Additional Public Prosecutor Not State Employee; Cannot Be Prosecuted As 'Public Servant' Under PC Act: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has upheld the discharge of an Additional Public Prosecutor accused of demanding a bribe, holding that an Additional Public Prosecutor appointed on a tenure basis is not a public servant for the purposes of prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Court relied on the Supreme Court's ruling in State of U.P. v. Johri Mal, which distinguishes the appointment of Public Prosecutors and Additional Public Prosecutors from that of Assistant Public Prosecutors,...

Gujarat High Court Drops Contempt Proceedings Against Lawyer Over Remarks Against Sitting Judges, Accepts His Apology

The Gujarat High Court closed a suo-motu criminal contempt case against a lawyer who had made assertions against two sitting high court judges, after taking note of his unconditional apology. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 286]The lawyer had made certain assertions in his application that he had filed for initiation of contempt in another matter. The assertions were directed against two Sitting Judges...

Gujarat High Court Quashes FIR Against Lawyer, Says Impossible To Believe He Extorted Traffic Policeman During Facebook Live-Stream

The Gujarat High Court quashed an extortion FIR against a lawyer after noting that it was impossible to believe that the petitioner who was live-streaming on Facebook at the time of the alleged incident would also simultaneously extort money from traffic personnel at the exact moment. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 285]The court said that the FIR against the petitioner was "counter blast" to the attempt to murder FIR lodged by the petitioner against the traffic personnel for assaulting the lawyer when...

Supreme Court Criticises Allahabad High Court For Casually Granting Probation To Convicts In Brutal Attack Case

'Nature of offence' and 'character of offender' must guide probation, the Court stated

JJ Rules | Regular FIR Can't Be Lodged Against Juveniles For 'Serious Offences': Allahabad High Court Quashes FIR Against 2 Minors

The Allahabad High Court has observed that registration of a regular First Information Report (FIR) against Juveniles for "serious offences" is impermissible as per Rule 8 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016.The Court thus quashed the entire criminal proceedings initiated against two juveniles for the alleged offenses of 'Aggravated Criminal Intimidation' [Section 351(3)] and 'Wrongful Restraint' [Section 126 (2)]. A bench of Justice Saurabh Srivastava...

Insurer Liable For Motor Accident Compensation Even If Policy Not Transferred To Vehicle's New Owner: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that an insurance company cannot avoid liability to pay compensation for a workman's death merely because the insurance policy was not updated in the name of the subsequent owner of the vehicle, when the policy was valid and in force at the time of the accident.Section 157(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides that upon transfer of ownership of a...

Kerala High Court Rejects Former CM Pinarayi Vijayan's Plea To Challenge Vigilance FIR Direction In CMRL-Exalogic Case

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (October 15) refused to grant permission to former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, daughter Veena T. and son-in-law/ex-Minister Muhammed Riyas to appeal against the Single Bench order directing Vigilance FIR against them in CMRL-Exalogic pay off case. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 580]The Division Bench of Justice K. Natarajan and Justice Johnson John today dismissed the leave petitions filed by the three seeking permission to appeal against the order. It...

[NDPS Act] Female's Search Must Be In Seclusion; Conducting Search In Presence Of Males Vitiates Seizure: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a woman accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, holding that the search and seizure of contraband from her was prima facie vitiated because the search was conducted in the presence and gaze of male police personnel and a male panch witness. The Court observed that Section 50(4) of the NDPS Act requires a female accused...

Teachers Can't Face Criminal Action For Trivial Corrective Measures To Maintain Classroom Discipline: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently quashed the criminal case initiated against a teacher, who was accused of offences under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code for pulling the hand of her student and causing injury to her. [2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 577]Justice Jobin Sebastian noted that the teacher did not have any mala fide intention and only wanted to maintain discipline in the...

Juvenile's Bail Cannot Be Rejected With Mere Liberty To Renew Plea After 6 Months Without Change In Circumstances: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that a Children Court cannot reject a juvenile's bail application while merely giving him liberty to renew the application after six months if the trial has not concluded, observing that such an approach is not permissible under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Jitendra Kumar was hearing an appeal...

POCSO Act Requires Only Greater Punishment Where Same Offence Attracts POCSO & IPC Charges: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand HC has held that where an accused is convicted under both Section 4 of the POCSO Act and Section 376(2)(f) of the IPC for the same offence, Section 42 of the POCSO Act requires the Court to impose the greater punishment and does not permit separate sentences for both offences to run consecutively.A Division Bench of Justice Ananda Sen and Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava was...

Madras High Court Quashes ED's Money Laundering Case Against Former Minister Ponmudi, Notes Acquittal In Predicate Offence

The Madras High Court on Tuesday (October 13), quashed a case against former Minister K Ponmudi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act pending before the Special Court in Chennai. [2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 501]The bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan noted that the predicate offence, based on which the Enforcement Directorate had registered the case under the...