Author: Anvita Dwivedi

In a significant reaffirmation of India’s cheque dishonour jurisprudence, the Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of actor Rajpal Yadav in multiple cheque bounce cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, while reducing the substantive sentence from six months to three months’ simple imprisonment. The Court dismissed a batch of revision petitions filed by Yadav, his wife Radha Yadav and other accused persons, holding that there existed no legal or factual infirmity in the concurrent findings recorded by the Trial Court and the Sessions Court. In a strongly worded judgment, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that…

The SARFAESI Act, 2002 was enacted with a singular legislative objective to empower banks and financial institutions to recover non-performing assets expeditiously without the delays associated with conventional civil litigation. However, Parliament consciously balanced these extraordinary recovery powers with procedural safeguards intended to protect borrowers from arbitrary deprivation of property. The Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Authorised Officer, Indian Bank v. M.R. Vasumathi, 2026 INSC 633, has once again reaffirmed that these safeguards are not empty formalities but mandatory statutory obligations. The Court categorically held that an auction purchaser’s failure to deposit the balance 75% sale consideration within the time…

In a significant development in the ongoing litigation concerning the classification of loan accounts as “fraud” by public sector banks, industrialist Anil Ambani has withdrawn his writ petition before the Bombay High Court challenging the action initiated by the Bank of Baroda under the Reserve Bank of India’s fraud classification framework. The withdrawal comes against the backdrop of parallel proceedings before the Supreme Court and earlier judicial developments concerning similar fraud-classification actions initiated by multiple lending banks. While the High Court has not adjudicated upon the merits of the challenge, the development represents another important chapter in the evolving jurisprudence…

In a development that may have far-reaching consequences for service jurisprudence within the armed forces’ civilian establishment, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the Union Government on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Ministry of Defence (Navy) Group ‘B’ (Non-Gazetted) Ministerial Staff Posts Recruitment Rules, 2019. The petition raises substantial questions regarding promotional opportunities available to Upper Division Clerks (UDCs) serving in the Southern Naval Command and alleges that the impugned recruitment framework creates an arbitrary distinction among similarly situated employees, thereby violating the constitutional guarantees of equality in public employment under Articles 14 and 16 of…

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has strongly condemned the recent incident in which a litigant appearing in person allegedly disrupted proceedings before the Supreme Court by hurling papers, using abusive language against members of the Bench and disturbing the orderly administration of justice. While expressing solidarity with the judiciary and the legal profession, the Association has simultaneously urged the Supreme Court to formulate comprehensive guidelines regulating the circulation of courtroom videos on social media platforms. According to the SCBA, selective clipping, unauthorised editing and viral dissemination of courtroom exchanges have increasingly created distorted public narratives that undermine public confidence…

A consumer dispute arising out of the alleged disruption of a theatrical screening of the film Dhurandhar has once again brought into focus the legal obligations of multiplex operators under India’s consumer protection framework. A complaint has been instituted against PVR INOX before the appropriate Consumer Commission alleging that repeated technical glitches during the screening substantially diminished the cinematic experience despite the payment of premium ticket prices. The proceedings, though arising from an individual grievance, raise broader legal questions concerning the standard of service expected from multiplex operators, the scope of “deficiency in service” under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019,…

In a significant judgment reinforcing the constitutional standards governing police accountability and custodial responsibility, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the departmental punishment of demotion imposed upon a Station House Officer (SHO) whose subordinates illegally detained a 16-year-old minor during the night and allegedly secured his release only after receiving illegal gratification from the child’s family. Rejecting the officer’s challenge to the disciplinary proceedings, the Court held that a police station is not merely an administrative establishment but a constitutional institution entrusted with the protection of life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. Consequently, a Station…

In a judgment that is likely to have far-reaching consequences for India’s arbitration jurisprudence, the Supreme Court has significantly clarified the principles governing grant of interim relief under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The ruling marks an important shift in judicial thinking by emphasising that courts dealing with applications for interim measures under Section 9 of the Act are not expected to mechanically transplant the rigid standards applicable to temporary injunctions under the Code of Civil Procedure. Instead, the Court has reaffirmed that arbitration is intended to be an autonomous, commercially efficient dispute resolution mechanism whose effectiveness depends upon…

In one of the largest conferments of senior designation in recent years, the Delhi High Court has approved the designation of 85 advocates as Senior Advocates, including 11 women lawyers, reaffirming the institution’s continuing effort to recognise professional excellence while strengthening the leadership of the Bar. The decision was approved by the Full Court following recommendations made by the Permanent Committee constituted under the Delhi High Court’s Senior Advocate Designation Rules. The Committee comprised Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Justice V. Kameswar Rao, Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre, Delhi High Court Bar Association President N. Hariharan, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma…

In a significant interim order examining the constitutional limits of executive discretion in granting compassionate public employment, the Madras High Court has permitted the Tamil Nadu Government to proceed with issuing appointment orders to certain victims and families affected by the tragic Karur stampede, while making it unequivocally clear that such appointments shall remain purely temporary and subject to the final outcome of the pending writ proceedings. The Court emphasised that although the State possesses the executive authority to formulate rehabilitation measures following extraordinary public tragedies, any decision involving public employment continues to remain amenable to judicial review under Articles…