Jammu & Kashmir And Ladakh High Court Weekly Roundup March 17 - March 23, 2024

S. Charanjeet Singh vs UT of J&K and Anr 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 94

NA Ronga Vs UT Of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 95

Farukh Jehanzeb Vs Muzaffar Ali Kapra And Anr 2025 Livelaw (JKL) 96

Smt. Sudershan Sharma vs Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 97

Mohammad Shafi Naikoo Vs UT Of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 98

Sumesh Chadha vs UT of J&K and Anr 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 99

Mohd. Shafi Vs UT Of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 100

Mohd. Asgar @ tola vs UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR 2025 Livelaw (JKL) 101

Sumit Nayyar Vs State of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 102

Sahib Saran Khajuria vs Jammu Municipal Corporation 2025 Livelaw (Jkl) 103

Mohammad Junaid Raina Vs UT Of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 104

Archana vs. Union Territory of J&K & Another 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 105

Court on its own motions vs Sharadul Amarchand Mangaldass & Co 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 106

Johar Mehmood Vs UT Of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 107

M/s Mohd Asif Vs UT Of J&K 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 108

State Of J&K Vs Sayed Shabir Bukhari 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 109

Judgments/Orders:

Filing Written Statement Does Not Waive Right To Arbitration If Preliminary Objection Is Raised At Outset: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

Case Title: S. Charanjeet Singh vs UT of J&K and Anr.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 94

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal held that mere filing of the written statement in a suit does not constitute a waiver of right to arbitration if the party has raised a preliminary objection in respect of the arbitration clause at the outset.

Grounds Of Detention Are Vague, Ambiguous: J&K High Court Quashes Preventive Detention Of Former Bar President Nazir Ahmad Ronga

Case Title: NA Ronga Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 95

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court quashed the preventive detention of former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association President Nazir Ahmad Ronga.

Justice Sanjay Dhar held that the allegations against Ronga were vague, lacked material particulars, and did not provide a basis for his detention under the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978.

Defendant Cannot Rely On Vague Statements While Pursuing Leave To Defend In Summary Suit: J&K High Court

Case-Title: Farukh Jehanzeb Vs Muzaffar Ali Kapra And Anr

Citation: 2025 Livelaw (JKL) 96

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has held that a defendant cannot rely on unsubstantiated and vague statements while offering his leave to defend in a summary suit procedure.

Justice Sanjay Dhar while dealing with a cheque bounce case noted that the appellant had admitted signing the cheque but failed to provide any substantial evidence proving that the cheque was not meant for the respondent. The court held that a mere statement that the cheque was issued to another person is insufficient to disprove the allegations made by the respondent.

Recovery Of Excess Pension Due To Administrative Error Cannot Be Enforced Against Elderly Pensioners Or Widows: J&KHigh Court

Case-title: Smt. Sudershan Sharma vs Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 97

Giving relief to an elderly woman pensioner in whose account an excess amount of pension was credited, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that if, due to an administrative error, an excess amount is credited to the accounts of elderly pensioners or widows which is withdrawn, the same cannot be recovered.

Possession Of Migrant Property Cannot Be Handed Over To Anyone Without Written Consent Of Migrant Owner: J&K High Court

Case Title: Mohammad Shafi Naikoo Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 98

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court upheld the eviction order passed by the Financial Commissioner in evicting the illegal occupant of a migrant property. The court held that the occupant-petitioner herein could not have taken over the possession of the land in question except with the express consent of the migrant in writing, to be handed over by the District Magistrate alone.

Wife Cannot Implicate Husband's Uncle In Cruelty Case To Pressurize Husband's Family To Return 'Stridhan': J&K High Court

Case-title: Sumesh Chadha vs UT of J&K and Anr

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 99

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has deprecated the practice of arraying the relatives of the husband as accused in the proceedings under Section 498-A IPC to create pressure on the husband and his family members.

No Killer Would Keep Leftover Poison For Police To Discover After Months: J&K High Court Overturns Conviction in 20-Yr-Old Murder Case

Case Title: Mohd. Shafi Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 100

"A person who administers poison to kill a person will not keep the leftover poison, if any, with him for months together and wait for the police to come and recover it from him," observed the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, as it overturned the conviction of Mohd. Shafi in a two-decade-old murder case.

