Nominal Index [Citations: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 121-128]Dr.Rajeshkumar Somabhai Katara, Asst.Professor Microbiology Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr. 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 121Vishalkumar Kanubhai Patel Versus High Court Of Gujarat 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 122Labhshankar Duryodhan Maheshwari Versus State Of Gujarat 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 123Kalpesh Vaghabhai Chaudhary Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr....
Nominal Index [Citations: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 121-128]
Dr.Rajeshkumar Somabhai Katara, Asst.Professor Microbiology Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr. 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 121
Vishalkumar Kanubhai Patel Versus High Court Of Gujarat 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 122
Labhshankar Duryodhan Maheshwari Versus State Of Gujarat 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 123
Kalpesh Vaghabhai Chaudhary Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr. 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 124
X v. State of Gujarat & Others 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 125
X v/s State of Gujarat & Ors. 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 126
V M Procon Pvt Ltd Vs Assistant Director Of Income Tax 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 128
Judgments/Orders
Case Title: Dr.Rajeshkumar Somabhai Katara, Asst.Professor Microbiology Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr.
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 121
The Gujarat High Court has quashed the FIR lodged by a woman's mother-in-law, accusing her and her partner of abetting the suicide of her husband.
The Court observed that even if the contents of the FIR were accepted as true, it could not be established that there was any intention on the part of the accused to abet the commission of suicide by the deceased, who was the husband of the first accused. Consequently, the Court found no mens rea attributable to the accused, thereby ruling out the element of abetment required under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The single bench of Justice Diyesh A Joshi observed, “Even for the sake of arguments, if the contents of the FIR are to be accepted as it is, it cannot be said that there was any intention on the part of the applicants to abet the commission of suicide by the deceased, who is the husband of accused No.1 and therefore no mens rea can be attributed. Thus, in the opinion of this Court, the very element of abetment is missing from the allegations levelled in the FIR and in absence of the element of abetment from the allegations, the offence under Section 306 IPC would not be attracted.”
Case Title: Vishalkumar Kanubhai Patel Versus High Court Of Gujarat
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 122
The Gujarat High Court has mandated a reevaluation of the examination results for two candidates who participated in the Assistant exam for the Subordinate Courts of Gujarat. This decision follows the candidates' appeal concerning their performance in the elimination test held in July 2023, after they made a minor but significant error on their OMR answer sheets.
Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati has directed that the results be reconsidered, taking into account the candidates' immediate rectification efforts and the minor nature of their mistake.
Case Title: Labhshankar Duryodhan Maheshwari Versus State Of Gujarat
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 123
The Gujarat High Court has recently rejected the regular bail plea of a man, a former Pakistani citizen who later obtained Indian citizenship, in connection with an alleged espionage case.
A single judge bench of Justice MR Mengdey in its order said, that from the record of the case it appeared that on April 3, 2023, a witness in the matter, "who was working in the Airforce", stationed at the Airforce Station Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir, received a WhatsApp message from an "unknown number", asking him to download an APK file. Unable to download it, the witness forwarded the message to his wife's mobile phone, where it was later discovered that the file contained malware intended to procure secret information about India's armed forces.
Case Title: Kalpesh Vaghabhai Chaudhary Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr.
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 124
The Gujarat High Court has quashed criminal charges against three individuals accused of conspiring to incite public panic by allegedly forming a Telegram group to advocate for higher pay and additional service benefits for police constables, after noting that no offence was made out against them in the FIRs.
In doing so the high court said that merely because a message is spread, it cant be said that due to this message, public tranquility is put in peril and fear has been created in the minds of people.
Case Title: X v. State of Gujarat & Others
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 125
The Gujarat High Court recently granted bail to a 'child in conflict of law' (CCL) accused of allegedly "abetting the commission of suicide" of four deceased persons while observing that he had no direct involvement for the court to "consider criminal culpability".
In doing so the court in its order, also considered the applicability of Section 54 BNS (Abettor present when offence is committed) to the CCL in the present case, a 17-year-old boy.
