Insurer Denying Issuance Of Motor Accident Policy Not Automatic Proof Of Forgery: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has held that an insurance company cannot avoid liability to indemnify third-party claimants under a motor accident claim on a mere assertion that the insurance policy produced before the Tribunal was forged or fabricated, in the absence of adequate evidentiary proof. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 294]Consequently, Justice J.C. Doshi dismissed an appeal filed by SBI General...

Major Unmarried Daughter Can Claim Maintenance Under Section 125 CrPC Despite Alternative Remedy Under HAMA: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that the availability of an alternative remedy under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) does not bar a major unmarried daughter from claiming maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The Court observed that maintenance could not be denied to the daughter merely because she could pursue a separate remedy under...

Patna High Court Acquits Two Men In NDPS Case, Cites Unexplained Year-Long Delay In Sending 'Charas' Sample For Testing

The Patna HC has held that while a delay in sending seized contraband for forensic examination is not by itself fatal to an NDPS prosecution, the prosecution must establish the chain of custody of the sample. The Court acquitted two men after finding that the alleged charas sample remained unaccounted for nearly a year before reaching the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).A Single Judge Bench...

Allahabad High Court Flags Use Of 'False' Victim DOB Certificates In POCSO Cases; UP Govt Proposes School Record Guidelines

About 2 months after the Allahabad High Court flagged cases in which boys around 19-20 years of age were allegedly falsely implicated in POCSO Act cases based on victims' false age certificates, the Uttar Pradesh government has proposed guidelines for recording students' ages at the time of school admission.A bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal was apprised that the proposed...

Karnataka High Court Quashes Immoral Trafficking Case Against Lodge Owners, Cites Absence Of Woman In Raiding Team

The Karnataka High Court quashed an FIR under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act against two men who were running a lodge over allegations of carrying prostitution at the premises, after noting that the raiding party was not accompanied by women as mandated by the provisions.Consequently, Justice Venkatesh Naik T allowed the criminal petition filed by the two men.Referring to several rulings...

Mediation Process Can't Be Used As Ruse To Secure Adjournments: Karnataka High Court Dismisses Husband's Plea To Quash Cruelty Case

The Karnataka High Court has held that a party cannot invoke mediation process as a ruse to secure adjournments and delay proceedings by deliberately failing to participate. It thus dismissed the plea to quash criminal proceedings against the petitioner in a dowry harassment case.Justice Suraj Govindaraj observed that once the parties consent to refer a dispute to mediation, they are...

'Self-Negligence': Gujarat High Court Rejects Compensation Claim By Heirs Of Auto-Rickshaw Driver Killed At Unmanned Railway Crossing

The Gujarat High Court upheld the dismissal of a claim petition filed by heirs of an auto-driver who died after being hit by a train while trying to cross unmanned railway crossing in the vehicle, observing that the accident was caused due to the driver's own negligence. [2026 LiveLaw (Guj) 293]Justice J.C. Doshi observed that a joint reading of Section 161 (Punishment for negligently...

Allahabad High Court Declares Mandatory Injury Report Requirement Under UP Financial Assistance Scheme For POCSO Survivors 'Unconstitutional'

The Allahabad High Court has declared 'unconstitutional' the mandatory requirement under the Uttar Pradesh Rani Lakshmi Bai Mahila Evam Bal Samman Kosh Scheme, 2015, to submit an injury report indicating penetrative sexual assault to claim financial assistance for child sexual assault survivors.A Bench of Justice Saral Srivastava and Justice Garima Prashad held that the condition was...

Bomb Threats Can't Be Taken Lightly Merely Because Sender Never Intended To Execute Them: Karnataka High Court Refuses To Quash FIR

Accused allegedly threatened blasts at Bengaluru airport and shopping malls.

Removal Of Undergarment Without Further Act Amounts To 'Attempt To Commit Sexual Assault' Under POCSO Act: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that removing a child's undergarment with sexual intent, without proceeding to any further act, amounts to an attempt to commit sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The Court reduced the sentence of a man convicted in a case involving a three-and-a-half-year-old girl from five years to three-and-a-half years'...

Red Sanders Smuggling: AP High Court Upholds Preventive Detention, Says Delay In Deciding Detenu's Representation Satisfactorily Explained

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has upheld the 12-month preventive detention of a man accused of involvement in multiple cases of smuggling red sandalwood, holding that a satisfactorily explained delay in deciding a representation against preventive detention does not vitiate the detention order. [2026 LiveLaw (AP) 258]In examining the delay, the Court found that the authorities had...

Motor Accident | Vehicle Owner's Lack Of Personal Assets Can't Be A Ground To Deny 'Pay And Recover' Relief: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that the financial incapacity or lack of personal assets of an offending vehicle owner cannot be a ground to deny the equitable doctrine of “Pay and Recover” to an innocent third-party victim of a motor accident. “The legal proposition in this regard is well settled: even where a fundamental breach of policy conditions is established, such as the...