IPC Archives

‘Justice system should not be weaponised to punish emotional intimacy between peers’; Orissa HC grants interim bail to POCSO accused

“In cases involving adolescents or young adults, especially where the relationship is not formally sanctioned by families, legal proceedings may become a proxy for familial disapproval rather than a genuine invocation of victimhood.”

Case Briefs High Courts

In absence of any documentary proof of date of birth, ossification test is required: Delhi HC sets aside conviction under POCSO Act

“In the present case, despite the clear statement given by the survivor that the relationship between the appellant and herself was consensual in nature, he has been convicted under the POCSO Act only for the reason that on the date of incident she was less than 18 years of age.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi HC quashes FIR in POCSO case considering victim’s privacy and her future prospects including marriage; directs accused to do community service

The Court noted that the complainant (‘victim’) and her mother, were currently exploring matrimonial prospects, and that the pendency of a criminal case might result as a serious impediment to her future opportunities and personal relationships.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi HC grants bail to film director falsely accused of rape; highlights trend of lodging false complaints of sexual offences

“Every false complaint of sexual offences not just causes immense damage to the person accused of the offence, but also creates cynicism and distrust across the society, which leads to even the genuine victims of sexual offences suffer, as society starts suspecting her truthful complaint also to be false.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court: Blind discharge of accused with mental disabilities cannot be permitted; proper and informed judicial assessment essential

“Section 330(3) of CrPC mandates the Court to carefully consider the nature of the act committed, assess the degree of the mental condition, seek medical opinion, and then, only upon being satisfied, release the accused with adequate safeguards or refer him to a designated facility equipped to provide necessary care and rehabilitation.”

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Transmitting sensitive information of Indian Armed Forces to foreign handlers strikes national security’: Delhi HC dismisses bail plea of accused in espionage case

“When individuals, driven by financial inducement or otherwise, seek to breach this trust by serving as conduits to foreign agencies, amounts to an act not only of grave criminality but of betrayal to the nation.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Section 377 of IPC cannot be applied to criminalise marital sex: Delhi High Court

The Court stated that the charge under Section 377 of IPC could not have been framed against the husband. A ‘consensual’ oral or anal intercourse between any two adults, in private, is not a criminal offence punishable under Section 377 of IPC.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court: FEMA does not immunize IPC offences; ₹3,500 Cr Hawala accused can’t escape criminal charges

The case began with a search and seizure by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 37 of FEMA at the petitioners’ premises and during the operation, the petitioners allegedly confessed to illegal hawala transactions worth ₹3,500 crore routed abroad using fabricated documents to remit money to their companies in Hong Kong and Canada.

Case Briefs High Courts

Emotional/mental vulnerability due to depression, & other psychiatric problems to be considered in abetment of suicide cases; higher proof of instigation required: Delhi HC

“Every case of suicide does not amount to abetment and therefore, the Court has to see whether the conduct of the accused was such that a normal person, not merely a hypersensitive one, would have been driven to suicide.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi HC dismisses petition to quash FIR against man accused of repeated rape, unnatural sex, forcing abortion and threatening to circulate nude photographs and videos

“If the complaint lodged by the prosecutrix is truthful, instead of extending premium to a rapist and a molester by pushing the helpless rape victim into his matrimony, it would be the duty of the State to ensure her a dignified life by providing her food, shelter and clothing.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Crucial for Courts to be conscious of accused’s right to speedy trial, rather than waking up too late and lament that such right is defeated: Delhi HC

In the present case seeking regular bail by the accused, the charge-sheet comprising about 10,000 pages was filed over 1 year ago citing 49 prosecution witnesses, but charges are yet to be framed. Therefore, the Court stated that it is obvious that trial will take a long time to conclude.

Case Briefs High Courts

Merely because suicide is committed in parental home and not matrimonial home, does not mean it is not a case of dowry death: Delhi HC dismisses bail application

The expression “soon before her death” in Section 304-B of Penal Code, 1860 must be read as an expression of continuity of time and not an expression of mere length of time. The legislature in its wisdom had used the phrase as “soon before” and not “immediately before”.

Case Briefs High Courts

DNA report merely proves paternity, and it cannot by itself establish absence of consent: Delhi HC acquits a man convicted of rape

Despite having multiple opportunities to report the alleged acts, complainant remained silent. Her complaint came only after the pregnancy was discovered. The Court stated that these facts lend credence to the possibility that the FIR was a reaction to social pressure and the nature of the relationship was re-cast retrospectively to explain an unwanted pregnancy.

Case Briefs High Courts

Patriarchal to say that woman must foresee marriage problems solely because she is elder to her partner; DHC refuses to quash FIR against a man accused of rape on pretext of marriage

The accused, despite being fully aware of the age difference, actively pursued the relationship, gave assurances of marriage, and induced the victim to make financial and emotional commitments.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Law with ‘greater degree’ of punishment applies when convicted under IPC and POCSO both: Supreme Court

“The provisions of Section 42A of POCSO Act, cannot be interpreted so as to override the scope and ambit of enabling provision, i.e., Section 42 of POCSO Act.”

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Police thoroughly followed the legal procedure’; Bombay HC upholds Trial Court’s view that informing grounds four minutes after arrest was not unreasonable

The Court reiterated that informing the arrestee about the grounds at the time of arrest and providing a written copy of the same within 24 hours of arrest was sufficient compliance of Article 22(1) of the Constitution.

Case Briefs High Courts

Chhattisgarh HC acquits husband accused of having unnatural sex with wife under S. 377 IPC leading to her death

“If the age of wife is not below the age of 15 years then any sexual intercourse or sexual act by the husband with her wife cannot be termed as rape under the circumstances, as such absence of consent of wife for unnatural act loses its importance, therefore, the offence under Section 376 and 377 of the IPC against the accused was not made out.”