(181) HARISH MITTAL Vs. KISHAN GOPAL RATHI[DELHI HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 9 Rule 13 (Setting aside ex parte decree) — Order V Rule 20 (Substituted service) — Service of Summons — Incorrect addresses in Suit Plaint — An ex parte decree may be set aside where the appellant/defendant provides a plausible and sufficient explanation for non-appearance, particularly when the addresses provided by the plaintiff in the suit plaint for effecting service were incorrect or fictitious, leading to India Law Library Docid # 2437260
(182) BANMALI KUMAR (DIED) THROUGH LRS. AND OTHERS Vs. VASUDEO AND OTHERS[CHHATTISGARH HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959 — Section 57(2), Section 257(f) — Jurisdiction of Civil Court — Exclusion of Civil Court Jurisdiction — Challenge to Revenue Authority Orders — Suit for declaration that orders of Board of Revenue (under Section 57(2) proceedings) are null and void — Exclusion of Civil Court jurisdiction under Section 257(f) is not absolute — Civil Court's jurisdiction is not excluded where statutory tribunal has not acted in conformity with fundamental principles of judicial India Law Library Docid # 2437418
(183) STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. HIMATLAL NATHULAL BHRAHMAN (BAVADFAD) AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of Appellate Court interference — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 306 (Abetment of suicide) and 498-A (Cruelty by husband or relatives) — Where the Trial Court's finding of acquittal is reasonable and plausible, and not perverse, the Appellate Court should not disturb the acquittal order, even if a different view might have been India Law Library Docid # 2437671
(184) STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. ZANZIBEN RAJUBHAI BANDHIYA[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of Appellate Court’s power — Acquittal judgment by trial court for offence under Section 135 of Indian Electricity Act, 2003 (The Act) — Appellate court must give proper weight to the view of the trial court, the presumption of innocence, and the right of the accused to the benefit of any reasonable doubt — Interference is warranted only if the India Law Library Docid # 2437745
(185) STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. KARSANBHAI LAGDHIRBHAI RABARI AND ANOTHER[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) — Sections 17(c), 29, 42(2), 50(6) — Appeal against acquittal — Illegal possession of opium — Compliance with mandatory provisions for search and seizure — Failure to comply with Section 42(2) and Section 50(6) of the NDPS Act — Prosecution failed to prove that the mandatory intimation to the immediate official superior was properly sent, as neither the India Law Library Docid # 2437746
(186) SHIVSINH GANPATSINH SOLANKI Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT AND ANOTHER[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 — Section 372 Proviso; Section 378(4) — Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (NI Act) — Section 138 — Appeal against Acquittal — Right of Complainant/Victim — The Complainant in a proceeding under Section 138 of the NI Act is considered a "Victim" under Section 2(wa) of the CrPC, as established by the Supreme Court in Celestium Financial v. A. Gnanasekaran (2025 INSC 804). India Law Library Docid # 2437747
(187) LR OF BALVANTBHAI NATVARLAL PATEL AND OTHERS Vs. ARUNABEN NATVARLAL PATEL AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 96 — First Appeal — Ex parte Decree — Setting aside of — Suit for Partition — Conduct of Appellant/Defendant — Failure to cross-examine plaintiff and lead evidence despite knowledge and opportunity — When suit instituted in 1994, preliminary decree passed in 2019, and final decree in 2024 — Party served with examination-in-chief, represented by counsel, and participated till a India Law Library Docid # 2437748
(188) ASHIMA SOOD Vs. TARUN JAIN[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 22-12-2025 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Sections 13(1)(ia) and 13B — Dissolution of Marriage — Conversion of Contested Divorce to Mutual Consent Divorce in Appeal — Parties, whose marriage was dissolved by an ex-parte decree under Section 13(1)(ia) on grounds of cruelty/breakdown, reached a Permanent Settlement Agreement & Memorandum of Understanding during the appeal — Agreement provided for dissolution of marriage by India Law Library Docid # 2437749
(189) NADEEM S/O JAHIR Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 20-12-2025 Criminal Procedure — Application for Additional Evidence at Appellate Stage — Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, Sections 348 and 432 (Corresponding to Cr.P.C., 1973, Sections 311 and 391) — Power of Appellate Court to summon witness or take further evidence — State moved application in a criminal appeal arising from POCSO conviction, seeking to re-examine the victim (PW-20) India Law Library Docid # 2438002
(190) MAHESH KUMAR AGARWAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 21 — Right to travel abroad and right to hold a passport as a facet of personal liberty — Any restriction on this right must be fair, just, and reasonable, and proportionate to a legitimate purpose — The State’s power to restrain a citizen’s freedom must be narrowly confined, proportionate, and clearly anchored in law. India Law Library Docid # 2437139
