Criminal Cases

President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction, arguing continuing the case would present unconstitutional disruptions to the institution of the Presidency. In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump's lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that dismissal is warranted because of the extraordinary circumstances of his impending return to the White House. Wrongly continuing proceedings in this failed lawfare case disrupts President Trump's transition efforts, the attorneys continued, before citing the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024. Prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case but have indicated openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump's second term ends in 2029. Following Trump's election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, ...

Deprecating the orders passed by the high courts fixing a time-bound schedule for conclusion of trial while rejecting bail applications, the Supreme Court has said such directions were difficult to implement and give a false hope to the litigants. The apex court said such directions adversely affect the functioning of the trial courts as in many trial courts, there may be pending older cases of the same category. "Before we part with this order, every day we notice that in several orders passed by different high courts while rejecting the bail applications, in a routine manner, the high courts are fixing a time-bound schedule for the conclusion of the trials," said a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih. The top court passed the order while granting bail to a man, who has been incarcerated for two and a half years in a case of alleged counterfeit currency notes. While granting him the relief, the bench noted that trial was not likely to conclude in a reasonable

International Criminal Court issued warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of crimes against humanity related to the 13-month war in Gaza

The arrest of Anmol Bishnoi comes amid ongoing investigations into his involvement in various criminal activities

Australia's highest court ruled Wednesday that migrants can't be forced by law to wear electronic tracking bracelets or to comply with curfews. The ruling is a blow to the government, whose lawyers have unsuccessfully argued that laws imposing curfews and tracking technology are justified to protect the community. Five of the seven High Court judges ruled that the tough restrictions placed on more than 100 migrants, usually because of their criminal records, were unconstitutional because the conditions amounted to punishment. The constitution states that punishment must be imposed by judges, not lawmakers. The restrictions were part of emergency laws hastily passed in December in response to another High Court ruling that non-citizens could no longer be detained indefinitely as an alternative to deportation. That ruling in the case of a stateless Rohingya man reversed a 28-year-old High Court precedent that allowed indefinite detention where there were security concerns. Wednesday'

The Mumbai police have arrested one more person in connection with the killing of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, officials said on Tuesday. The accused, identified as Harishkumar Balakram (23), hailing from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, was involved in providing money and other logistical support to the shooters, an official said. Balakram worked as a scrap dealer in Warje area of Maharashtra's Pune, he said. A crime branch team apprehended him from Bahraich in UP on Monday and brought him to Mumbai on Tuesday morning, the official said. With this, four persons have so far been arrested in connection with Siddique's killing. Police had earlier arrested Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters, and "co-conspirator" Pravin Lonkar from Pune. Another suspected shooter Shivkumar Gautam, who hails from Bahraich, is on the run. Balakram was part of the conspiracy to kill three-time MLA

The two accused have been identified as Gurmail Singh, a native of Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh

Sri Lanka's new government has ordered the police to reinvestigate some high-profile cases, including the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks and the 2005 murder of a Tamil minority community journalist. The ruling National People's Power, which won the presidential election last month, pledged to reinvestigate past cases which had not been resolved. The Ministry of Public Security took action to identify any lapses in investigations. The ministry has asked the acting police chief that these cases should be reinvestigated," Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said on Saturday. The cases to be reinvestigated include the alleged scam in the issue of Central Bank bonds in 2015 blamed on the then government of Ranil Wickremesinghe, the former president, and the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks that killed over 270 people, including 11 Indians. The catholic church has been demanding stringent action on what they alleged was a politically motivated cover-up by previous governments on the ...

Mere pendency of a criminal case does not automatically disqualify a person from exercising his right to seek long-term opportunities abroad, the Delhi High Court has noted. The court also directed the passport authorities to issue within two weeks a police clearance certificate (PCC) to a man, who has pending criminal cases and needs to submit a document to Canadian authorities to set up a business there. Noting that the rights and interests of the petitioner must be balanced with the authorities' obligation as a sovereign entity, the high court directed that a PCC be issued to the man explicitly mentioning the pending criminal cases against him as well as the fact that he has complied with the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner's (RPFC) order by making the required deposit. This would provide complete transparency to the Canadian authorities for their assessment of his visa application. The PCC shall be issued in two weeks' time from today, Justice Sanjeev Narula said in an orde

A total of 1,031 candidates are vying for seats in the Haryana Assembly, comprising representatives from national parties, state parties, registered unrecognised parties, and independents

A notable 21 per cent of the candidates are facing criminal cases, with 16 per cent involved in serious charges like attempted murder and crimes against women

