North East High Courts Weekly Roundup [February 20 - February 26, 2023]

Weekly round up of LiveLaw's coverage from High Courts of Gauhati, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura:Gauhati High CourtNominal Index:Jagat Chetri v. The Union of India & 5 Ors 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 29Deep Jyoti Nath Vs State Of Assam 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 30Babul Ahmed v. The Union of India & 5 Ors 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 31Babul Ahmed v. The Union of India & 5 Ors 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 32Gauhati High Court Imposes Cost On Electoral Registration Officer For Referring Retired Army Officer To Foreigners Tribunal To Determine CitizenshipCase Title: Jagat Chetri v. The Union of India & 5 Ors.Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 29The Gauhati High Court imposed a cost of Rs. 10,000/- on Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of 52 Dibrugarh Legislative Assembly, for referring to Foreigners Tribunal, a retired army personnel who has rendered a service of 38 years, for adjudication as to whether he is a citizen of India.The court observed that the order of reference itself provides that the ERO had got the matter verified by on the spot local verification on the question and it was found that the date of birth of Jagat Bahadur Chetri is 1937 and the place of birth is Dibrugarh.[Cheating Case] Non-Compliance Of Section 41A CrPC Would Entitle Accused To Be Released On Bail: Gauhati High CourtCase Title: Deep Jyoti Nath Vs State Of AssamCitation: 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 30The Gauhati High Court held that if the police does not comply with the provisions of Section 41A CrPC in appropriate cases, the person arrested would be entitled to be released on bail.Justice Parthivjyoti Saikia, while disposing off the application of the petitioner, ordered as follows “After perusal of the case diary, I find that simply on an allegation made by the complainant, the petitioner was thrown behind the bars. Therefore, for non-compliance of the provisions of Section 41A of the CrPC, the petitioner is entitled to be released on bail.”[PIT-NDPS Act] Detaining Authority Takes Over Two Months To Decide Detenue’s Representation, Gauhati High Court Orders Immediate ReleaseCase Title: Babul Ahmed v. The Union of India & 5 OrsCitation: 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 31The Gauhati High Court set aside a detention order under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (PIT-NDPS Act) on the ground that the detaining authority took more than two and half months to dispose of the representation of the detenu.The division bench of Justice Achintya Malla Bujor Barua and Justice Robin Phukan observed:“In the instant case, we have noticed that even if we take out the period for which the records were sent to the Advisory Board, the detaining authority took more than 2 ½ months to dispose of the representation and the only explanation given is that a report was called from the Superintendent of Police, Barpeta which took more than one month. Even if the report took more than one month, still a balance of 1 ½ months remained unexplained for the delay.”Gauhati High Court Reduces Sentence Of Man Convicted For Sexually Assaulting Minor Daughter After Modification In Trial Court VerdictCase Title: KS v. The State of AssamCitation: 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 32The Gauhati High Court modified the judgement and sentence of trial court in a POCSO case in which a father was convicted for the offence of penetrative sexual assault on his 13-year-old daughter, on the ground that the offence was not proved beyond all reasonable doubt.The court said there was no cross-examination either of the victim girl or the doctor.“There is no doubt that the hymen of the victim girl was found intact. So, complete penetration can easily be ruled out. It is true that in order to constitute penetrative sexual intercourse, slightest penetration is sufficient. But in the case in hand, we have before us the evidence of the doctor who quoted the victim girl as saying to her that the appellant tried to insert his penis into her vagina. If this piece of evidence is accepted, then it can be held that there was no penetrative sexual assault,” it added.Manipur High CourtNominal Index:Khongbantabam Hitler Singh Vs The Officer-in-Charge, Imphal Police Station 2023 LiveLaw (Man) 4Manipur High Court Grant Bail To Man Accused Of Murdering Two Women, Unborn Child; Says Prolonged Detention Of Under-Trials Violation Of ArticleCase Title: Khongbantabam Hitler Singh Vs The Officer-in-Charge, Imphal Police Station.Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Man) 4The Manipur High Court granted bail to a person alleged to have committed murder of two women and an unborn child in 2017."A humane attitude is required to be adopted by a Judge while dealing with the bail application. Even if the offence is a serious offence, requires a humane treatment by the Court, humane treatment to all including an accused is requirement of law," Acting Chief Justice M.V Muralidaran said in the order.The court also observed that the important facet of criminal jurisprudence is that the grant of bail is the general rule...

North East High Courts Weekly Roundup [February 20 - February 26, 2023]

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