High Courts Archives

Kerala HC directs State Bar Council to identify advocates who have not qualified AIBE since 2021 and continue review of defaults

The Court also directed the Bar Council to publish the list of advocates who have since qualified AIBE and keep the District Judiciary informed, given the ramifications if similar defaults recur.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court on BCI Chairman row: Plea seeking FIR over alleged Advocate assault dismissed

Delhi High Court held that the plea seeking FIR and investigation into the alleged assault of advocates at BCI premises was not maintainable, with an alternate remedy available under BNSS.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court: Failure to redeem confiscated gold bars within stipulated period cannot be attributed to petitioner where Customs failed to quantify applicable duty

Delhi High Court directs Customs to quantify duty and release 12 confiscated gold bars, holding petitioner cannot be blamed for delayed redemption where duty was not quantified.

Case Briefs High Courts

Invoice branding not enough: Calcutta HC upholds Vanaspati Exemption

The conduct anterior to the levy may give rise to suspicion but it cannot, by itself, discharge the burden of proving that the goods actually removed after 1st March 2003 bore a brand name. Suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of proof.

Pending dues of spouse cannot bar election

Case Briefs High Courts

Husband and wife are separate legal entities; Spouse cannot be compelled to clear public official’s dues for electoral participation: Rajasthan HC

Rajasthan High Court held that electoral participation of a spouse cannot be barred based on the pending recovery dues owed by their partner who held the public office.

Case Briefs High Courts

Calcutta HC: Technical barriers cannot defeat guardianship for person with mental illness

The Court ensured that procedural obstacles did not deprive the petitioner and her brother of consideration under the guardianship framework.

Case Briefs High Courts

Prior vendor survey and vending plan by Town Vending Committee and local authority mandatory for declaring vending zones: Delhi HC

The High Court has held that the street vendors are not conferred any right to vend or squat until the permission or a certificate has been granted by the TVC in consultation with the local body.

director cannot institute complaint without board authorisation

Case Briefs High Courts

Director or Vice-President cannot institute complaint for company without Board authorisation; Bombay HC quashes proceedings against employee

In a copyright infringement case involving alleged unauthorised use of source codes, the Bombay High Court quashed proceedings against an employee, finding no material to show his active role beyond carrying out duties assigned by his employer. The Court also held that a company cannot maintain a criminal complaint through its Vice-President or an individual Director unless duly authorised by a Board resolution.

Case Briefs High Courts

“Detrimental to confidence and trust of foreign nationals”: Allahabad HC denies relief to accused persons in large-scale international cyber fraud targeting foreign nationals

The Court remarked that the cyber fraud wherein 119 people were arrested for running an illegal call centre to monetarily scam foreign nationals was detrimental not only to the political, economic and social fabric of the country, but also to the confidence and trust of the foreign nationals of the country.

Case Briefs High Courts

Disclosures by co-accused cannot by itself justify continued custody; Parity and absence of specific role favour grant of bail: Himachal Pradesh HC

The Himachal Pradesh High Court granted bail, holding that a co-accused’s custodial disclosure is inadmissible against another accused, and that continued detention without a specific attributed role would amount to pre-trial punishment.

substitution of the Investigating Officer

Case Briefs High Courts

Mere Apprehension of bias insufficient to seek substitution of Investigating Officer: Karnataka HC

The Court emphasised unless a clear case of mala fides, demonstrable bias, lack of jurisdiction or abuse of process is made out before a competent court, the person under investigation cannot insist that the investigation be conducted by an officer of his choice.

Case Briefs High Courts

Advocate-client privilege protects communications, not advocate’s unlawful or independent conduct; Delhi HC upholds GST search of Advocate’s office

The Court upholds search under S. 67(2), Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, subject to protection of privileged and third-party confidential material.

Case Briefs High Courts

Why cameras alone don’t cut it: Inside Karnataka HC’s order directing state-wide audit of police station CCTV

“The object of the enquiry shall not merely be to identify lapses in the present case but to ensure that such lapses do not occur in any police station in the State in future. The monitoring system shall move from a complaint-based approach to a real-time, automated and accountable mechanism, so that prolonged failures do not go unnoticed.”

Case Briefs High Courts

DV Act prescribes no limitation period for approaching Magistrate under Section 12; Mere delay does not warrant quashing of proceedings: Kerala HC

Kerala High Court emphasised that disputed factual allegations must be adjudicated by the jurisdictional Magistrate based on evidence and cannot be determined through a mini trial while exercising inherent jurisdiction under Section 528, BNSS.

Case Briefs High Courts

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court: Mere possession of “Dispiriting Books” cannot justify preventive detention

The High Court noted that mere possession of the books with dispiriting titles does not ipso facto make the petitioner/ detenue a criminal against whom the preventive detention was required to be invoked.

Rajasthan bar council pending enrollment application

Case Briefs High Courts

What happens to advocate enrolment when Bar Council elections stall it? Rajasthan HC explains

The Court held that the pending applications for enrolment as an advocate, with Rajasthan Bar Council, due to Bar elections, affects the right of livelihood of the applicants and thus, directed to dispose of all the pending applications.

bank account freeze cyber fraud investigation

Case Briefs High Courts

Can your entire bank account be frozen over a ₹100 fraud alert? Here’s what the Rajasthan High Court Guidelines say

The Court issued guidelines stating conditions to be followed by the banks and investigating officers with respect to freezing, lien, hold, or seizure of bank accounts in cyber financial crime investigations, directing the respondents to review the restraints imposed on bank accounts in the light of given directions.

Bombay Shaving Company Gillette Switch4 advertisement

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court rejects Bombay Shaving Company’s amended Switch4 Advertisement in Gillette disparagement suit; Earlier ad called an “Outright Mockery” of Court Proceedings

Delhi High Court directed Bombay Shaving Company to take down its Switch4 advertisement after finding its portrayal of Court proceedings objectionable and later rejected the amended advertisement proposed by the Company in Gillette’s disparagement suit.

Case Briefs High Courts

Prolonged pre-trial incarceration meets twin test of Section 37 NDPS Act: Manipur HC grants bail

The Court released the petitioner-accused on bail, observing that the case substantially rested upon the statutory presumption under Section 35, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) and such presumption is rebuttable. The Court specified that, in cases involving commercial quantity under the NDPS Act, the twin test contained in Section 37 remains mandatory.

Promise-to-marry allegation by married woman

Case Briefs High Courts

Kerala HC: Mere promise to marry allegation by a married woman insufficient to establish induced consent under S. 69 BNS

The Kerala High Court held that a mere allegation of a false promise to marry by a woman in a subsisting marriage did not disclose the essential ingredients of an offence under Section 69 of the BNS and, consequently, quashed the FIR and all further proceedings.