The Supreme Court on Monday held that an accused, who is lodged in custody in a case, is entitled to seek anticipatory bail in another matter as long as he is not arrested in relation to that alleged offence. The apex court said there was no express or implied restriction in the statute that prohibits the sessions court or high courts from deciding an anticipatory bail application in a case, while the applicant was in custody in connection with a different offence. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the purpose behind incorporating section 438 in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which deals with direction for grant of bail to a person apprehending arrest, was to recognise the importance of "personal liberty and freedom in a free and democratic country". "An accused is entitled to seek anticipatory bail in connection with an offence so long as he is not arrested in relation to that offence. Once he is arrested, the only remedy available to him is to apply for

Special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal appeals court Monday to reinstate the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump after it was dismissed by a judge last month. US District Judge Aileen Cannon threw out the case, one of four prosecutions of Trump, after concluding that Smith's appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional. Smith's team then appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, with prosecutors saying in their appeal brief that Cannon's decision is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government. The appeal is the latest development in a prosecution that many legal experts consider a straightforward criminal case but has been derailed by delays, months of hearings before Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge, and ultimately a dismissal order that brought the proceedings to at least a temporary halt. It's unclear how long it will take for the appeals court to

An investigation found no evidence of intent to influence 2022 election outcomes in Texas' largest county, prosecutors have said, but they will pursue criminal charges against a county employee who was allegedly working a second job while polls ran out of paper ballots. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg's review is one of several to scrutinise Houston's last midterm elections, when problems at polling places prompted Republican candidates to contest defeats in local races and Republican Gov Greg Abbott to sign a law removing the elections administrator in the county of more than 5 million residents. Ogg, an elected Democrat, on Tuesday said during a news conference that her office and investigators with the Texas Rangers found no evidence that elections employees intentionally tried to sway the results. But she said the investigation found that the failures of one elections employee -- whose job was to make sure polling locations had enough paper ballots -- resulted in some ...

The ICC came into effect in 1998 to prosecute individuals for grave crimes and World Day for International Justice is an initiative to support the rule of law, justice and accountability

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday welcomed the Tamil Nadu government's decision to appoint a committee to suggest state-specific amendments to the three new criminal laws and asserted that criminal law is a concurrent list subject which makes the state legislature competent to make amendments. He also stressed that criminal laws that are in consonance with modern principles of criminal jurisprudence must be enacted. "I welcome the decision of the government of Tamil Nadu to appoint a Committee to suggest state amendments to the three criminal laws that came into force on 1 July 2024," the former home minister said in a post on X. Criminal Law is a subject in the concurrent list of the Constitution and the state legislature is competent to make amendments, Chidambaram said. "I also welcome the appointment of Justice (retd) Mr K.Sathyanarayanan as the one-person Committee. I request the Committee to hold consultations with all stakeholders including judges, lawyers, police, la

The Supreme Court on Monday said there cannot be a bail condition which allows the police to peep into the private life of an accused in a criminal case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan set aside a bail condition imposed by the Delhi High Court requiring a Nigerian national to share the Google Maps pin in his mobile device with the investigating officer in a drugs case. Justice Oka, pronouncing the verdict said, "There cannot be a bail condition defeating the very objective of bail itself. We have said Google pin cannot be a bail condition. There can't be a bail condition enabling the police to constantly track the movement of the accused. Police cannot be allowed to peep into the private life of the accused on bail." The court pronounced the verdict on a plea of Frank Vitus, a Nigerian national challenging the bail condition in a drugs case. On April 29, the top court had reserved its verdict said it would examine whether one of the conditions imposed by the Delhi

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting that an investigating officer should invoke the protective provision under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in cases of alleged criminal medical negligence. The IMA pointed out that there is no criminal intent (mens rhea) on the part of a doctor while treating a patient and there is no negligence to attract criminal prosecution. "Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji acknowledged on the floor of the Parliament that death during treatment is not murder. The new BNS legislation brought up by your Government reflects on this aspect in section 26. IMA kindly request the Government that the investigating officer invoke this provision in cases of alleged medical negligence. In the rarest of rare cases which might be considered as recklessness the investigating officer may prefer the case to an expert committee for opinion," the IMA said in the letter sent recently. When contacted, IMA President Dr R V Asok

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made these remarks on July 3 when it was hearing the bail plea of an accused whose trial has been on pause for the last four years

The three new criminal laws aim to modernise the criminal justice system. With states organising awareness programs and FIRs already filed under the new laws, here are the latest updates