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- Karnataka HC Bars State From Dispossessing HMT Of Jalahalli Land; Restrains Felling Of Trees
News · 30 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court restrained the state government from dispossessing HMT Limited of its Jalahalli land in Bengaluru and barred the felling of trees or creation of third-party rights over the property, while hearing HMT's challenge to a Deputy Conservator of Forests order directing it to hand over 430 acres and 21 guntas within 30 days. The interim order preserves the status quo in a high-value PSU land dispute with forest-law implications, relevant to counsel handling government land-transfer and forest-clearance disputes.
- Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor May Be One Of The Biggest Scams In The State: Karnataka HC
News · 30 Jul 2026
Dismissing a batch of appeals filed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) and the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, a Division Bench remarked that the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Project may be "one of the biggest scams" in the state, finding farmers had effectively been dispossessed of land without due process. The strongly-worded ruling revives scrutiny of one of Karnataka's oldest and most litigated infrastructure projects. It is significant for land-acquisition, infrastructure, and public-interest lawyers tracking accountability for large PPP land deals gone wrong.
- O VII R7 CPC | Lesser Relief Can Be Decreed, But Not A Totally Different Claim: SC Declines Partition In Title Suit
News · 30 Jul 2026
Ruling in a property dispute, the Supreme Court held that under Order VII Rule 7 CPC a court may grant a lesser relief than what is specifically prayed for, but cannot grant a totally different relief not founded on the pleadings. Declining a request to convert a title suit into a partition decree, the Court reaffirmed that relief must remain anchored to the case actually pleaded, even where the evidence might support something broader. The ruling is a useful, frequently-relevant precedent for civil litigators drafting plaints and assessing what relief a court can realistically mould at the final-argument stage.
- Rs 8 Lakh Annual Income Limit For EWS Quota Prima Facie Reasonable, Says Supreme Court
News · 30 Jul 2026
Hearing petitions challenging the National Testing Agency's 2021 notification on OBC and EWS quotas for medical admissions, the Supreme Court orally remarked that the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit for EWS reservation was prima facie reasonable. The bench was hearing long-pending petitions filed in 2021, building on the Court's 2022 Janhit Abhiyan ruling upholding the 103rd Constitutional Amendment's EWS quota. While only an oral observation at this stage, it signals the likely direction of a ruling with direct consequences for reservation policy and education-law practitioners.
- National Commission For Scheduled Castes Cannot Pass Binding Orders In Service Disputes; Role Only Advisory: SC
News · 30 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court held that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has no power to pass binding orders in service disputes, its role being purely recommendatory rather than adjudicatory. Ruling in a dispute involving the Mumbai Port Authority, the Court held that a 2006 notification requiring prior "employment consultation" could not have been overridden through an administrative order, and clarified the Commission's advisory limits. The judgment is significant for service-law practitioners and public employers who regularly field Commission directions, clarifying which of those directions actually carry legal force.
- Supreme Court Grants Bail To Two UAPA Accused In Jail For 12 Years, Says Slow Trial Violated Article 21
News · 30 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court granted bail to two UAPA accused, Mohd. Saquib Ansari and Waqar Azhar, holding that their continued incarceration for nearly 12 years with no realistic prospect of trial conclusion violated their fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21. The bench treated prolonged pre-trial detention as itself a constitutional harm, independent of the merits of the underlying charges. The ruling gives criminal defence counsel a strong, recent precedent for seeking bail in UAPA and other stringent-bail-law matters where trials have stalled for years.
- Supreme Court Sets Aside Trial Court's Order Summoning Ex-PM Manmohan Singh In Coal Block Case, Accepts CBI Clean Chit
News · 30 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court quashed a 2015 Special CBI Court order summoning former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in a coal block allocation case, holding the trial court had no justification to reject the CBI's closure report and take cognizance against him. Though Singh passed away in December 2024, the Court examined the order's legality because it carried adverse observations against him, ultimately accepting the CBI's clean chit and closing proceedings. The ruling reinforces settled principles on when a magistrate may depart from an investigating agency's closure report, a recurring and consequential question in criminal practice nationwide.
- Is It Cruelty Under Section 498A If Mother-In-Law Asks Woman To Make Dosa Or Ragi Mudde? Karnataka HC Asks
News · 29 Jul 2026
Hearing a matrimonial cruelty case, the Karnataka High Court expressed reservations about allegations that a woman was subjected to cruelty by being asked to prepare dosas and ragi mudde, being made to eat after her husband, and other similar claims. Justice M Nagaprasanna's remarks signal judicial scrutiny of what actually meets the threshold for "cruelty" in matrimonial cases, as opposed to ordinary domestic friction. While the matter remains pending, the observations are being closely discussed among matrimonial and criminal-defence practitioners for what they suggest about triviality-screening in Section 498A-type complaints.
- Pending Probe Into Pharma Firm's COVID Sanitizer Supply Can't Justify Withholding Payment For Undisputed Drug Supplies: Karnataka HC
News · 29 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court directed the State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSCL) to release part-payment of Rs 1.5 crore to a pharmaceutical firm for undisputed COVID-19 drug supplies, holding that a pending probe into separate, disputed sanitizer-supply irregularities cannot justify withholding payment for supplies that are not themselves in question. The balance payment remains subject to the outcome of the inquiry. The ruling is a useful precedent for government-contract and public-procurement counsel on separating undisputed dues from amounts genuinely under investigation.
