51. Electricity Theft -- Civil Court jurisdiction -- Assessment of civil liability -- Civil Court has jurisdiction where statutory provisions and principles of natural justice are not complied with -- Appeal dismissed. (P&H HC) Decided on: 04.08.2026

52. Further investigation -- Leave of Court -- No police officer, of howsoever high a rank, can direct further investigation during trial unless leave of the Court is obtained -- An application conveying orders of further investigation passed by a superior police officer is not an application seeking permission to further investigate made to Court. (All. H.C.) Decided on: 03.08.2026

53. Matrimonial dispute — Abetment of suicide — Absence of proximity — Where deceased and accused had no contact for 5 months and 12 days preceding suicide, and there was no cogent evidence of harassment or instigation, presumption under Section 113-A cannot be invoked to sustain conviction under Section 306 IPC. (All. H.C.) Decided on: 31.07.2026

54. Condonation of delay -- The burden to prove 'sufficient cause' lies on the applicant, who is seeking condonation of delay -- The Courts must not condone gross negligence, deliberate inaction, or casual indifference. (All. H.C.) Reserved on: 16.07.2026 Decided on: 31.07.2026

55. Section 482 Cr.P.C. -- Quashing of FIR -- Abetment of suicide -- Mere demands for repayment of money or harassment in connection with financial transactions, without anything more, do not satisfy ingredients of "abetment" -- No overt act, proximate instigation or intentional aid -- FIR and consequential proceedings quashed. (P&H HC) Decided on : 29.07.2026

56. S. 34 IPC -- Constructive liability -- One who keeps watch to enable companions to commit an offence is as much a participant in the common intention as the principal offender. (All. H.C.) Reserved on: 02.07.2026 Decided on: 29.07.2026

57. Constitution of India -- Article 338 -- Powers of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) -- Legislature has prescribed for the NCSC a role that is recommendatory and advisory, but certainly not adjudicatory. (SC) Decided on: 28.07.2026

58. Writ -- Delay and laches -- If the writ petitioner is guilty of delay and latches, the High Court can dismiss the petition on that sole ground itself, in as much as the writ courts are not to indulge in permitting such indolent litigant to take advantage of his own wrong (All. H.C.) Decided on: 28.07.2026

59. Victim Compensation Scheme -- Acid Attack -- Sections 357A and 482 Cr.P.C. -- Power to recommend compensation under Section 357A is a power coupled with a duty, and every criminal court is expected to consciously examine the question of victim compensation, particularly in cases involving acid attacks -- Mere pendency of the appeal cannot be a ground to decline the relief. (Kerala HC) Decided on: 28.07.2026

60. Interim custody of seized property -- Scope of jurisdiction -- While exercising powers under Sections 451 and 457 CrPC, the Court determines only prima facie entitlement to interim possession and not title or ownership -- Registration certificate is a relevant but not conclusive factor for grant of interim custody. (SC) Decided on: 27.07.2026

61. S. 319 Cr.P.C -- Summoning of additional accused -- Where persons found innocent during investigation are sought to be summoned subsequently, the evidence which emerges during trial must necessarily be of a much higher quality than a mere repetition of the earlier allegations and must disclose something more than what was already before the investigating agency (P&H HC) Reserved on: 22.07.2026 Pronounced on: 27.07.2026

62. Lambardar -- Appointment -- Hereditary claim -- Merely because father of candidate worked as Lambardar, merit of rival candidate cannot be ignored. (P&H HC) Decided on: 27.07.2026

63. Service Law -- Estoppel by participation -- A candidate who participates in a selection process without objection cannot ordinarily challenge the process after being declared unsuccessful -- However, where arbitrariness or illegality in the selection process is writ large and vitiates the selection, participation would not preclude the candidate from questioning the process and seeking appropriate relief. (SC) Decided on: 24.07.2026

64. Apportionment of compensation -- If a dispute arises between parties in the sense of a lis, with each party propounding a different share for himself based on past transactions and the law applicable, the dispute can alone be determined by the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction within whose jurisdiction the acquired land is situated (All. H.C.) Decided on: 24.07.2026

65. Estoppel -- Developer is estopped from resiling from a Permanent Alternate Accommodation Agreement (PAAA) after obtaining vacant possession, demolishing the old premises and completing redevelopment. (SC) Decided on : 23.07.2026

66. Declaration of law -- Dismissal of Special Leave Petition expressly reserving question of law does not constitute binding precedent. (SC) Decided on: 23.07.2026

