Criminal law

Absurd, burdensome or unreasonable bail conditions are being thrust upon the accused by courts, while granting bail, based on the whims and fancies of the judges rather than in strict adherence to the provisions of law.

The SC does not recognise sex work as a profession as the media widely reported. What the SC actually says is that notwithstanding the profession, every individual has a right to dignified life under the Indian Constitution and the constitutional protection that is given to all individual shall be kept in mind by the authorities while enforcing immoral traffic prevention law. In fact, what it puts forth is that the sex workers, who are despised and stigmatised by society, must be treated with full respect for their dignity and humanity, and not to abuse them verbally or physically, or to coerce them into sex work.

The Supreme Court (SC), in a Suo Motu Criminal Contempt Petition No.866 of 2021, said on 23rd May 2022 that making allegations against judges is unfortunately becoming a new fashion now and the stronger the judge, the greater the allegations against him.

The Supreme Court (SC), on 18th May 2022, ordered the release of A G Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination (in the case AG Perarivalan v State) by resolving some of the unsettled legal issues.

The question of woman’s consent in sex within marital relation is again on sharp focus. The split verdict of the two judge Bench - Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice C Hari Shankar - of the Delhi High Court on 11th May 2022 has reignited the issue. Justice Rajiv Shakdher headed the two-judge Bench. The split verdict came out in the case RIT Foundation v. UOI and other connected matters, in a batch of petitions filed in 2015, challenging the protection provided to marital rape.

The consent expressed by a woman involved in a sexual act must be an unequivocal voluntary agreement or willingness to participate in the specific sexual act. It can be communicated by the woman by words, gesture or any form or verbal or non-verbal communication.

A conspiracy takes place when two or more people make an agreement to commit or cause to be done, an illegal act or a legal act through illegal means and to take some step consequent to the agreement. Conspiracy does not require that the illegal act to be completed. A group of individuals can be convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary even if the actual burglary never happens. In a conspiracy an accused can be charged with both the offences: the conspiracy to commit a crime, and the crime itself.

The act of giving false oral evidence (perjury) or giving false written statement (forgery) is a criminal offence, punishable under Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). The word perjury is not used in IPC, but forgery is described in Section 463 IPC.

The High Court (HC) cannot direct the investigation agency not to arrest the accused during the course of investigation or to ask the Trial Magistrate to admit the accused on bail while dismissing the application of the accused for quashing the Fist Information Report (FIR) under Section 482 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC).

When a person is arrested on the charge of an offence, the Police Officer not below the rank of a Sub Inspector or a person under his direction can ask a medical practitioner to make an examination of the person arrested as is reasonably necessary to ascertain the facts which may afford such evidence of commission of the offence.

In every criminal case, on completion of the police investigation, the police have to file a final Police Report, under Section 173(2) of the CrPC. Police investigation starts with what we call First Information Statement (FIS) by some informant, then comes First Information Report (FIR) and ends with submission of final Police Report, stated as above, clearly denoting whether to proceed against the accused or not. The FIS leads to the recording of FIR.