Many of you have reached out to me, over the last few months and years, for copies of judgments and orders that I wrote – during my tenure as a Trial Court Judge. Many of these are available on IndianKanoon, but not all. Here’s one that was sent to me recently by someone, which wasn’t…
This is a guest post by Sh. Rajesh Mohan, IPS, Haryana Cadre (follow him on twitter here!) On 8th September 2017, a class II student was found murdered with his throat slit inside a washroom of the Ryan International School at Bhondsi, Gurugram in Haryana. After coming into the media limelight the case was transferred…
“It’s very genesis is illegal; it can’t be a Money Bill! This vitiates everything; a lacunae that you can’t fill!” This issue – we decide not to decide, Let’s look at the other issues, for a moment, keeping this aside. The law is amazing; it’s beautiful; truly one of its kind, The legislature was competent,…
The power of a court to compound an offence u/s 320 CrPC is different from the power of the High Court to quash a criminal proceeding u/s 482 CrPC. The High Court can quash a criminal proceeding even if it involves a non-compoundable offence, however, subject to the two disjunctive preconditions stipulated in Section 482: first,…
Let’s take the facts of Ravi Prakash Singh v state of Bihar, (2015) 8 SCC 340 for the purpose of illustrating. Here are the brief facts: Accused first surrendered before the Court on 05.07.2013 and 1st remand order passed is passed on the same day. Bail application filed by the accused on 03.10.2013 on the ground that he is entitled to…
The clear distinction between these two concepts is often ignored. Often deliberately – with a view to turn a patently civil dispute into a criminal case (to exert pressure, ease recovery, etc.). This is – no doubt – a very unfortunate tendency. (Over 70% of all cases pending at the trial court level are criminal…
A lot of you have written to me – over the years – on advice relating to cross examination. Well, advice isn’t worth much when it comes to something as practical and experiential as cross examination. (One can’t learn swimming in a library!). Having said that, a few broad principles that I’ve found particularly helpful…
■Facts are key. A trial court is essentially a court of fact. ■At the High Court, all that a lawyer needs to do in order to get the leave to appeal is to demonstrate factual aspects not dealt-with in order get the leave granted in his/her favour. ■Good practice to read and internalize the whole file…
Facts: •CBI receives information that the CMD of a PSU is allegedly accepting bribes from bidders/suppliers of the PSU. •The CBI lays down a trap. The wife of the CMD is also caught allegedly depositing gold bars in a bank locker. •Two chargesheets are filed. One against all the people involved in the alleged offence including the…
Scope of bail hearing should be limited. It should be clarified that a Bail hearing is not a mini trial, and a statutory amendment should clarify so. Especially, given the conflicting judicial decisions on this point. Reconsideration of higher threshold for bail in cases under special criminal laws. Time-bound disposal of bail applications. Make it a…