The Kerala High Court has granted the State two days to file its objection to former DGP Tomin J. Thachankary’s plea to suspend his four-year sentence, imposed on his conviction in a disproportionate assets case, pending his appeal against the conviction. The State described the matter as an exceptional case given the high office he held; the Court observed that there is no absolute right to object where the sentence is under ten years. The conviction is under appeal.
The Kerala High Court has closed a writ petition challenging a State Police Chief circular said to prohibit police participation in temple ceremonies, after recording the State’s affidavit clarifying that the circular bars only participation in religious rituals while in police uniform, except on official duty, and does not curtail policing functions at festivals or the religious rights of any devotee or denomination. The petition was disposed of on that clarification, without a ruling on the circular’s validity.
Monitoring compliance with the Supreme Court’s May 2026 directions on stray dogs, the Kerala High Court took note of the State’s Standard Operating Procedure for Animal Birth Control and euthanasia of rabid and dangerous dogs, and of a High-Level Monitoring Committee, and directed that committee to file monthly compliance reports from every local body in a prescribed format. The matter will be listed monthly.
A hospital refused to release a deceased man’s cryopreserved embryos to his widow, citing the absence of the specific written consent the ART Act requires. The Kerala High Court held that the hospital’s own failure to use the prescribed consent form could not defeat the widow’s request, and that the husband’s choice to have the embryos actually used pointed to his intention that they not be wasted. It allowed her to proceed.
The Kerala High Court held that a formal extradition request through diplomatic channels is not a precondition for the immediate arrest of a fugitive criminal, and that on receiving an international arrest warrant through Interpol the nodal agency must forward it both to the Central Government under Section 34-B and to the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 9 of the Extradition Act.
The Kerala High Court, after viewing the video in open court, directed the temporary blocking of a social media clip containing remarks about the Sabarimala deities, holding prima facie that the allegation of scandalous and indecent speech stood substantiated. Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the temporary blocking of a social media video […]