Criminal Laws & Procedures

On a reference for confirmation of sentence of death, the High Court is required to proceed in accordance with Sections 367 and 368 respectively of the CrPC and the provisions of these Sections make it clear that the duty of the High Court, in dealing with the reference, is not only to see whether the order passed by the Sessions Judge is correct, but to examine the case for itself and even direct a further enquiry or the taking of additional evidence if the Court considers it desirable in order to ascertain the guilt or the innocence of the convicted person.

Police Custody means that police have the physical custody of the accused, while Judicial Custody means an accused is in the custody of the concerned Magistrate. In the former, the accused will be detained in police lockup while in latter, he will be detained in jail.

In Rehna Fatima v State of Kerala & Another, the High Court of Kerala quashed the charge of nudity and other ones levelled against the activist Ms Rehna Fatima under the penal code and other laws, for posting a video on internet depicting her minor children painting on her bare torso under the hashtag “Body art and Politics”.

Summoning a person, without there being any crime registered against him and retaining him, would be violative of basic principles in criminal law, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Khaliq M A and others v Ashok Kumar and Another.

A criminal court, suo motu or by application of a party, can inspect a place where crime has occurred during the course of trial, enquiry or other proceedings under Section 310 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC).

The conclusive test to prove whether a person consumed alcohol or not is the Alco Meter Test or Blood Analysis Test. The evidence of smell of alcohol present in breath is not a conclusive proof, says Kerala High Court in Biju @ Gopi v State.

No FIR shall be registered in respect of any serious or petty offence committed by juveniles, states the High Court of Kerala in Don Biju Mathew v Sub Inspector of Police, Kuravilangadu and Another.

A Full Bench of the Madras High Court, in Arul Daniel & Others v/s Suganya & Others, held that proceedings under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) can be challenged in the High Court only under Article 227 of the Constitution. Such proceedings cannot be challenged by invoking the court's power under Section 482 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).