A Cognizable Offence must be Reported to the Police before Making a Private Complaint about it to the Magistrate

26 March 2025Posted inCriminal law
A person aggrieved by a cognizable offence committed by someone else must first inform the officer in charge of a police station, who is required to record it in writing, read it back to the informant, and obtain their signature, under Section 154(1) of the Code of Criminal Proceedure,1967 (CrPC), says the Supreme Court ( SC) in Ranjit Singh Bath & Anr. v Union Territory Chandigarh & Anr.

Not to Register a Criminal Case against a Teacher Relating to School Discipline without a Preliminary Probe

16 March 2025Posted inCivil law
A preliminary inquiry must be conducted before registering a criminal case against a teacher for any bonafide act done in the school to discipline their students and the accused teacher should not be arrested during the preliminary enquiry. Such an enquiry is essential to ensure that teachers are not unfairly targeted, says the High Court of Kerala (HCK) in Sibin SV v State of Kerala [2025: KER:20847].

Motor Vehicle Accident Compensation for A Minor

8 March 2025Posted inMotor Vehicles Act
The notional income of a minor aged 5 years in a motor accident claim should be fixed based on the minimum wages for skilled workers as per the state notification for Kerala, as per GO (P) No 56 /2017 Fin dated 28/4/2017 as the Second Schedule has been omitted, says the Kerala High Court in Master Jyotish Raj Krishna @ Jyothi Krishna v Sunny George & Others [ 2024:KER:87009].

Laws are Prospective but Case Laws are Retrospective

6 March 2025Posted inCriminal 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].