(191) DR. AMIT ARYA Vs. KAMLESH KUMARI[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Specific Relief Act, 1963 — Section 28 (1) — Decree for specific performance — Payment of purchase money — Extension of time — Execution of decree — Where a decree for specific performance allows a period for the purchaser to pay the purchase money, the court has the power under Section 28(1) to extend this time on such terms as it deems fit — The power to extend time for performance of the conditions of the decree cannot be the end of the transaction, and adopting a hyper-technical approach India Law Library Docid # 2437140
(192) TARACHANDRA Vs. BHAWARLAL AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 M.P. Land Revenue Code, 1959 (MPLRC) — Sections 109, 110 — Mutation of Land Records — Acquisition of Right — Mutation based on a Will — The MPLRC and the Madhya Pradesh Bhu-Rajasv Sanhita (Bhu-Abhilekhon Mein Namantaran) Niyam, 2018, do not prohibit mutation based on a registered will; application for mutation based on a will must be considered on merits — Full Bench decision of the High Court confirmed that an application for mutation based on a will cannot be rejected at the threshold — Where India Law Library Docid # 2437141
(193) BELIDE SWAGATH KUMAR Vs. STATE OF TELANGANA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of criminal proceedings — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 498A (Cruelty by husband or relatives) — Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (DP Act) — Sections 3 and 4 (Penalty for giving/taking/demanding dowry) — Allegations of matrimonial discord and cruelty — High Court refused to quash FIR and consequent complaint case against husband (appellant) for Section 498A IPC and DP Act charges, despite quashing proceedings India Law Library Docid # 2437142
(194) BHIKA RAM AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 — Section 16 — Creation of Revenue Villages — Naming Convention — Circular dated 20.08.2009, Clause 4 — Policy regarding naming — Clause 4 mandates that the name of a new Revenue Village shall not be based on any person, religion, caste, or sub-caste — Names "Amargarh" and "Sagatsar" derived from names of individuals (Amarram and Sagat Singh) — Naming India Law Library Docid # 2437143
(195) STATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER Vs. MOHD ARSHAD KHAN AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Quashing of FIR — Protection from Arrest — Directions for time-bound investigation — High Court, while declining to quash the FIR, directed the completion of investigation within 90 days and granted protection from arrest till the court takes cognizance (following 'Shobhit Nehra v. State of U.P.') — 'Legality': Such directions granting protection from arrest while India Law Library Docid # 2437144
(196) M.K. RANJITSINH AND OTHERS Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Environmental Law — Wildlife Protection and Conservation — Protection of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican (LF) — Conflict between conservation goals and green energy generation (solar/wind) — Supreme Court modified earlier blanket prohibition on overhead transmission lines based on Expert Committee recommendations to balance non-negotiable preservation of GIB with sustainable development and India's international climate change commitments — India Law Library Docid # 2437133
(197) LAKSHMANAN Vs. STATE THROUGH THE DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 439(2) — Cancellation of Bail — Annulment of Bail — Distinction — Cancellation of bail is generally based on supervening circumstances and post-bail misconduct; Annulment of an order granting bail is warranted when the order is vitiated by perversity, illegality, arbitrariness, or non-application of mind — High Court granted bail ignoring prior cancellation of bail due to commission of murder by accused (while on bail) of a key witness in the first India Law Library Docid # 2437134
(198) K.P. KIRANKUMAR @ KIRAN Vs. STATE BY PEENYA POLICE[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 366A, 372, 373, 34 — Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) — Section 3, 4, 5, 6 — Child Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation — Evidence of Minor Victim — Appreciation of Evidence — Concurrent findings of fact by Trial Court and High Court regarding conviction for procuring and sexually exploiting a minor victim upheld — Prosecution case substantially corroborated by testimony of minor victim (PW-13), India Law Library Docid # 2437135
(199) UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. PRANAB KUMAR NATH[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Service Law — Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Rules, 2001 — Rule 18(b) — Recruitment: Disqualification — Second Marriage — Rule 18(b) disqualifies a person who, having a spouse living, has entered into or contracted a marriage with another person from appointment to the Force — Respondent, a CISF Constable, was dismissed from service for marrying a second time while his first marriage subsisted, violating Rule 18(b) — Held, the rule is a service condition intended to maintain India Law Library Docid # 2437136
(200) PATCHAIPERUMAL @ PATCHIKUTTI AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE REP. BY INSPECTOR OF POLICE AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 302 read with 34, 148, and 341 — Murder —Appeal against reversal of acquittal — Appellate court’s duty in overturning acquittal — Trial court’s acquittal based on "imaginary and illusionary reasons" and misappreciation of evidence, including attributing undue significance to minor contradictions and perceived manipulation of delayed FIR submission, justifies India Law Library Docid # 2437137