Category: Corruption

HELD No accused can be permitted to play with the investigation and/or the courts process. No accused can be permitted to frustrate the judicial process by his conduct – by not permitting the CBI to have the police custody interrogation for the remainder period of seven days, it will be giving a premium to an accused who has been successful in frustrating the judicial process.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION — Appellant Vs. VIKAS MISHRA @ VIKASH MISHRA — Respondent ( Before : M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar, JJ. )…

Odisha Lokayukta Act, 2014 – Section 20(1) – Provisions relating to complaints and preliminary inquiry and investigation – there was no element of bias in conducting a preliminary inquiry in the instant case and the objection raised by the respondents stands overruled – Appeal Allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH OFFICE OF THE ODISHA LOKAYUKTA — Appellant Vs. DR. PRADEEP KUMAR PANIGRAHI AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Ajay Rastogi and Bela M.…

COSTITUTION BENCH :Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 – Section 7 and Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) – Proof of demand – In the absence of evidence of the complainant (direct/primary, oral/documentary evidence) it is permissible to draw an inferential deduction of culpability/guilt of a public servant under Section 7 and Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the Act based on other evidence adduced by the prosecution.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH NEERAJ DUTTA — Appellant Vs. STATE (GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI) — Respondent ( Before : S. Abdul Nazeer, B. R. Gavai, A. S.…

Money-laundering – By handing over money with the intent of giving bribe, such person will be assisting or will knowingly be a party to an activity connected with the proceeds of crime – Without such active participation on part of the person concerned, the money would not assume the character of being proceeds of crime – The relevant expressions from Section 3 of the PML Act are thus wide enough to cover the role played by such person

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT — Appellant Vs. PADMANABHAN KISHORE — Respondent ( Before : Uday Umesh Lalit, CJI and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ. ) Criminal…

Period of three months, extended by one more month for legal consultation, is mandatory – Consequence of non-compliance with this mandatory requirement shall not be quashing of the criminal proceeding for that very reason – The competent authority shall be Accountable for the delay and be subject to judicial review and administrative action by the CVC under Section 8(1)(f) of the CVC Act.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VIJAY RAJMOHAN — Appellant Vs. STATE REPRESENTED BY THE INSPECTOR OF POLICE, CBI, ACB, CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai…

Disproportionate income in the period between 1974 and 1988, FIR filed after twelve years the charge sheet after 7 years, application for discharge dismissed after decade, SLP decided after 6 years HELD superannuated from service in 2010 – now 72 years – Continuation of the prosecution, unjust – Discharge application allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH KANCHAN KUMAR — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 – Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(e) – It is for the accused to account satisfactorily for the money/assets in his hands – Onus in this regard is on the accused to give satisfactory explanation – Accused cannot make an attempt to discharge this onus upon him at the stage of Section 239 of the CrPC. State appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH STATE THROUGH DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE — Appellant Vs. R. SOUNDIRARASU ETC. — Respondent ( Before : Dinesh Maheshwari and J.B. Pardiwala, JJ. )…

You missed

“Husband Has No Right On Wife’s Stridhan” Matrimonial Law – The appeal concerns a matrimonial dispute involving misappropriation of gold jewellery and monetary gifts – The appellant, a widow, married the first respondent, a divorcee, and alleged misappropriation of her jewelry and money by the respondents – The core issue is whether the appellant established the misappropriation of her gold jewellery by the respondents and if the High Court erred in its judgment – The appellant claimed that her jewellery was taken under the pretext of safekeeping on her wedding night and misappropriated by the respondents to settle their financial liabilities – The respondents denied the allegations, stating no dowry was demanded and that the appellant had custody of her jewellery, which she took to her paternal home six days after the marriage – The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s judgment, upheld the Family Court’s decree, and awarded the appellant Rs. 25,00,000 as compensation for her misappropriated stridhan – The Court found the High Court’s approach legally unsustainable, criticizing it for demanding a criminal standard of proof and basing findings on assumptions not supported by evidence – The Court emphasized the civil standard of proof as the balance of probabilities and noted that the appellant’s claim for return of stridhan does not require proof of acquisition – The Supreme Court concluded that the appellant had established a more probable case and directed the first respondent to pay the compensation within six months, with a 6% interest per annum in case of default.