Recently the Kerala high Court noted that the claim and proceedings for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) are civil in nature. Therefore, the spouse making the allegation of adultery need only provide circumstantial evidence that logically leads to the conclusion of adulterous behaviour. “When the husband alleges that the […]
Introduction- On 20 November 2025, the Supreme Court of India, while exercising its advisory jurisdiction under Article 143, delivered a landmark opinion on the constitutional powers of Governors and the President concerning the grant of assent to Bills.In this significant judgment, the Court addressed fourteen questions referred by the Hon’ble President Droupadi Murmu through a […]
Under CPC 1908, after a court passes a decree in a civil suit, enforcement of that decree is not automatic. The successful party (the “decree-holder”) needs to take separate steps to enforce it. This enforcement process is called “execution.” Without execution, a decree remains only a piece of paper — winning the case doesn’t guarantee […]
The Supreme Court has reaffirmed that when a complaint clearly discloses cognizable offences, a Magistrate is fully empowered to order investigation under Section 156(3) CrPC and such investigation should not be stopped at the initial stage. In the case at hand, the complainant alleged that the accused used a forged Rent Agreement on a fake […]
In an Important ruling, the Hon’ble Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition challenging a trial court’s order that permitted a plaintiff to place additional documents on record under Order VII Rule 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Justice Girish Kathpalia held that the defendants themselves created the necessity for filing the documents by […]
The Karnataka High Court recently held that the offence of “marital cruelty” under Section 498A IPC (now replaced by new provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sahita 2023) can apply even if the relationship is not a legally valid marriage, provided the relationship has “attributes of marriage” and the complainant woman was misled into believing that […]
In the case Jai Balaji Industries Ltd. v. M/s HEG Ltd., the SC held that when an account-payee cheque is dishonoured, the complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 must be filed in the court having jurisdiction over the branch of the bank where the payee maintains their account (i.e. the payee’s […]
Under Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA): Section 24, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: This allows interim (pendente-lite) maintenance and litigation-related expenses if the husband does not have an independent income sufficient for his support and the wife has the ability to pay Section 25, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 : This allows the court to order […]
The Court held that simply living separately does not, by itself, amount to a marriage having irretrievably broken down Before granting divorce on the ground of “irretrievable breakdown,” courts must conduct a careful, fact-specific inquiry into who caused the separation. The bench emphasized that there must be “cogent evidence of wilful desertion or refusal to […]
A summary suit under Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is a fast-track civil remedy designed for cases where the plaintiff’s claim is clear, definite, and based on written documents, making a prolonged trial unnecessary. It is primarily used in matters involving negotiable instruments (like cheques, promissory notes), written contracts, invoices, or […]