The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur set aside a trial court order allowing secondary evidence under Section 60 of the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The Court held, “Secondary evidence cannot be permitted when original exists.”
The Supreme Court has directed High Courts to notify convicts before appointing an amicus curiae to represent them. The move aims to ensure fair representation and prevent future legal disputes in long-pending criminal appeals.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected Sanji Ram’s plea to suspend his life sentence in the 2018 Kathua rape-murder case. The Court held he does not deserve the “concession of suspension of sentence at this stage” and dismissed his application.
The Calcutta High Court upheld life imprisonment of a man convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in 2014, ruling the crime caused two deaths. The division bench dismissed his appeal, calling the accused a “cold-blooded killer.”
The Allahabad High Court ruled that an FIR does not lose credibility merely because it was drafted with a lawyer’s assistance. While permitting legal help, the Court stressed careful scrutiny to rule out malice. The Bench decided this in Jagdamba Harijan’s acid attack conviction appeal.
The Delhi High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report on a plea seeking reinvestigation into the 1975 assassination of Lalit Narayan Mishra. Convicts have appealed, while family alleges real culprits were exonerated.
The Kerala High Court has asked the State to respond to Antony Raju’s plea seeking suspension of his conviction in the decades-old evidence tampering case. Raju says the conviction could block him from contesting upcoming elections unless it is stayed.
The Supreme Court of India restored acquittal in a 15-year-old murder case after finding the sole eyewitness to be planted and unreliable. The Court held that the prosecution failed to complete the chain of circumstances and wrongly overturned a plausible trial court acquittal.
The Supreme Court reduced the sentence of an 80-year-old accused in a 1992 homicide case to the period already undergone, citing his advanced age and long lapse of time. The Court held that sending an elderly person back to prison at this stage would be harsh, stressing that “courts are not supposed to be insensitive.”
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of an 80-year-old man in a 1992 criminal case but reduced his sentence to the period already served, considering his advanced age and long incarceration. The Court said it would be harsh and insensitive to send the elderly convict back to jail at this stage of his life.