Cannot Come To Rescue Of Proclaimed Offender Seeking Quashing Of Detention Order At Pre-Execution Stage: J&K High Court

Case-title: Mohd. Asgar @ tola vs UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Citation: 2025 Livelaw (JKL) 101

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that the constitutional courts have a limited jurisdiction to interfere with the detention order at the pre-execution stage. It added that such remedy cannot be even otherwise be sought by a person who is evading the legal process of the court.

Security Cover Not A Luxury Or Status Symbol: J&K High Court Dismisses Advocate's Plea For Continued Police Protection

Case Title: Sumit Nayyar Vs State of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 102

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court emphasized that security cover provided at the State's expense cannot be construed as a luxury or a status symbol to be granted arbitrarily.

Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, while dismissing a petition filed by Advocate Sumit Nayyar seeking the continuation of his personal security, underscored that the assessment of threat perception is a specialized function of security agencies, and courts lack the expertise to intervene in such matters unless there is clear evidence of error or mala fide.

Unilateral And Retrospective Enhancement Of Rent Is Unjust, Not Permissible Under Law: J&K High Court

Case-Title: Sahib Saran Khajuria vs Jammu Municipal Corporation

LiveLaw: 2025 Livelaw (Jkl) 103

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that a party cannot be permitted to unilaterally and retrospectively alter the rent amount fixed with the tenant.

Justice MA Chowdhary held that it was not permissible for the respondent to revise the rent twice in the same year. The court said that notice requiring the petitioner to pay the revised rent increasing it to 100% was not permissible and was done in violation of the principles of Natural Justice.

S.37 Of NDPS Act Not A Blanket Ban On HC's Powers To Grant Bail On Humanitarian Or Medical Grounds: J&K High Court

Case Title: Mohammad Junaid Raina Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 104

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court held that the provisions of Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act do not act as a blanket ban on the powers of the High Court under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C).

A bench of Justice Mohammad Yousuf Wani emphasized that while Section 37 imposes restrictions on granting bail in cases involving commercial quantities of narcotics, it does not curtail the High Court's discretion to grant bail on humanitarian grounds.

J&K High Court Allows Re-Recording Of S.164 Cr.PC Statement After Woman Says She Was Pressurised To Implicate Party In False Rape Case

Case-Title: Archana vs. Union Territory of J&K & Another

2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 105

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that the statement recorded before the magistrate can be re-recorded and there is no bar under section 164 CRPC for recording the statement of a witness more than once.

'Bonafide Interpretation Of Judgment, Though Wrong, Not Contempt': J&K&L High Court Closes Contempt Against Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas

Case-Title: Court on its own motions vs Sharadul Amarchand Mangaldass & Co.

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 106

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that interpretation of a Court judgment, even if differing from Court's intended meaning, generally does not constitute Contempt of Court as long as the interpretation is not wilfully or deliberately wrong, and does not obstruct course of justice.

Procedure U/S 329 CrPC For Accused With Unsound Mind Applies Only After Framing Of Charges: J&K High Court

Case Title: Johar Mehmood Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 107

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh clarified that the provisions of Section 329 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C), which deal with the procedure for trying a person of unsound mind, can only be invoked after the framing of charges in a criminal trial.

Validity Of Administrative Orders Must Be Judged On Initial Reasoning, Not Through Affidavits Filed Later: J&K High Court

Case Title: M/s Mohd Asif Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 108

Reinforcing the principle of fairness and reasonableness in government dealings, especially in contractual matters, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that the validity of an administrative order must be judged solely by the reasons mentioned at the time of its issuance and cannot be bolstered by additional grounds introduced later through affidavits or other means.

“Evidence Too Weak To Arrive At Different Conclusion”: J&K HC Upholds Acquittal Of Accused In Ex-Education Minister's Assassination Case

Case Title: State Of J&K Vs Sayed Shabir Bukhari

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL) 109

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court upheld the acquittal of three accused in the 2005 assassination case of former Education Minister Gulam Nabi Lone, stating that the "evidence on record is too weak and shaky to arrive at a conclusion different from one arrived at by the Trial Court."