An accused who was tendered pardon must be mandatorily examined before committing the case to the Sessions Court. Kerala High Court exercises suo motu revision jurisdiction on a batch of cases from sessions to interfere with the Order of committal of case to Sessions Court which was passed without examining accused who was tendered pardon. The Court on finding illegality in the Order of committal directed Sessions Court to transmit the case records to the committal court to consider the case fo...

Insurance Company, an instrumentality of the state, has to conform to the constitutional mandate to act fairly and reasonably under all circumstances even if their business dealings are in the realm of contract. Kerala HC binds insurance company with liability to pay for repudiating a claim of insurance on the ground of violation of provisions of MV Act as the insured vehicle was stolen after expiry of temporary registration. The Court held that in the absence of any statutory provision/clause...

Advance payment via cheque without there being subsisting debt or liability at the time of the cheque's issuance does not attract an offence under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. Post dated cheques issued in consideration for future share transfers were dishonoured as the agreement between the parties fell through. Both sides did not seek enforceability of its terms. When the party respondent instead of getting the terms of the agreement implemented through the process of law, ha...

The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 (No. 15 of 2023) Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been amended vide Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023. Commencement date of the Act is yet to be notified . For full textclick here The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023 (No. 12 of 2023) Cinematograph Act, 1952 has been amended vide Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023. It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. For...

Affinity Test cannot be applied as a litmus test to determine a tribe: Supreme Court The claim of an MBBS student who belonged to ‘Mana’ Scheduled Tribe against MBBS seat reserved for Scheduled Tribe was dismissed by the Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee. Supreme Court reversing the said finding declared that the appellant belongs to ‘Mana’ Scheduled Tribe and stated that Affinity Test cannot be applied as a litmus test to determine a tribe because wit...