67. Preventive detention -- Mere fact that the dossier and the detention order share the same date cannot lead to an automatic presumption of arbitrariness. (J&K&L HC) Reserved on: 16.07.2026 Decided on: 23.07.2026

68. Foreigners Act, 1946 -- Section 7 cannot be invoked merely on the basis that a person is a trustee, office bearer, or member of an organization owning or managing the premises. (J&K&L HC) Reserved on: 15.07.2026 Decided on: 23.07.2026

69. Maintenance -- Without evidence of marriage or specific pleadings of a live-in relationship, a claimant seeking maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. cannot claim benefit available to persons in a live-in relationship (All. H.C.) Decided on: 23.07.2026

70. SC/ST Act – Ss. 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) -- Caste-related abusive words used over the telephone to son of complainant do not satisfy the basic ingredient of the offence. (P&H HC) Decided on : 23.07.2026

71. Cyber Fraud -- Bail -- Clean antecedents, completion of investigation and prolonged custody, coupled with doubtful evidentiary value of the co-accused's disclosure statement, justified grant of regular bail. (P&H HC) Decided on: 22.07.2026

72. Writ jurisdiction -- Compensation in exercise of writ jurisdiction or inherent jurisdiction is an exceptional public law remedy available only when there is an established violation of fundamental rights, coupled with malafides or gross abuse of process causing demonstrable harm. (J&K&L HC) Reserved on: 15.07.2026 Decided on: 22.07.2026

73. Right of reproduction and right to employment -- A woman cannot be forced to choose between bearing a child and employment (All. H.C.) Decided on: 22.07.2026

74. Lambardar -- Appointment -- Comparative merits -- Commissioner having himself found both candidates equal in merit, could not interfere with choice made by District Collector. (P&H HC) Decided on: 22.07.2026

75. MACT -- Compensation -- Use of motor vehicle -- Causal link -- Merely because there was a car somehow involved in a chain of circumstances that led to death, provisions of MVA would not apply -- Some link whatsoever between car and death has to be established. (SC) Decided on: 22.07.2026

76. Bail -- Arrest -- Grounds of arrest -- Mandatory communication in writing in language understood by arrestee -- Arrest memo not substitute for grounds of arrest -- Non-compliance renders arrest and remand legally unsustainable -- Regular bail granted. (P&H HC) Decided on: 22.07.2026

77. Rent laws -- Bonafide need -- Alternate accommodation is used for storing waste material does not negate the landlord's bona fide requirement to use the demised premises for a business. (SC) Decided on: 21.07.2026

78. FERA -- Cognizance of offence -- Mandatory opportunity notice -- Service of an adequate and meaningful opportunity notice under the proviso to Section 61(2) is a mandatory statutory prerequisite for instituting a complaint under Section 56 or 57. (SC) Decided on : 21.07.2026

79. Service Law -- Minor Penalty -- Effective Date -- Promotion -- Minor penalty imposed in substitution of termination relates back to the date of the original termination -- Promotion granted pursuant to Review DPC must carry all consequential benefits and cannot be restricted to notional promotion alone. (SC) Decided on: 21.07.2026

80. Juvenile Justice Act -- Classification of Offences -- Heinous offence -- Offence punishable under Section 302 IPC carries life imprisonment as its minimum punishment by necessary implication and therefore falls within definition of "heinous offence". (SC) Decided on: 21.07.2026

81. Consent decree -- Article 142 cannot be employed to supplant the concluded and acted upon terms of a consensual arrangement between the parties. (SC) Decided on : 21.07.2026

82. Complaint -- Dismissal for non-appearance -- Pre-cognizance stage -- Petition under Section 528 of BNSS maintainable -- Dismissal before issuance of process does not amount to acquittal -- Complaint restored. (J&K&L HC) Decided on: 21.07.2026

83. Pension -- Post-retiral benefits -- Withholding of pension and gratuity -- No departmental or judicial proceedings pending -- Mere pendency of FIR/investigation insufficient -- Pension and gratuity being property protected under Article 300-A -- Employee cannot be deprived of full pension and other post-retiral benefits. (J&K&L HC) Decided on: 21.07.2026

84. Attempt to culpable homicide -- Grievous injury -- Intention or knowledge to cause death -- Where only lathis were allegedly used and no sharp-edged weapon was recovered, a grievous injury pertaining to a fracture of a metacarpal bone cannot by itself be construed as an injury dangerous to life or indicative of an intention or knowledge to cause death. (P&H HC) Decided on : 20.07.2026

