justice process cannot...

Union Backed By Custom, Cohabitation & Birth Of Child Must Be Treated As Valid Marriage For Purposes Of S.125 CrPC: Patna HC

"Disregarding such a union would not only be legally unsound but would also send a regressive message to society, undermining the dignity of women and the security of children born from such relationships" : Patna High Court said.