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May 30, 2012

Narender Kumar Vs State (NCT of Delhi)

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed on 25.05.12 as "even in a case of rape, the onus is always on the prosecution to prove, affirmatively each ingredient of the offence it seeks to establish and such onus never shifts. It is no part of the duty of the defence to explain as to how and why in a rape case the victim and other witness have falsely implicated the accused."

May 16, 2012

Govt promises new deal for prosecutors - Indian Express

Govt promises new deal for prosecutors - Indian Express
"Justice S Ravindra Bhat said: “You must give them adequate incentives so as to attract young talent and be able to retain them. These are the reasons why not many young lawyers want to become prosecutors. You correct these issues and we may have some great talents defending your cases.”"

'via Blog this'

May 4, 2012

Pylamutyalamma @ Satyavathi Vs Pylasuridemudu & Anr


Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on 09.08.11 observed as "
Under the law, a second wife whose marriage is void on account of survival of the previous marriage of her husband with a living wife is not a legally wedded wife and she is, therefore, not entitled to maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. for the sole reason that “law leans in favour of legitimacy and frowns upon bastardy1”. But, the law also presumes in favour of marriage and against concubinage when a man and woman have cohabited continuously for a long number of years and when the man and woman are proved to have lived together as man and wife, the law will presume, unless the contrary is clearly proved, that they were living together in consequence of a valid marriage and not in a pronouncements state of concubinage. Several judicial right from the Privy Council up to this stage, have considered the scope of the presumption that could be drawn as to the relationship of marriage between two persons living together. But, when an attempt is made by the husband to negative the claim of the neglected wife depicting her as a kept mistress on the specious plea that he was already married, the court would insist on strict proof of the earlier marriage and this is intended to protect women and children from living as destitutes and this is also clearly the object of incorporation of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure providing for maintenance.
If the evidence led in a proceeding under Section 125 Cr.P.C. raises a presumption that the applicant was the wife of the respondent, it would be sufficient for the Magistrate to pass an order granting the proceeding. But if the husband maintenance under wishes to impeach the validity of the marriage, he will have to bring a declaratory suit in the civil court where the whole questions may be gone into wherein he can contend that the marriage was not a valid marriage or was a fraud or coercion practiced upon him. Fortifying this view, it was further laid down by the Supreme Court in the matter of Rajathi vs. C. Ganesan9 also, that in a case under Section 125 Cr.P.C., the Magistrate has to take prima facie view of the matter and it is not necessary for the Magistrate to go into matrimonial disparity between the parties in detail in order to deny maintenance to the claimant wife. Section 125, Cr.P.C. proceeds on de facto marriage and not marriage de jure. Thus, validity of the marriage will not be a ground for refusal of maintenance if other requirements of Section 125 Cr.P.C. are fulfilled."

Bhushan Kumar Vs State (NCT of Delhi) 2012 STPL(Web) 209 SC


Under Section 190 of the Code, it is the application of judicial mind to the averments in the complaint that constitutes cognizance. At this stage, the Magistrate has to be satisfied whether there is sufficient ground for proceeding and not whether there is sufficient ground for conviction. Whether the evidence is adequate for supporting the conviction can be determined only at the trial and not at the stage of enquiry. If there is sufficient ground for proceeding then the Magistrate is empowered for issuance of process under Section 204 of the Code. 9. A summon is a process issued by a Court calling upon a person to appear before a Magistrate. It is used for the purpose of notifying an individual of his legal obligation to appear before the Magistrate as a response to violation of law. In other words, the summons will announce to the person to whom it is directed that a legal proceeding has been started against that person and the date and time on which the person must appear in Court. A person who is summoned is legally bound to appear before the Court on the given date and time. Willful disobedience is liable to be punished under Section 174 IPC. It is a ground for contempt of court. 10. Section 204 of the Code does not mandate the Magistrate to explicitly state the reasons for issuance of summons. It clearly states that if in the opinion of a Magistrate taking cognizance of an offence, there is sufficient ground for proceeding, then the summons may be issued. This section mandates the Magistrate to form an opinion as to whether there exists a sufficient ground for summons to be issued but it is nowhere mentioned in the section that the explicit narration of the same is mandatory, meaning thereby that it is not a pre-requisite for deciding the validity of the summons issued. 11. Time and again it has been stated by this Court that the summoning order under Section 204 of the Code requires no explicit reasons to be stated because it is imperative that the Magistrate must have taken notice of the accusations and applied his mind to the allegations made in the police report and the materials filed therewith.