NDPS Act Does Not Allow Any Other Options After Accused Chooses Gazetted Officer For Search U/S 50: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 does not permit the Investigating Officer or any other officer, including the Gazetted Officer before whom the personal search is to be conducted, to give an accused a fresh or third option after the accused has already exercised his statutory choice. The Court observed that...

JJ Act | Conviction Not Vitiated Because Regular Court Tried Juvenile As Adult, But Sentence Cannot Operate : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a conviction on the merits need not be set aside merely because a juvenile was tried by a regular criminal court. Accordingly, while affirming the conviction of an accused who was tried as an adult, the Court set aside the sentence imposed on him after finding that he was a juvenile on the date of the offence. A bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul...

Substantial Compliance With S.42 NDPS Act Sufficient In Situations Requiring Immediate Seizure : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that where narcotics-related information is received in circumstances requiring the immediate interception of a moving vehicle, the requirements of Section 42 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, have to be assessed in the context of the urgency of the situation. On the facts of the case, the Court found substantial compliance with the...

Prior Sanction Required If Cognizance Taken After 2018 PC Act Amendment, Even If Chargesheet Filed Earlier: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has held that requirement of taking prior sanction under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (the “Act”) gets attracted even in a case where the offence was committed before the relevant amendment in 2018, but cognizance was yet to be taken in the case. The bench of Justice Kuldeep Mathur observed that the amended Section 19 created a statutory...

Application Of BUDS Act Prima Facie Doubtful Where Accused Is Not Deposit Taker: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has observed that the application of offences under Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019 is prima facie doubtful where the accused is not a deposit taker. In doing so the court granted anticipatory bail to a doctor booked for offence of Cheating under IPC and Section 21(1)(2)(3) BUDS Act which prescribes punishment for offences relating to the...

POCSO Act | Meghalaya High Court Denies Bail To Two Teachers Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 5-Year-Old

The Meghalaya High Court has refused to grant bail to two teachers accused of sexually assaulting a five-year-old student inside a school washroom, observing that allegations of sexual assault against children must be viewed seriously given their vulnerability and the trauma such acts can cause. The Court held that the survivor's statement prima facie made out a case of sexual assault against...

Advisory Board's Opinion Not Condition Precedent For Arrest Pursuant To Preventive Detention Order: AP High Court

Obtaining an Advisory Board's opinion is not a condition precedent for arresting/detaining a person pursuant to a prevention detention order, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has held while clarifying that the Board's report is required for the State Government to decide whether to confirm or revoke the detention order. [2026 LiveLaw (AP) 185]The Division Bench presided over by Justice Ravi...

NDPS Act | Accused Move Karnataka High Court Against Counting 'Non-Drug' Parts Of Cannabis Plant, Packaging In Ganja Quantity

The Karnataka High Court is considering pleas by persons booked under the NDPS Act challenging prosecutions concerning the manner in which seized cannabis was weighed and analysed, particularly wherein the weight allegedly included the stems, leaves, seeds of the plant as well the packaging of the contraband. The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna, was hearing two petitions...

Patna High Court Directs CBI Probe Into Missing Man After Alleged Detention, Custodial Violence By Excise Officials, Slams Police Inaction

The Patna High Court has transferred to the CBI the investigation into the disappearance of a man who allegedly went missing after being detained and brutally assaulted by Excise Police officials in Bhojpur district.A Division Bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Alok Kumar Sinha said that the case presented “rare and exceptional” circumstances warranting transfer of the...

Mere Ownership Of Land Where Transformer Is Installed Insufficient To Prosecute For Electrocution Death: Karnataka High Court

Clarifying the criminal liability for electrocution deaths, the Karnataka High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a doctor who was charge-sheeted for the death of a labourer due to electrocution on her agricultural land. [2026 LiveLaw (Kar) 289]The single judge bench of Justice Anant Ramanth Hegde held that mere ownership of property where a transformer is installed cannot...

'Hydroponic Weed' Is 'Ganja'; Growing Method Does Not Change Its Legal Status: Allahabad High Court Grants Bail In NDPS Case

Allahabad High Court observes that hydroponic weed is cannabis/ganja and its cultivation method does not change its legal status; the Court grants bail after noting that the 2.3 kg recovery was below commercial quantity.

Rajasthan High Court Grants Bail To 60-Year-Old Woman In NDPS Case Arrested Over Calls With Co-Accused Son-In-Law

Rajasthan High Court granted bail to a 60 year woman, accused in an NDPS Case solely based on the confessional statements of the co-accused, who was her son-in-law as well as their call details that revealed conversations between the two. The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand took note of the “special circumstances” of the relationship between the applicant and the co-accused. It opined...