'Indefinite Incarceration Not Necessary': Kerala HC Grants Bail To MS Solutions Founder Shuhaib Booked For Leaking Class 10 Question Paper

The Kerala High Court has granted regular bail to K. Shuhaib, Founder and CEO of M. S. Solutions, booked for leaking State Board Class 10 Question Papers through his YouTube channel.The Court had earlier denied his anticipatory bail plea, stating that leakage of question paper is like cheating a section of students. Shuhaib surrendered on the same day (6th March) and has been in custody since then.He is accused of leaking question papers of Second Term Examination of 2023 and the First and...

CMRL Scam: Kerala High Court Rejects Pleas Seeking Probe Into Bribery Allegations Against CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Daughter Veena

The Kerala High Court today (March 28) dismissed two revision petitions challenging the Vigilance Court orders refusing to order probes into corruption allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter and other public functionaries of the State.Justice K. Babu ordered, "Criminal revision petitions stand dismissed."The detailed order is awaited.The revision petition was filed by Gireesh Babu (since deceased) in 2023 against the dismissal of his plea by Vigilance Court,...

BNSS & BSA Grant Discretion To Summon, Examine Witnesses Allowing Trial Courts To Determine How To Proceed In PMLA Cases: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshiya Adhiniyam (BSA) grant discretion in the manner for summoning and examining witnesses, allowing the Trial Court to determine whether to proceed with the PMLA trial or to keep it in abeyance until the predicate offence trial is concluded.A division bench of Justice A.Muhamed Mustaque and Justice P. Krishna Kumar observed that delaying the PMLA trial until the conclusion of the trial in the...

PMLA | For Acts Done Prior To Enactment Penalty Follows Only If Proceeds Of Crime Are Utilized, Article 20(1) Is Not Violated: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court has held that Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 does not penalize a person for his past actions, but penal consequences only follow when the accused utilizes the proceeds of the crime from past actions for money laundering after the enactment of PMLA and the amendment to its schedule in 2009. The Court thus held that Section 3 of the PMLA criminalizes the act of money laundering and does not violate Article 20(1) of the Constitution.The appellant/petitioners had...

Munambam Land Dispute: Kerala Govt Prefers Appeal Against High Court Order Cancelling Appointment Of Inquiry Commission; Hearing On April 3

The Kerala government has preferred an appeal against High Court's March 17 order cancelling the appointment of an Inquiry Commission set up by the State to resolve the land dispute between residents of Munambam and the Waqf Board.A single judge of the Court had allowed the plea filed by Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi, a registered society which works for protecting Waqf properties in the State, and had set aside the Commission stating that the matter was pending before the Waqf Tribunal.In its...

NDPS Act | Court Need Not Look At Breach Of Mandatory Provisions Of Statute While Deciding Bail Plea: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court observed that while considering the bail plea of an accused booked under NDPS Act, the concerned court need not look into violation of mandatory provisions of the Act. In doing so it underscored that at the stage of considering bail, only FIR, seizure memo and witness statements recorded by police are before the court based on which a prima facie finding cannot be given. Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan in his order said:“… this Court is of the considered opinion that...

Ragging Menace: Kerala High Court Asks Working Group Constituted To Frame Prevention Rules To Meet And Devise Action Plan

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (27th March) directed the Multidisciplinary Working Group, constituted by the State to fill the lacunae in the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act 1998 by suggesting amendments and framing Rules, to hold a preliminary meeting soon and devise its plan of action."According to us, this working group should now hold a preliminary meeting in which further plan of...

Income Tax Act | Order Passed By Commissioner U/S 263 Can't Be Construed As Closed Remand, No Need To Challenge Order Separately: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court stated that the order passed by the Commissioner of Appeals under Section 263 of the Income Tax Act cannot be under any circumstances construed as a closed remand and there is no requirement to challenge the order under Section 263 separately. The Division Bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Easwaran S. observed that “In as much as the Commissioner...

Customs Department Can't Invoke Expired Bank Guarantees: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court stated that invocation of the expired bank guarantees by Customs Department is not permissible under law. The Division Bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Easwaran S. was addressing the issue of whether customs department can invoke expired bank guarantees. The assessee/appellant has filed an appeal challenging the order of Single Judge who...

Kerala High Court Condemns Panchayat For Continuing Third Round Of Litigation Over ₹50K, Points Litigation Cost Being Paid From Public Fund

The Kerala High Court criticised a Grama Panchayat for engaging in third round of litigation over an amount of rupees fifty thousand.The Division Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S. Manu observed that public funds were utilized for pursuing litigations and emphasized the need to know when to put an end to it. Court said, “Considering the fact that the costs of the litigation...

[Motor Accident Claims] Dependency Does Not Always Mean Financial Dependency: Kerala HC Upholds Compensation For Father & Siblings Of Deceased

The Kerala High Court observed that the father and the younger siblings of the deceased are also entitled to compensation under the head of loss of dependency over the death of the deceased, who was only 26 years old at time of the motor vehicle accident.While upholding the finding of the Tribunal in awarding compensation to the father and siblings of the deceased, Justice Jobin...

Effective Laws Needed To Combat Cyber Bullying In Age Of Social Media But Even Newly Enacted BNS Failed To Address It: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has expressed concerns over the absence of legal provisions to effectively combat cyberbullying and online harassment and remarked that cyberbullying in the form of abusive remarks or derogatory content towards others is inadequately being addressed through the current legal framework. Noting that even the recently enacted Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 has no direct...