The Supreme Court of India has ruled that it is mandatory to consider the twin conditions laid out in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) when deciding bail applications in money laundering cases. The court emphasized the seriousness of the crime and the need to comply with the rigorous requirements of Section 45 of the PMLA, which includes giving the prosecutor an opportunity to oppose bail and ensuring that the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and unlikely to commit another offense on bail. The ruling was made in response to an appeal filed by the Enforcement Directorate against a Patna High Court order granting bail to an accused in a money laundering case. The Supreme Court found that the High Court had granted bail without properly considering the requirements of Section 45 and remanded the case back for a fresh review.
The contentious bill providing for legal sanction to police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and detainees for investigation in criminal matters was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday, with Home Minister Amit Shah asserting it will act as a defender of human rights of law-abiding citizens.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) faced criticism from the Supreme Court for filing a "half-baked" reply in a bail matter related to the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, questioning the accountability of the ED and its advocate-on-record. The ED's additional solicitor general, S.V. Raju, attributed the error to a miscommunication and assured the court that a departmental inquiry would be initiated.
"Actually it (sedition law) requires reconsideration. We do not know what is the problem, what are the difficulties. We will hear all the stakeholders, consult criminal lawyers," the former Supreme Court judge told PTI.
The Supreme Court on Monday used the legal term 'inchoate crime' to refer to mere possession of any child pornographic material that it said would constitute offences under the POCSO even if not disseminated further.
The Supreme Court of India has invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in West Bengal's state-run and state-aided schools, deeming the selection process "vitiated and tainted." The court ordered the state government to conduct a fresh selection process within three months. The decision comes after a Calcutta High Court verdict in April 2024, which also annulled the appointments. The apex court, while upholding the high court's order, made some modifications, including exempting disabled employees from returning their salaries. The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), involving OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping. The Supreme Court had previously termed it a "systemic fraud." Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being investigated in the recruitment scam.
Insulting a woman or being rude to her and not behaving in a chivalrous manner will not amount to outraging the modesty of a woman, the Delhi High Court has held while setting aside an order putting a man on trial for calling a woman gandi aurat.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday called for the trifurcation of police in states by creating separate cadres for investigation and prosecution, besides one for the law and order handling.
'Trail and appeals for rape cases must end in a year. Then the Police will not feel constrained to justify encounters and people will not applaud it.'
It will expedite disposal of cases as they won't get inordinately delayed, Shah said.
The Supreme Court of India has expressed concern over the erosion of the family institution, stating that people in India, while valuing the concept of 'vasudhaiva kutumbakam' (the world is one family), are failing to maintain unity even within their immediate families. This observation came in a case involving a dispute between a mother and her eldest son over property and family relations.
The number of undertrials is at a historic high and comes at a time when vacancies in the judiciary -- across the lower courts, high courts, and the Supreme Court -- remain high.
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre and some states, including Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, that "precipitative actions" like razing buildings in criminal proceedings be not taken.
The Hyderabad incident had sparked demands of swift punishment to rape convicts. The news of the 'encounter' killing led to celebrations in some quarters and concern in others.
Society must share the blame with the police who have at least quickly identified and nabbed the culprits. Let us see how fast the other wheels of the criminal justice system grind to award the accused exemplary punishment, says retired Indian Police Service officer Anil Chowdhry.
A Supreme Court bench, in a rare instance, has expressed displeasure in its judicial order over a new case listing mechanism introduced by Chief Justice U U Lalit for speedy disposal of matters pending for years.
President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the nation on Republic Day, advocated for the "One Nation One Election" initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance governance and reduce financial burdens. She highlighted the government's efforts to eliminate remnants of colonialism, citing the replacement of British-era criminal laws with modern alternatives. Murmu also lauded India's economic progress, stressing the importance of inclusive growth and social welfare. She urged citizens to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters and reaffirmed the significance of the Constitution in guiding India's journey towards a prosperous and equitable future.
