Stories, Locking Key, Weapons, Blood Stains, Fingerprints, Hair, Robbed Items, Murdered Bodies, Accused: Recovered. Trial Court: Capital Punishment. 2:1 High Court: Acquittal. Hon’ble Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar, Ashish Jain v. Makrand Singh, [Criminal Appeal No. 1980 of 2008]: Acquittal “We have re-appreciated the entire evidence. No whisper of an important fact / crucial piece of […]
Read more "Setting Aside, Acquittal Orders II"“A claim of title to the goods which have been seized is a relevant consideration while passing an order under Section 452. Where there are conflicting claims of entitlement to the property, the Magistrate may deal with them or, where it is found that the rival claims need to be resolved after an evidentiary trial, […]
Read more "Section 452 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973"“Offences under Sections 307, 294 read with Section 34, IPC are non-compoundable. Accused fired twice by a country-made pistol. High Court has committed a grave error in quashing the criminal proceedings solely on the ground, Complainant and Accused have settled the dispute. In Gulab Das, (2011) 12 SCALE 625 this Court has specifically observed that […]
Read more "Compound the Non-Compoundable"My Lord, Who Killed Mahatma? Mahatma Gandhi: Dead. Accused: Dead. Unseen Hand? Issue: Gross. Truth: Well Known. Hearsay. New Fires of Controversy: No. – Hon’ble Justice S.A. Bobde – Hon’ble Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Dr. Pankaj Kumudchandra Phadnis v. Union of India Ministry of Law and Justice, [SLP (Civil) 8293 of 2018].
Read more "Murder of Mahatma"My Lord, Transfer Investigation by West Bengal Police to NIA/CBI/Independent Investigation Agency? Power of Transferring Investigation: When, Rare and Exceptional Case; When, Investigation by State Police: No Credibility; When, Confidence in Public Mind: Necessary. Not a Fit Case. – Hon’ble Justice Ashok Bhushan, Bimal Gurung v. Union of India, [Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 182 of […]
Read more "Investigation Transfer"“In Gopal Sah, (2008) 17 SCC 128 Court held, an extra-judicial confession is, on the face of it, weak evidence and should not be relied upon to record a conviction, in the absence of a chain of circumstances. In Pancho, (2011) 10 SCC 165 as well, Court refused to convict the accused on the basis […]
Read more "Extra Judicial Confessions I"Issues of Tribunals: Unresolved. 07.05.2018 “The functioning of Tribunals is required to be reviewed on the test of speedy and inexpensive quality justice. L. Chandra Kumar, (1997) 3 SCC 261 noted, various Tribunals have not evolved up to the expectations which is self-evident and widely acknowledged. Drastic measures were required to elevate the standards. R. […]
Read more "Rojer Mathew, SLP (Civil) 15804/2017"The execution of a Will is proved not only when the statutory requirements for proving that Will are satisfied but the Will is also found to be ordinarily free from suspicious circumstances [Pragnaben, (2008) 15 SCC 365]. Whether a Will is surrounded by suspicious circumstances or not is essentially a question of fact. “3 Courts […]
Read more "The Proof of Valid Wills I"“There can be no doubt, a mere breach of contract is not in itself a criminal offence. However, as held by this Court in Hridaya Ranjan Prasad, (2000) 4 SCC 168 the distinction between mere breach of contract and cheating, which is a criminal offence, is a fine one. Breach of contract would amount to […]
Read more "Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 III: Deception at Inception"“There is no doubt that the socio-economic factors relating to a convict should be taken into consideration for the purposes of deciding whether to award Life Sentence or Death Sentence. The consideration of socio-economic factors is tied up with another important issue and that is whether the convict has had adequate legal representation. It would […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty IV"It was decided. 8 December, 1930 would be ‘Operation Simpson Day’. The journey began at 12:00 in the afternoon. Three Men sat in a taxi and headed for the Writers Building. One of them had his Birthday < 50 hours ago. The last ride together. [File No. 59/19/30] 12:30. Cap, coat, tie, trousers, boots – […]
Read more "December 8, 1930"There is no limitation placed on power to review evidence in an Appeal against Acquittal. It is relevant to refer to Lord Russell in Sheo Swarup, (1934) 36 BOM LR 1185; Surajpal Singh, (1952) 3 SCR 193; Muralidhar @ Gidda, (2014) 5 SCC 730 and Ghurey Lal, (2008) 10 SCC 450. “Interference with Judgment of Trial Court, […]
Read more "Setting Aside, Acquittal Orders I"“A convict is sent to jail with the hope and expectation that he would make amends and get reformed. A positive change on a Death Row Convict should weigh the Court. The conduct of the convict in prison cannot be lost sight of. We are of the view that a time has come where we […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty III"Sumit was Appellant Swapan’s first cousin, mother’s brother’s son. Appellant ‘kidnapped’, ‘drugged’, ‘throttled’ Sumit, placing ‘ransom calls’ for Rs. 20 Lakhs. Star Witness: Dulal Mahto, Driver, Indica Car No. JH 09D 6666. Unbroken chain of circumstances pointed unequivocally towards guilt. SC remembered well-settled legal propositions. First, Death Penalty is to be imposed only when it […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty II"I had declared in December, 2014: “It might be very useful to find more instances such as these – with clever scrutiny of the Judge Compositions – in order to find a pattern of how frequently or infrequently an SC Judge alters or refines his Opinion/Judgment during his tenure. Especially if he has held one […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty I"“The parameters of exercise of power under Section 319, CrPC has been explained by this Court time and again. It is sufficient to refer to Constitution Bench Judgment in Hardeep Singh, (2014) 3 SCC 92. Constitution Bench held, the person against whom Court decides to proceed, “has to be a person whose complicity may be […]
Read more "Section 319 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 I"Several matters, every week, are considered for ‘legal aid’. I had briefly assisted Senior Advocate, Jaideep Gupta in this regard and had recommended aid for Ujwala Pandurang Toraskar v. Mormugao Port Trust [Diary No. 20112 of 2018]. Judgment of HC of Bombay at Goa [Writ Petition No. 279/2016], was challenged. On July 3, 2018 SC […]
Read more "Legal Aid"“An agreement was entered into with regard to development of property owned by the Appellants. This property is situated at 20, Feroz Shah Road, New Delhi which falls under Lutyens Zone. Respondent No. 2 paid a sum of Rs. 1,00,00,000 (Rupees One Crore). The agreement could not be fulfilled as the new building regulations prohibited […]
Read more "Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 II"‘Yes?’ It was the Lover of the Century, Raghu. ‘You have to leave this Girl. It’s been too long.’ ‘I am so over her.’ 5 WhatsApp Messages, Zara Lone: ‘It’s my Birthday. I hope you remember.’ 9th February. ‘This is insane,’ Saurabh kept chanting. ‘Ready?’ I said, putting on my helmet. ___ Victim is Zara […]
Read more "The Zara Lone Case"“Willie (William) Slaney v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1956 SC 116 explained the concept of ‘prejudice caused to the accused’ and held: “Trial is not vitiated unless the accused can show substantial prejudice. Some violations of the Code will be so obvious that they will speak for themselves as, for example, a refusal to give the […]
Read more "Principles of Natural Justice III"
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