Criminal law

An accused has the right to get copies of (or examine) the unmarked and unexhibited documents, which are not being relied on by the prosecution, in a criminal proceeding, as per the Supreme Court ( SC) judgement in V K Sasikala v State Rep. By Superintendent Of Police and some other related judgements.

The trial judge usually cannot examine any material produced by the accused at the time of charge framing or discharge of the accused, says the Supreme Court (SC) in State of Orissa v Debendra Nath Padhi.

The Supreme Court in Teesta Atul Setalvad v State of Gujarat states that the factors, which are essentially considered at the stage of granting of bail under Sections 437 and…

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.

Default bail under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedures Code, 1973 (CrPC) can be granted to an accused based on an oral application alone, and no physical copy or written application is needed for seeking default bail, says High court of Kerala in a judgement in Akshay v State of Kerala [ 2023(1) KLT SN 44 (C No 38)].

After the dismissal of anticipatory bail application by the High Court (HC), a petitioner cannot file a subsequent anticipatory bail application, pointing out changes in circumstances, before the Sessions Court (SC). This is what the High Court of Kerala directs in Bipin Sunny v State of Kerala [ 2023 (5) KHC 125].

The Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) is a complete code of legal provisions, to control and regulate operation of Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic substances in India. It has been formulated by consolidating the then existing Opium Act, 1878 and The Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930. It applies to all persons in India and outside, and on ships and aircrafts registered in India.

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.

The objective of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989  ( SC & ST Act) is to prevent atrocities against the members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. The Supreme Court (SC) in  Hitesh Verma v The State of Uttarakhand says that the object of the Act is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes,

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”.

Returning a criminal complaint filed by the wife of an accident victim, on the sole ground that it was filed by the wife and not by the actual victim, is illegal, says the Kerala High Court (HC) in Smitha w/o Thankachan v State of Kerala.

Investigation conducted by the informant / police officer, who is the complainant, is not vitiated because of the sole reason that the informant is the investigator, says the Supreme court (SC) in Mukesh Singh v State (Narcotic Branch of Delhi) .