(141) POTHULA LAKSHMANNA, ALIAS POTULA ANAND KUMAR Vs. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH[ANDHRA PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2024 — Section 69 — Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 480 and 483 — Consensual relationship versus false promise to marry — Distinction between a false promise and breach of promise — Physical relations established on a promise to marry do not amount to an offence unless the accused harboured a fraudulent intention from the very inception solely to secure sexual relations — A consensual relationship that later turns sour cannot justify invoking criminal India Law Library Docid # 2453970
(142) STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. RATI RAM[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of appellate interference — Acquittal reinforces the presumption of innocence of the accused — Appellate court should not disturb an order of acquittal merely because another view is possible upon re-appreciation of evidence — Interference is warranted only in exceptional circumstances where the trial court's judgment is palpably wrong, manifestly perverse, based on misreading or omission of material evidence, India Law Library Docid # 2454049
(143) DIVYA H.K. Vs. BHARATH KUMAR[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Section 24 — Interim Maintenance — Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities — Duty of parties — Guidelines in Rajnesh v. Neha — Family Court awarded Rs. 10,000/- per month as interim maintenance to wife — Both parties challenged the order — Husband claimed to be a milk vendor possessing only 1 acre 12 guntas of disputed land — Record revealed husband owned an additional 1 acre of land not disclosed in his affidavit — Held, full and truthful disclosure of assets and liabili India Law Library Docid # 2454053
(144) THE STATE BY INSPECTOR OF POLICE Vs. MADHUSUDAN G.S. AND OTHERS[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Sections 227 and 228 — Framing of charge and discharge — Scope and judicial scrutiny — At the stage of considering a discharge application, the Court has the power to sift and weigh the evidence for the limited purpose of finding whether a prima facie case is made out. The Court is not required to accept the prosecution's allegations as gospel truth if they contradict common sense or broad probabilities. The Judge is duty-bound to evaluate the material on r India Law Library Docid # 2454056
(145) STATE OF KARNATAKA Vs. SMT. P LATHA[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — Sections 7, 13(1)(d) and 13(2) — Demand and acceptance of illegal gratification — Material contradictions and omissions — Complainant alleged demand of bribe by accused for issuing cheque — Cross-examination and previous statement under Section 161 CrPC established that the cheque was handed over when complainant asked about it, without any demand — Evidence of complainant was replete with material omissions and subsequent improvements — Glaring discrepancies India Law Library Docid # 2454073
(146) SEEMA RANI Vs. RENU BALA[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 — Interim Injunction — Concealment of material facts — Discretionary and equitable relief — Plaintiff sought to restrain co-sharer from raising construction, claiming the land was joint, but concealed a prior partition order passed by the revenue authority before the institution of the suit — Held, interim injunction is an equitable and discretionary relief requiring the applicant to approach the court with clean hands — Concealment of ma India Law Library Docid # 2454076
(147) NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. AND ANOTHER Vs. SRI M C MANJUNATH AND OTHERS[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 — Gratuitous passenger — Carriage in goods vehicle — Accident occurring during return journey after unloading goods — Claimant claimed to be an unloader — Held, in the absence of the vehicle carrying goods, carriage of any person in a goods vehicle is only as a gratuitous or fare-paying passenger — Such carriage is in breach of insurance policy conditions — Owner's initial FIR statement showed passenger boarded during return journey, disproving engagement a India Law Library Docid # 2454085
(148) SONU ALIAS ALI Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 430 — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 302 — Suspension of sentence pending appeal — Murder — Legal principles — Presumption of innocence is erased upon recorded conviction by a competent court. In serious and heinous offences involving life imprisonment under Section 302 IPC, suspension of sentence can be granted only in exceptional cases. Societal concerns, public peace, and the nature of the crime must be prioritized and weighed in juxtapositio India Law Library Docid # 2454095
(149) SUSHEEL KUMAR Vs. STATE OF H.P.[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 — Section 35 — Regular bail — Statutory timeline for trial — Entitlement to bail — Accused sought regular bail citing failure to conclude trial within one year under Section 35(2) of POCSO Act — Held, the timeline in Section 35 is directory and not mandatory, incorporating the term "as far as possible" — Section 35 was enacted to protect and rehabilitate child victims promptly, not to create a default right to bail for perpetrators — Failure India Law Library Docid # 2454097
(150) NAVEEN D' SOUZA AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA AND ANOTHER[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Sections 156(3), 190 and 200 — Police 'B' Report — Procedure on Protest Memo — Magistrate issued process after recording sworn statement on a protest memo without passing an order on the 'B' Report — Held, when a 'B' report is submitted and a protest memo is filed, the protest memo must be treated as a complaint — The Magistrate must apply judicious mind to the reasons in the 'B' report and grounds in the protest memo, and record an express finding acceptin India Law Library Docid # 2454105
