Judgments of 2012

The murder of Aarushi Talwar and the subsequent killing of domestic help Hemraj led to a criminal trial before the Special Judicial Magistrate (CBI) in Ghaziabad. Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar filed separate transfer petitions under Section 406 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking to move the trial to De…

The Supreme Court examined the allocation of 2G spectrum licences by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) between September 2007 and March 2008, which were based on Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations to use the 2001 entry fee and a first‑come‑first‑served policy. Petitioners argued that …

The Bangalore City Cooperative Housing Society sought acquisition of 207 acres of land for a housing scheme, entering into an agreement with the State Government and an estate agent who was paid over Rs 5 crores to secure the acquisition. The High Court quashed the acquisition, holding that no housing scheme had been f…

The appellant, Markio Tado, was elected to the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the respondent, Takam Sorang, filed an election petition alleging booth capturing. During the trial the respondent sought, via two interlocutory applications, production of voters' counterfoils (Form 17A) from 38 polling stations …

The Venus Public Education Society applied to the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) for recognition to run a D.El.Ed. programme for the 2010‑11 session. After a series of inspections, deficiencies, and an appeal, the NCTE issued a letter of intent on 22‑Sep‑2011 and a formal recognition order on 27‑Oct‑2011…

The claimant, a 30‑year‑old bus worker, suffered amputation of her left leg and right foot in a motor vehicle accident and claimed Rs 6,50,000 as compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal awarded Rs 2,00,000, including Rs 86,000 for permanent disability, while t…

The appellants, convicted of murder under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment, appealed to the Gujarat High Court. The High Court affirmed the conviction without examining the complete record, including oral and documentary evidence, merely narrating the prosecution and defence cases. The Supreme Court h…

The complainant filed a criminal complaint alleging offences under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120‑B IPC. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, invoking s.202 CrPC, ordered a police investigation and later dismissed the complaint under s.203, stating the dispute was civil. The complainants sought revision under s.397 read…

Arvind Gupta filed a writ petition under Article 32 challenging the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) power to issue performance audit reports under the Regulations on Audit and Accounts, 2007, framed pursuant to the Comptroller & Auditor General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Services) Act, 1971. T…

The appellants challenged a writ petition filed by the respondents before the Allahabad High Court that sought to quash an order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) Delhi approving the auction of the respondents' property under the SARFAESI Act. The High Court, after finding no ground to interfere with the DRT order, n…

The appellants, including DSR Steel (P) Ltd., challenged the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission’s tariff order and the withdrawal of an incentive scheme, alleging promissory estoppel. Their review petitions were dismissed by the Commission and the Appellate Tribunal, and they filed appeals under Section 125 of…

The CBI investigated a 2000 fake encounter at Pathribal in Jammu & Kashmir, where five alleged terrorists were killed by members of the 7 Rashtriya Rifles, and filed a charge‑sheet against several army officers. The officers invoked Section 7 of the Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990, claiming that…

The case arose from a dispute over the erection of a fence around a chapel in Goa, during which the appellant Roy Fernandes and four others intervened, assaulting the deceased and his companions. One of the accused stabbed the deceased, causing his death. The trial court convicted all five under Sections 143, 148, 323,…

Nano Kumar Verma, a judicial officer, was first investigated for granting bail in a serious case; after offering explanations, the High Court accepted them and closed the proceedings. Despite this, the High Court later initiated fresh departmental proceedings on the same charges, reverted him to a lower post, and subse…

The voter Bishnu Deo Bhandari filed an election petition challenging the Lok Sabha election of Mangani Lal Mandal on the ground that Mandal had omitted information about his first wife, dependent children and their assets in the affidavit filed with his nomination papers. The Patna High Court set aside Mandal's electio…

The Supreme Court examined the entitlement of displaced families from the Man Dam project in Madhya Pradesh to receive two hectares of land under the State's Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) Policy. The High Court had directed that each adult son who became a major before the acquisition notification be treated as…

The Supreme Court examined a batch of interlocutory orders by the Allahabad High Court that stayed criminal investigations and trials, resulting in cases remaining pending for years, some up to three decades. The Court held that while High Courts have the power under Article 226 and Section 482 of the CrPC to stay proc…

The appellants sought to have criminal complaints under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, read with Section 141, dismissed on the ground that a scheme of compromise approved under Section 391 of the Companies Act had automatically compounded the offences. The Supreme Court examined whether the sanction of …

The appellant companies, foreign nationals who were ultimate beneficiaries of a bill of exchange, were summoned by a Ghaziabad magistrate on a criminal complaint alleging cheating, criminal breach of trust and related offences under the IPC. The complaint arose from a commercial transaction in which goods were supplied…

The State of Punjab appealed the acquittal of CRPF constable Dalbir Singh, who had been charged under Sections 302, 307 IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act for firing a self‑loading rifle that resulted in the death of a senior officer. The High Court acquitted him on the basis of irreconcilable inconsistencies in the pr…