Omission To Sign Order Sheet On Framing Charges Won't Vitiate Trial, When Charges Were Read Over To Accused : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has observed that the absence of a signature on the charge-framing order sheet is a curable procedural defect and does not vitiate the trial, particularly where the accused was duly informed of and understood the charges against them. “…the defect relating to the absence of signature on the charge does not constitute an illegality. It is, at best, a curable...

Electricity Connection Can't Be Denied For Want Of Co-Sharer's Consent: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has held that the question of ownership or right of occupancy over a property has no nexus with the grant of an electricity connection to a consumer who is otherwise entitled. It further said that a company cannot insist on consent of other co-sharers of a property to provide electricity connection to a consumer. In the present case the petitioner had sought for...

Logged In, Left Out: How Code On Social Security, 2020 Only Mentions About India's Gig Workers

Every morning, lakhs of delivery riders log onto Swiggy and Zomato. Many of them, simultaneously, are running Magicpin or have Urban Company bookings lined up for the afternoon. They are not employees. They are not contractors in any traditional sense. They are, in the words of the Code on Social Security, 2020, 'gig workers' viz. a category India's Parliament finally saw fit to acknowledge. But acknowledgment, as it turns out, is not protection.This piece argues that the Code on Social...

Patna High Court Sets Aside Direction To Appoint Waitlisted Candidate In Civil Court Recruitment, Says 'Fence-Sitters' Cannot Claim Parity

The Patna High Court has held that candidates who fail to assert their rights within the subsistence of a select panel cannot later seek parity with others who approached the Court in time, reiterating that writ relief is barred by delay and laches and that Article 14 does not permit extension of benefits on the basis of “negative equality.” A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice...

Husband Finding Wife Being Intimate With Paramour Is Grave, Sudden Provocation: Gujarat High Court Upholds 2001 Culpable Homicide Conviction

The Gujarat High Court upheld a 2001 trial court order convicting a husband to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, who assaulted his wife after he found her in a compromising position with another man in the former's house, remarking that this could be considered as "grave and sudden provocation".In doing so the court said that the case falls under Section 304-part II IPC as...

Bombay High Court Asks Maharashtra Govt If Bhima Koregaon Accused Surendra Gadling Can Use Jail Computer To Review Evidence

The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know from the Maharashtra Government if it could permit Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon - Elgar Parishad case, to access the computer installed in the Taloja Central Prison to review the evidence against him. A division bench of Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata while refusing Gadling to use his own laptop while in...

MP High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of SSC Candidate Over Domicile Mismatch, Says Technical Error Can't Be Treated As Suppression

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, on Wednesday (March 25), set aside the rejection of the Staff Selection Commission aspirant, holding that stringent clauses in the advertisement cannot be applied mechanically to penalise a bona fide candidate who possessed a valid domicile certificate but was merely a victim of a data entry error at a cyber kiosk. The bench of Justice Jai Kumar Pillai...

Suspecting Wife's Character Without Instigation Does Not Constitute Abetment To Suicide: Uttarakhand High Court Acquits Husband

The Uttarakhand High Court has held that mere suspicion of a spouse's character and allegations of mental harassment, in the absence of any proximate act of instigation or intentional aiding, do not satisfy the ingredients of abetment of suicide under Sections 306 and 107 of the Indian Penal Code. Holding that the prosecution failed to establish the essential elements of abetment, the Court...

No Mandatory Civil Adjudication Without Bona Fide Title Claim: Gauhati High Court Upholds Criminal Proceedings In Land Grabbing Case

The Gauhati High Court has held that prior determination of civil liability under Section 10(2) of the Assam Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2010 is not required in every case, and is not attracted where no bona fide plea asserting proprietary right, ownership, or lawful possession over the land is raised. In such circumstances, the Land Grabbing Tribunal can proceed with the criminal aspect...

Father & Daughter Have 'Right To Know' Or It Will 'Trouble' Lives: Allahabad High Court Orders DNA Test In Maintenance Dispute

The Allahabad High Court recently set aside a Family Court order granting maintenance to a minor girl under Section 125 CrPC, while first ordering a DNA test to ascertain her correct parentage, a plea raised earlier by her father (revisionist), but was rejected.A bench of Justice Madan Pal Singh observed that in cases involving peculiar facts and circumstances, both the father and the...

Non-Disclosure Of Complaints Vitiates Enquiry: Gauhati High Court Sets Aside Action Against Gram Pradhan

The Gauhati High Court has held that an enquiry resulting in adverse civil consequences against a Gram Pradhan is vitiated if the complaints and foundational materials on which it is based are not disclosed to him, as such non-disclosure renders the opportunity of hearing illusory and violates both executive instruction 162-A and principles of natural justice.Justice Arun Dev Choudhury,...

Merit Must Prevail For Department Allocation In Combined Recruitment: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that in combined recruitment processes, allocation of departments must be governed by inter se merit and cannot be done in a manner that allows lower-ranked candidates to secure more preferred postings. The Court observed that deviation from merit-based allocation violates the principles of equality and fairness under Articles 14 and 16 of...