POCSO Act Casts Burden Of Proof Upon Accused, Application U/S 311 CrPC To Summon Material Witnesses Should Ordinarily Be Allowed: Karnataka HC

In connection with a trial under the POCSO Act, the Karnataka High Court has said that an application made by the accused under Section 311 of the CrPC for summoning of material witnesses should be ordinarily permitted unless the Court comes to a conclusion that it is a ruse to drag the proceedings or permitting it, would become an abuse of the process of the law. A single judge bench...

Section 372 CrPC Proviso Providing Substantive Right Of Appeal To 'Victim' Isn't Retrospective In Nature: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has observed that the amendments made in Section 372 CrPC by adding a proviso in the year 2009, creating a substantive right of appeal for the 'victim' is not retrospective in nature.Meaning thereby, a 'victim' [as defined under Section 2w (wa) of CrPC] has no right to prefer an appeal against an order passed before December 31, 2009, acquitting the accused/punishing...

Madras High Court Stays IT Dept's Order Imposing ₹1.5 Crore Penalty On Actor Vijay For Undisclosed Income

The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on the proceedings initiated by the Income Tax Department against Actor Vijay for "admitted" undisclosed income of Rs. 15 crore in the financial year 2015-16. The bench of Justice Anita Sumanth passed the interim order on an application filed by the actor and directed the Department to file its counter by September 16.The penalty...

Govt Service Rules Must Be Implemented In Uniform Manner Throughout The State: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has made it clear that service rules framed by a state agency must be applied uniformly throughout the State. The observation came from Justice Vivek Singh Thakur qua the implementation of Himachal Pradesh Kanungo's Service Rules, 1951.The bench made it clear that a decision rendered by the High Court qua Kanungos appointed in District Shimla will also...

Can An Elector Seek To Be Impleaded In An Election Petition? Kerala High Court Answers

The Kerala High Court last week ruled that an elector has a limited right to get impleaded in an election petition and that such right can only be exercised if all the relevant provisions under the Kerala Municipality Act are complied with. Upon analysing the provisions of the Municipality Act and the declaration of law by the Supreme Court, Justice C.S. Dias took the view that the ring is...

S.125 CrPC | Grant Of Maintenance To Child Can Wait Till Veracity Of Claim Is Ascertained In Cases Of Disputed Paternity: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently ruled that grant of maintenance to a minor child should be the paramount consideration for a Magistrate dealing with a petition under Section 125 of CrPC but, when the paternity of a child is seriously disputed it would not be prudent for a Magistrate to fasten the liability of maintaining the child without first ascertaining...

Divorce Application Cannot Be Thrown Out Only Because Exact Date Of Marriage Is Not Mentioned: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has observed that failure to mention the exact date of marriage in an application for divorce alone cannot be the reason for dismissing such application.A bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Farzand Ali observed that if the Family Court suspects that the averments on the aspect of marriage are inconclusive, it can exercise powers under Section 165 of the...

Writ Court Cannot Examine Transactions Between Bank & Borrower As They Are Essentially Contractual In Nature: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has said that writ courts neither have means nor the expertise to re-evaluate the "prudential decisions" of the Banks that are made in the ordinary course of their commercial transactions with accumulated wisdom in the trade. A single judge bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit thus dismissed a petition filed by M/S Nitesh Residency Hotels Pvt Ltd challenging recall...

78 Students Move MP High Court Challenging Dharmashastra NLU's Decision To Charge Excessive Fee For 'Remedial' Classes

78 students of Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur have moved to the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Jabalpur Bench) challenging the decision of the University Administration to charge them 7500/- per subject for remedial classes for becoming eligible to write the term-end examination.It is their plea that since they have already been debarred from writing the term-end examination, how...

"Award Patently Erroneous": Madras High Court Orders Fresh Arbitration In BSNL's Claim Against ISHA Foundation

The Madras High Court recently gave liberty to state-owned telecom provider BSNL to institute de novo arbitration against the ISHA foundation for its claim related to unpaid dues. The bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the order after observing that the current arbitral award, which was passed without consulting an expert committee and without giving due regard to the...

Workman Who Consents For Contractual Engagement Can't Turn Around & Seek Benefit U/S 25F Of Industrial Disputes Act: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has reiterated that when there is a specific condition provided in the consent letter of employment that the appointment is on contract basis, then such workman cannot claim any benefit by contending that the Respondent establishment had breached Section 25(F) of the Industrial Disputes Act. The Petitioner, claiming to be sexually harassed by her...

Leaseholder Using Land For Charitable Purpose Can't Be Charged Rent Applicable To Commercial Category Of Lease: Jharkhand High Court To State

The Jharkhand High Court recently observed that a society using a leasehold land for charitable purposes, in this case for charitable educational purpose, cannot be charged premium, rent or service charge at commercial lease rates.Justice Kailash Prasad Deo observed that the State, as instrumentality, cannot act with arbitrariness and it must be just, fair and reasonable in all their...