Criminal law

The legal position regarding the conviction on sole testimony of prosecutrix even without any corroboration is now well settled. In a large number of cases, the accused was convicted on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix without any corroboration.

The criminal courts in India can conduct trial against an Indian citizen for the offences he has committed outside India but the trial cannot commence without previous sanction of the Central Government under Section 3 and 4 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Section 188 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC).

The documents which are not part of the charge sheet, but seized by the investigating agency during the investigation of the offence, cannot be withheld by the prosecution merely on the ground that the documents sought to be summoned are not part of the charge sheet, the Gujarat High Court held in a revision application in Sanjiv Rajendra Bhat v State of Gujarat.

Appeal against an order of acquittal is an extra ordinary remedy. It would put the already exonerated accused once again under shade of suspicion and troubles. Therefore, some restrictions are there in the appeal provisions.

Use of disrespectful words like “Eda”, “Edi” and “Nee” to address citizens is impermissible, the High Court of Kerala says in an order issued on 3rd September 2021 in Anil J S v State of Kerala by Justice Devan Ramachandran.

An arrest need not be made merely because it is lawful for the police to make an arrest of an accused, the Supreme Court (SC) reaffirmed the dictum in Siddharth v State of Uttar Pradesh (LL 2021 SC 391). Except in heinous offences, an arrest must be avoided if a police officer issues notice to person to attend the Station House and not to leave the Station without permission would do. The Police should arrest the accused only when it is essential to do so as arrest is an act that goes against some of the fundamental rights of the person

Marital rape is not an offence in India but it is a good ground to claim divorce, the High Court of Kerala (HC) says. This was stated by the HC in its verdict  in xxx v xxx (names masked) on 30th July 2021 while disposing a set of two appeals against a family court verdict. One appeal was by the husband seeking restitution of conjugal rights and the other was by the wife for divorce. The HC upheld the divorce.

If the accused is convicted for any offence, he shall have the right to be heard on the question of sentence before the court pronouncing its sentence. This is what the Section 235 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) states. This hearing usually ends up as a meaningless routine in most of the cases.