The Madras High Court has refused to discharge a former Tamil Nadu Minister and his family in a disproportionate assets case, holding that under the unamended Prevention of Corruption Act no sanction under Section 19 was required to prosecute a public servant who had already demitted the office he is alleged to have abused. It also held that no sanction under Section 197 CrPC arises, as a disproportionate-assets offence has no nexus to official duty.
The Special PMLA Court in Ranchi rejected Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s discharge plea in a money-laundering case linked to an allegedly illegally acquired land parcel. The Court found that the ED had placed sufficient evidence and key witness statements on record to justify proceeding with the case.
The Supreme Court refused to interfere with proceedings against former Mumbai police officer Pradeep Sharma in the Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiren murder case, dismissing his appeal against the Bombay High Court order rejecting discharge from criminal conspiracy charges linked to the high-profile 2021 investigation.
The Beed special court has rejected Vishnu Chate’s plea for discharge in the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, stating he “appears to have been a member of the organised crime syndicate and was involved in continuing unlawful activities.” Chate had claimed insufficient grounds for charges, but the court found prima facie evidence against him.
The Supreme Court ruled that proving mens rea is essential for abetment of suicide under Section 306 of the IPC. In a case involving a man and his family accused of motivating his wife’s suicide, the court determined insufficient evidence of intent to sustain charges, emphasizing a critical temporal link between instigation and the act.
