Allahabad High Court Says State's “NIL” Dues Claim Must Be Tested Against Department's Own Earlier Admission

The Allahabad High Court has held that where the State asserts, on the strength of a fresh verification exercise, that nothing remains outstanding to a contractor, the writ court is not bound to act on that assertion and must itself check the amounts released against the figure the department had earlier admitted to be payable. The bench of Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary held“It is precisely to guard against such unilateral and self-serving assertions of “NIL”...

Preventing SC Person's Temple Entry On Caste Grounds Constitutes 'Untouchability', Perpetrators Can Be Prosecuted: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently held that preventing a person from the Scheduled Caste community from entering temples would amount to practicing untouchability and would be violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 17 of the Constitution. [2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 421] Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy held that any person perpetrating such a practice would be liable to be...

Kerala High Court Upholds Constitutionality Of Railways' Power To Remove & Prosecute Intoxicated Persons In Trains, Railway Premises

The Kerala High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Section 145(a) of the Railways Act, 1989 which empowers the railways to remove intoxicated persons from trains or railway premises as well as to prosecute them. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 481]Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas noted that sufficient procedure has been laid down by the Ministry of Railways in its circular dated 14.09.2023 to...

Absence Of Medical Certificate Can't Defeat Plea For Virtual Evidence Recording Due To Physical Infirmity: P&H High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that trial court cannot reject a person's application for recording evidence through video conferencing solely on the ground that no medical certificate was furnished for citing physical infirmity. Justice Deepinder Singh Nalwa observed that Video Conferencing Rules, framed by the High Court under Articles 225 and 227, provide for recording of...

Petitioner's Residence Can't Confer Article 226 Jurisdiction When Impugned Order Passed Outside HC Territory: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has reiterated that it cannot entertain a writ petition against an order passed by an authority situated outside its territory merely because the petitioner resides within its territory. Justice Anish Kumar Gupta relied on Lt. Col. Khajoor Singh v. Union of India, wherein the Apex Court held that jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution turns on where...

Delhi High Court Asks Centre To Decide Plea For Guidelines Curbing Social Media Access For Children Below 13 Yrs

The Delhi High Court has asked the Central Government to consider a plea seeking guidelines for protecting children under 13 years by imposing curbs on access to social media and regulation of content for children between 13-16 years of age. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 769]This comes after the Centre told the division bench of Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora that the...

Former Wife Protected By DV Act Residence Order Can Seek Police Protection, But Can't Oust Husband From His Own House: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently granted police protection to a woman, who was sharing a household with her former husband, after obtaining a residence order under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 479]Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas directed that police protection can be given upon written request since the peculiar living situation might create...

'Right To Livelihood Not Absolute': Orissa High Court Upholds Govt Notification Prohibiting Tobacco-Laced Food Products

The Orissa High Court has held that 'chewing tobacco' is a 'food' under the meaning of Section 3(1)(j) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (the 'FSS Act') and as a consequence, it has also upheld a notification of the State Government prohibiting the manufacture, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, distribution or sale of all food products containing tobacco or nicotine....

Jharkhand High Court Transfers Probe Into Disappearance Of Minor Girl Missing Since 2020 To CBI; Cites Cross-State Digital Trails

The Jharkhand High Court has transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the investigation into the disappearance of a minor girl who has remained untraced since October 2020, observing that the case involves grave complexity, cross-jurisdictional dimensions and digital trails extending across multiple States.A Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay...

Whether Appointment Of Deputy Chief Ministers Unconstitutional? Orissa High Court Reserves Order

The Orissa High Court on Thursday (August 27) heard and reserved verdict in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging constitutionality of the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida as Deputy Chief Ministers (Deputy CMs) of the State pursuant to the election victory of the party in 2024 Assembly elections, as there is no stipulation...

Arrest Grounds Must Be Communicated To Arrestee, Relative Before Production Before Magistrate For Transit Remand: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that arrest of a person would be vitiated if the arrestee's relative/friend/nominated person is not informed of the arrest grounds when first produced before the nearest, non-jurisdictional magistrate for transit remand. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 465]Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath observed: “when a person who is arrested is brought before a non-jurisdictional...

24-Hour Clock For Production Runs From Formal Arrest Where Pre-Arrest Detention Is Statutorily Authorised: Kerala High Court Issues Guidelines

The Kerala High Court has issued a slew of guidelines that must be followed upon the arrest of persons in order to safeguard their constitutional and statutory rights. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 463]Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath, while considering a batch of bail applications, further clarified that an accused has to be produced before the Magistrate only within 24 hours of formal arrest, and not...