85. Pension and Family Pension -- Monetary crunch of the Corporation cannot come in the way of petitioners receiving the benefits to which they are entitled on account of their father having served the respondent-Corporation (H.P. HC) Decided on: 20.07.2026

86. Unlawful Assembly -- Mere presence at the crime scene would not ipso facto render a person member of the unlawful assembly. (H.P. HC) Decided on: 20.07.2026

87. Registered sale deed -- Non-payment of balance sale consideration does not render sale deed invalid -- No deemed cancellation. (P&H HC) Reserved on: 13.05.2026 Decided on: 20.07.2026

88. Summoning of accused -- At the time of considering the issuance of process against the accused, the Magistrate is required not only to take into consideration the allegations made in the complaint, but also the material collected by the Inquiry Officer, to whom the inquiry has been entrusted under Section 202 CrPC. (J&K&L HC) Reserved on: 07.07.2026 Decided on: 17.07.2026

89. Cheque bounce complaint -- Second complaint -- Delay liable to be condoned by excluding the period spent by the complainant in prosecuting the previous complaint dismissed on account of its prematurity. (J&K&L HC) Reserved on: 07.07.2026 Decided on: 17.07.2026

90. Dishonour of cheque -- Material alteration -- Cheque originally made out for Rs.10,000/-, altered to Rs.1,10,000/- -- Material alteration apparent on face of cheque -- Courts below ought not to have insisted upon any further evidence -- Conviction cannot be sustained. (SC) Decided on: 17.07.2026

91. Service Law -- Compassionate appointment -- Battle Casualty -- Dependent of Army Officer -- Once death of Armed Forces personnel is declared as “Battle Casualty” by Defence Authorities, State cannot contend otherwise for grant of benefit -- Policy requires beneficial and liberal interpretation -- Compassionate appointment granted. (P&H HC) Decided on: 17.07.2026

92. Habeas Corpus -- Major woman -- Alleged illegal detention -- Corpus voluntarily residing with respondent -- Writ of Habeas Corpus cannot be issued for production of corpus. (J&K&L HC) Decided on: 17.07.2026

93. Dishonour of cheque -- Conviction -- Plea of guilt -- Admission of issuance and signatures on cheque not amounting to unqualified, unambiguous and voluntary admission of guilt -- Mandatory procedure under Sections 251 and 252 Cr.P.C. not complied with -- Conviction unsustainable. (J&K&L HC) Reserved on: 07.07.2026 Decided on: 17.07.2026

94. Property Law -- Ancestral estate -- Where several settlements and consolidations have intervened, plaintiffs claiming a share in the ancestral estate must establish that the suit property was allotted in lieu of the estate left by the common ancestor -- Failure to establish such nexus warrants dismissal of the suit. (P&H HC) Reserved on : 17.04.2026 Pronounced on : 16.07.2026

95. Commercial Disputes -- A party cannot invoke the procedural doctrine of "relation back" of amended pleadings to bypass the mandatory document disclosure requirements under the Commercial Courts Act. (P&H HC) Reserved on: 14.07.2026 Pronounced on: 16.07.2026

96. Clog on equity of redemption -- Right to redeem cannot be postponed -- A mortgagor's right to redeem the mortgaged property accrues on the date the term postponing redemption is read down as a clog on redemption. (P&H HC) Reserved on : 20.04.2026 Pronounced on : 16.07.2026

97. NDPS -- An uncorroborated disclosure statement holds limited evidentiary value and cannot be the sole basis for implication. (P&H HC) Decided on : 16.07.2026

98. NDPS -- Bail involving commercial quantity -- Prolonged incarceration and inordinate delay in trial without fault of the accused -- The fundamental right to a speedy trial under Article 21 dilutes the statutory embargo created under Section 37 of the NDPS Act. (P&H HC) Decided on: 16.07.2026

99. Food adulteration -- Sentence -- Conviction maintained but sentence reduced to period already undergone in view of prolonged pendency of proceedings, clean antecedents and considerable lapse of time. (P&H HC) Decided on: 16.07.2026

100. Dishonour of cheque -- Cash transaction in violation of Section 269SS, Income Tax Act, does not render transaction unenforceable under Section 138 of NI Act. (SC) Decided on: 16.07.2026