The provision states that whenever any person, who is absent would be liable to be punished as an abettor, is present when the act or offence for which he would be punishable in consequence of the abetment is committed, he shall be deemed to have committed such act or offence punishable under.
Case title: X v/s State of Gujarat & Ors.
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 126
The Gujarat High Court recently transferred to the CBI a nine year old probe concerning a minor boy who had been allegedly "kidnapped", "murdered" and "sexually assaulted" in 2015, after his father moved a plea seeking transfer of investigation in the case to the central agency.
The court did so after noting that "till date" no suspect/offender had been traced, and it further noted that the police report submitted before it repeated the "same story" as before indicating the police's "inability" to trace the suspect and offender or "properly detect" the offence.
Case Title: V M Procon Pvt Ltd Vs Assistant Director Of Income Tax
LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 128
Finding that Assessee has satisfied conditions for reduced rate of tax u/s 115BAA, the Gujarat High Court pointed that the Revenue Department should have condoned delay in filing of Form 10-IC instead of rejecting it on technical ground.
Section 115BAA of the Income Tax Act allows domestic companies to utilise the provisions of the section and pay tax at a lower tax rate of 22% plus a 10% surcharge and a 4% education cess.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Bhargav D. Karia and Justice Niral R. Mehta “the petitioner has exercised option merely because in absence of any provision for exercising the option in Column (e) as per the Circular No. 19/2023, the petitioner cannot be deprived of lower rate of tax”. (Para 25)
Other Developments
The Gujarat High Court has recently expressed its concern over State's continued inefficiency in addressing the civic issues raised in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition concerning the conditions of Ahmedabad's roads, parking, traffic, and the stray cattle menace across cities and towns in the state.
The court was hearing a contempt plea related to non-compliance with its earlier orders on these matters. It criticized the state authorities for their failure to comply with citizen-centric directives, particularly in the wake of recent rains that exacerbated civic failures, leading to significant difficulties for citizens. It observed that had the directions been followed diligently, much of this trouble could have been avoided.
The Gujarat High Court on Monday rejected affidavits filed by three newspapers, tendering and containing the public apology issued by them for wrongly reporting the court proceedings in connection with the ongoing hearing of a batch of pleas moved by various linguistic and religious minority schools challenging amendments to the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Act.
Court said the public apology published by Times of India, The Indian Express and Divya Bhaskar was not satisfactory. However, on request made by their respective counsel, it granted three days time to the newspapers to tender a fresh public apology in "bold letters at the first page" while clearly informing the public about the "wrong reporting" published by them last month.
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday took "strong exception" to Commissioner of Junagadh Municipal Corporation's affidavit, noting it was silent on the court's specific query on the manner in which plastic waste collected from the city and the Girnar Eco-Sensitive Zone, is recycled by the agencies hired by the corporation for this purpose.
The high court further in its order said that the response reflected the "apathy of the officer and disrespect to the specific directions issued by this court" (in its earlier orders), as he did not conduct any enquiry to satisfy himself about the manner in which plastic waste is being handled by the agencies.
The Gujarat High Court on Thursday “postponed the proceedings” in respect of two newspapers–Indian Express and Times of India, concerning the issuance of a “public apology” by them for wrongly reporting court proceedings in an ongoing hearing of a batch of pleas moved by various linguistic and religious minority schools challenging amendments to the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Act.
Law Passed To Eradicate Human Sacrifice, Evil And "Aghori" Practices: State Tells Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat government on Friday informed the High Court that it has recently passed a law aimed at eradicating "human sacrifice and other inhuman, evil, and aghori practices" with a view to protect the citizens.
Taking note of the same, the high court disposed of a PIL highlighting "unlawful and inhuman practices" going on in the state which had resulted in "victimization of persons falling prey to practices such as aghori witchcraft and tantrik etc", while asking the state government to give due publicity to the new law.