(151) UDAY SINGH Vs. LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR AND OTHERS[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — Sections 18, 23 and 54 — Determination of market value — Highest sale exemplar — Reference Court determined compensation relying on a lower sale deed — Held, settled law establishes that where multiple bona fide sale exemplars of similar lands proximate in time are available, the highest exemplar must be preferred rather than resorting to averaging or selecting lower-value transactions, unless strong circumstances justify otherwise — Sale deed Ex.PD reflected the hig India Law Library Docid # 2454108
(152) MAHANTHESH N. Vs. VEERABHADRAPPA M. AND ANOTHER[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections 166 and 168 — Negligence — Rear-end collision — Safe distance — Sudden braking at night — Offending lorry suddenly stopped without brake lights, causing claimant's motorcycle to collide into its rear — Lorry driver charge-sheeted and pleaded guilty under Sections 279 and 338 of Indian Penal Code — Insurer failed to elicit or prove distance between vehicles — Precedents regarding failure to maintain safe distance distinguished — Held, criminal conviction and ab India Law Library Docid # 2454112
(153) BRIGHTSWORD TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD Vs. THE KARNATAKA INDUSTRIAL AREAS DEVELOPMENT BOARD[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966 — Section 28 — Pre-condition of obtaining consent of landowners — Validity — Board requiring applicant-entrepreneur to obtain prior consent of landowners before proceeding with acquisition — Held, such condition does not conflict with or run contrary to the statutory scheme of Section 28 — Appellant having failed to comply with the said condition cannot assert an enforceable right over the subject lands or claim that the Board lacked authority to India Law Library Docid # 2454113
(154) STATE OF H.P. Vs. SURENDER KUMAR[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of interference — Presumption of innocence is reinforced by an acquittal — Appellate court should not interfere unless the trial court's view is impossible, perverse, wholly unsustainable, or manifestly illegal — Where two reasonable conclusions are possible on the evidence, the view favourable to the accused must be adopted — Due weight must be given to findings of the trial court, which had the opportunity to India Law Library Docid # 2454114
(155) MUNI LAL Vs. MD, HRTC & ORS.[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 23-09-2026 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections 166 and 173 — Claim petition — Principles of compensation in personal injury cases — Injured claimant is entitled to both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages — Pecuniary damages include expenses for medical treatment, attendant charges, transportation, and loss of future earnings resulting from permanent disability — Non-pecuniary damages compensate for mental and physical shock, pain, suffering, and loss of amenities of life — Object of awarding damages is to India Law Library Docid # 2454115
(156) RAJ KUMARI Vs. SANJAY KUMAR[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 22-09-2026 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Section 13(1)(i-a) — Mental Cruelty — Ground for divorce — Allegations of illicit relationship and infidelity — Respondent-wife made serious, unsubstantiated allegations that the appellant-husband was having an illicit relationship with his sister-in-law and lodged complaints with his Army superiors — Held, armed forces operate on strict discipline and moral standards — Sullying an officer's reputation before his superiors and colleagues directly attacks his dig India Law Library Docid # 2453052
(157) STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. BHAWAN SOOD[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 22-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of interference — Acquittal reinforces the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused. The appellate court is generally slow in disturbing findings of fact recorded by the trial court which had the advantage of observing witness demeanor. Interference is warranted only when the judgment under appeal is patently perverse, based on misreading or omission of material evidence, or causes a gross miscarri India Law Library Docid # 2453053
(158) HARI NARAYAN SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHERS[PATNA HIGH COURT] 22-09-2026 Service Law — Departmental Enquiry — Service of Notice — Obligation to inform change of address — Delinquent employee challenged proceedings on ground of non-communication of notices — Notices were dispatched to permanent and local addresses provided by employee at time of appointment, but returned unserved — Employer is duty-bound to communicate only at the address furnished in official records — If an employee changes residence, the obligation to intimate the employer rests squarely on him — D India Law Library Docid # 2453116
(159) JITENDRA PRATAP SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[DELHI HIGH COURT] 22-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 154 and Section 482 — Constitution of India — Article 226 — Registration of cross-FIR — Maintainability of writ petition — Merely labelling a complaint as a counter-version arising out of the same occurrence does not automatically entitle the complainant to a direction for registration of a second FIR — Where the investigating agency conducted a verification exercise pursuant to CVC directions, examined relevant records, found no actionable material India Law Library Docid # 2453129
(160) AMIT CHOUBEY @ AMIT KUMAR CHOUBEY @ ANKIT CHOUBEY @ AJIT CHOUBEY AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF BIHAR AND ANOTHER[PATNA HIGH COURT] 22-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 304(A) read with Section 34 — Causing death by negligence — Accidental electrocution — Allegation against petitioners whose co-accused allegedly engaged deceased as a labourer — Investigation revealed that electrocution occurred due to non-insulated electric wire used by another co-accused to supply electricity via generator set to the village — Fellow labourers affirmed that death was accidental — Petitioners had no connection with supply or transmission of elec India Law Library Docid # 2453136