Criminal law

A law made by the legislature is always prospective in nature unless it has been specifically stated in the statute itself about its retrospective operation. But the reverse is true for the law which is laid down by a Constitutional Court, or law as it is interpretated by the court. The judgment of the court will always be retrospective in nature unless the judgment itself specifically states that the judgment will operate prospectively, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Kaniskh Sinha v State of West Bengal [2025 INSC 278].

The Supreme Court (SC) reaffirms that basing a conviction solely on the opinion of a handwriting expert’s evidence without substantial corroboration would be hazardous, in C. Kamalakkannan v State Of Tamil Nadu [2025 INSC 309].

BNSS has the concept of deemed sanction The Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), unlike the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), provides for the concept of deemed sanction for prosecuting a public servant.

Informing an arrested person clearly and effectively of the grounds for his/her arrest is a fundamental right under Article 22(1) of the Constitution and the right to live with dignity is a part of the rights guaranteed under Article 21, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Vihaan Kumar v The State of Haryana & Another [2025 INSC 162].

The Supreme Court (SC), in Ramesh (deceased) v The State of Kerala, says if the accused-appellant dies during the pendency of a criminal appeal against a composite sentence of imprisonment and fine, the appeal does not abate. The Section 394 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) deals with abatement of appeals.

The Supreme Court (SC), in Union of India & Another v Tarsem Singh & Others has declared Section 3J of the National Highways Act 1956, to the extent it excludes solatium and interest as per Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquisitions done under the National Highways Act (NH Act), to be unconstitutional.

Prior sanction under Section 197 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is not needed to prosecute a public servant for perjury under Section 340 read with 195 of the CrPC, says the High Court of Kerala in K.K. Krishnan v State of Kerala and Others [2024/KER/12203].

Trial for the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (NI Act) can proceed in the absence of the accused and without recording a statement under Section 313 CrPC, if the accused or their advocate has not been attending the trial or the accused has not sought for dispensing personal attendance, says the Bombay High Court in Navneet Singh Gogia & Another v State of Maharashtra & Another [2025:BHC-AS:3054].

Any lapse or delay in compliance of Section 52A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) would neither vitiate the trial nor would entitle the accused to be released on bail, the Supreme Court (SC) says in Narcotics Control Bureau v Kashif [2024 INSC 1045].

Public outcry for imposing death penalty in every case of murder, such as Sharon Raj murder case, is quite common nowadays. But the law says that the imposition of death penalty should be awarded only in the rarest of rare cases of exceptional nature.

The Kerala High Court declined to quash the FIR stating that the accused has made sexually coloured remarks and overtures and commented that the body structure of the complainant was “fine” followed by sending messages with sexual overtures to the complainant in R. Ramachandran Nair v State of Kerala & Others [2025: KER:356]

Maintenance proceedings under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Proceedings (CrPC) are essentially civil in nature and should not be equated with criminal proceedings merely because they involve a penal consequence, says the SC in Rina Kumari @ Rina Devi @ Reena v Dinesh Kumar Mahto @ Dinesh Kumar Mahato & Another [2025 INSC 55].