On a day a sexual abuse case was registered against actor Siddique based on a complaint by a woman actor, the Left government appears to have adopted a cautious approach in the case of MLA Mukesh, with two ministers indicating that further action hinges on the findings of the probe by the special police team.
If the credibility of our criminal justice system has to be restored and if we have to win the confidence of the Sikh community, it is important that further investigation against Jagdish Tytler be done in a time-bound manner by a special investigation team which reports directly to the court, says B Raman
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the role of the law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system have come in for critical comment after the December 16 brutal gang-rape and assault of a 23-year-old woman, who died in a Singapore hospital last week.
Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on charges related to paying off a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign, making him the first former US president to face a criminal charge and upending his bid to retake the White House in 2024.
Cases of atrocities on scheduled castes increased from 45,000 in 2014 to 40,800 2016. Cases of atrocities on scheduled tribes went from 11,451 in 2015 to 6,568 in 2016.
The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to Puja Khedkar, a former IAS probationer, who is accused of cheating and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination. Khedkar is accused of misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC civil services examination, 2022, to get reservation benefits. She has refuted all the allegations against her.
'Government cannot pick and choose as to against whom they want to take action and against whom they do not want to take action.'
The court said it is the responsibility of Parliament to show its collective will to restrain criminals from entering politics or legislature to save democracy and the country governed on democratic principles and the rule of law.
A day after a full court meeting and to allay the concerns of lawyers and litigants on matters not being taken up for hearing due to paucity of time, the Supreme Court on Wednesday came out with a new mechanism in which a miscellaneous case "not taken up" for hearing will be listed the next day.
Former US President Donald Trump is expected to appear before a specially secured Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday to be arraigned on history-making criminal charges related to paying hush money to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The murder of Atiq and his brother and the police encounter with his son have raised many questions about the propriety of how crime is tackled by the Yogi government. But Yogi knows he has the support of the people who are fed up with crime holding the state to ransom for decades, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The details of the sexual offenders convicted under the charges of rape, gang rape, harassing women and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are available on the database.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Kash Patel, a close confidante, as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This appointment would make Patel the highest-ranking Indian American in Trump's incoming administration. Patel has previously served in various roles in the Trump administration, including Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Trump praised Patel's work in uncovering the "Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax" and his commitment to "bringing back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI." Patel, who has extensive experience in law enforcement and national security, is known for his work on the Russia investigation and his criticism of the "deep state."
'These new laws give complete (impunity) to the police.' 'Whatever little accountability the police had, all that is gone now.' 'There is no accountability mechanism against the police for abusing or misusing in the new laws.'
According to the present law, only a man can be prosecuted for the offence of adultery with the woman being granted immunity from proceedings on account of her position in society.
He said there used to be mutual respect between the government and the opposition, which is diminishing.
A sessions court in Indore has acquitted a bangle seller from a minority community, accused of molesting a minor girl, noting that the prosecution failed to establish its case even by 'leshmatra' (an iota).
Scarlett Keeling's mother Fiona Mackeown demanded that the people responsible for the 'murder' of her daughter be identified and prosecuted.
"In order to contain terrorism, the police force will have to create a new cadre trained in low intensity warfare and equipped with state of the art technologies," he said.
A first information report (FIR) has been filed against four people in connection with the suicide of a 34-year-old deputy general manager of a private firm, Atul Subhash, who died by suicide, accusing his wife, her family members, and a judge of harassment, extortion, and corruption.
Ahead of Trump's inauguration here on January 20, the debate on foreign guest workers visas for highly skilled professionals, the H-1B, has intensified which has literally created divisions in both the Democratic and the Republican parties.
If it is opaque, then who else will speak up against it if not the concerned minister, Rijiju said.
India has ranked 59th in the Rule of law index 2015 compiled by The World Justice Project gaining an overall score of 0.51 out of 1.
