Bail App. No. 139 of 2020
Badri Nath v. Union Territory of J&K
Decided on: December 11, 2020

The presumption of guilt engrafted in sec 29 of POCSO Act gets triggered and applies only once trial begins, that is after charges are framed against the accused and not before that. But at the time of considering bail application of accused under sec 3, 5, 7 & 9 of POCSO Act, the presumption under sec 29 of the said Act would come into play at the pre-trial stage. It is necessary for all the Special Courts constituted under the POCSO Act within the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, to ensure that the victim/Child Welfare Committee is informed about the proceedings in bail petitions of the persons accused of having committed offences under the aforesaid Act by issuing prior notice to them. Rejection of bail application by an inferior court does not operate as a bar for the superior court in entertaining similar application on same facts and same offence.

SLA No. 38 of 2018
State of J&K v. Mohd. Imran Khan
Decided on: December 24, 2020

The High court directed all Courts of UT of J&K and Ladakh to avoid disclosing identity of rape survivors in their proceedings and judgments. The Court further issued directions to health professionals of UTs of J&K and Ladakh to desist from undertaking 'two finger test' known as 'per vaginal examination' on rape survivors. Proper measures should be taken to ensure the safety of rape survivors and no arbitrary or unlawful interference should be there with their privacy.

CRM(M) 259 of 2019
Satpal Sharma v. Pawan Singh Rathore, Ex Vice Chairman, JDA
Decided on: December 17, 2020

The order u/sec. 156(3) CrPC is an interlocutory order and no revision against the same lies. In an application under section 156(3) the suspect named in the application under section 156(3) does not have a right to be heard at the time of registration of a F.I.R.

Crl LP(D) 02/2020
Union of India, National Control Bureau v. Rafi Ahmad
Decided on: December 15, 2020

The statement recorded under Section 67 of NDPS Act without corroboration is sufficient to convict an accused, but for that, the court has to be satisfied about its voluntary nature. Confessional statement recorded under Section 67 of NDPS Act cannot be used as being barred under the provision of Section 25 of the Evidence Act.

CRMC No. 105 of 2018
Syed Zubair Shah & Ors. v. Farhat Rashid Sheikh
Decided on: December 04, 2020

Once the cause of action for a particular relief is continuing, the application under Domestic Violence Act cannot be dismissed being time barred. Petition cannot be dismissed at the threshold on the issue of maintainability when there are disputed questions of facts, which require adjudication.