- Now Uber Moves Karnataka High Court Challenging State's Gig Workers Welfare Act, Notice Issued
News · 29 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court issued notice on a petition by Uber India Systems challenging the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Platform-Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2025 and its Rules, extending Uber the benefit of an earlier interim arrangement granted to other aggregators in a related challenge. Uber joins Swiggy, Zomato and others already contesting the law before the same court. The case is significant for labour and platform-economy lawyers, testing the constitutional limits of India's first dedicated gig-worker welfare statute and its financial obligations on aggregator platforms.
- 'No Coercive Steps' Means No Arrest, Not Stay On Probe: Karnataka HC Rejects Challenge To ED's Provisional Attachment Order
News · 29 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court held that judicial orders restraining "coercive steps" are confined to protecting personal liberty and do not suspend the Enforcement Directorate's statutory power to provisionally attach property under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Rejecting a challenge to an ED attachment order, the single judge clarified that such protective orders insulate a person from arrest but do not freeze the broader investigative or attachment process. The ruling gives PMLA practitioners a clearer boundary on what "no coercive steps" protection actually covers when property attachment is separately contested.
- Supreme court Seeks Compliance Reports From 5 High Courts On Dashboards For Unclaimed Motor Accident & Labour Court Sums
News · 29 Jul 2026
Continuing supervision of its earlier directions on unclaimed compensation, the Supreme Court directed the Registrar Generals of the Delhi, Allahabad, Madras, Meghalaya and Telangana High Courts to file compliance reports on creating live dashboards tracking amounts deposited in courts under the Motor Vehicles Act and Workmen's Compensation Act. The directions trace back to an April 2025 order, prompted by a retired judge's letter flagging huge unclaimed compensation sums, requiring such amounts to be credited directly to claimants' bank accounts. The order keeps pressure on High Courts to operationalise transparency measures benefiting accident and labour-claim beneficiaries nationwide.
- GST | Input Tax Credit Available To Buyer Only If Supplier Paid Tax: SC Upholds Validity Of S.16(2)(c) CGST Act
News · 29 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court affirmed a Gujarat High Court ruling upholding the constitutional validity of Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act, which denies Input Tax Credit to a buyer if the supplier has not actually deposited the collected tax with the government. Dismissing a batch of petitions calling the provision arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 265 and 300A, the bench held ITC is a statutory concession, not a vested right, and that the recovery mechanism against defaulting suppliers does not make the provision unconstitutional. The Court still urged the government to build a real-time supplier-payment tracking system to protect bona fide buyers.
- Supreme Court Rejects Plea Seeking Mechanism For Urgent Hearings Beyond Regular Court Hours
News · 29 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court declined to entertain a petition seeking a formal institutional mechanism for urgent hearing of life-and-liberty matters outside regular court hours, holding that the existing framework — including e-filing and video-conferencing access — already adequately addresses such grievances. The bench found no gap in the current procedural architecture that would justify judicially mandating a new after-hours hearing mechanism. While procedural rather than substantive, the order is relevant for litigators assessing what emergency-access options genuinely exist before the Court and confirms the Court sees the present system as sufficient.
- S.457 CrPC | Registration Certificate Alone Not Sole Factor For Interim Release Of Seized Vehicles: Supreme Court
News · 29 Jul 2026
Ruling in a dispute over interim custody of a seized vehicle, the Supreme Court held that a registration certificate alone cannot be the determinative factor in deciding who is entitled to interim release of the vehicle under Section 457 CrPC. Courts must weigh the totality of circumstances — including the nature of the offence and competing claims of ownership or possession — rather than mechanically releasing the vehicle to whoever holds the registration papers. The ruling is a practical, frequently-relevant precedent for criminal lawyers handling the very common category of vehicle-seizure and interim-custody applications before magistrates.
- Evidence Act | Section 27 Recoveries Alone Can't Sustain Conviction: SC Restores Acquittal In 1988 Murder Case
News · 29 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court restored an acquittal in a 1988 murder case, holding that recoveries made pursuant to a disclosure statement under Section 27 of the Evidence Act cannot, by themselves, sustain a conviction without independent corroborating evidence linking the accused to the crime. The ruling reinforces long-settled but frequently contested limits on how far "discovery" evidence can carry a prosecution's case, particularly in matters resting heavily on circumstantial recoveries. For criminal defence counsel, the judgment is a fresh, citable reaffirmation to challenge convictions built primarily on Section 27 recoveries unsupported by other cogent evidence.
- Karnataka High Court Refuses To Quash FIR Against Ex-KPSC Chief's Daughter Over Reservation Claim
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court declined to entertain a petition by the daughter of a suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission chairman seeking to quash an FIR accusing her of falsely declaring her family's annual income to claim reservation benefits meant for economically weaker sections in a recruitment process. The court found the allegations disclosed a prima facie case of fraud and voiced concern over recurring controversies in KPSC-run recruitments. Though fact-specific, the order signals judicial willingness to scrutinise reservation-benefit claims made by relatives of public officials, and may affect ongoing recruitment-integrity litigation and disciplinary proceedings connected to the Commission.
- Karnataka High Court: Seeking Police Aid To Enforce Injunction Not Barred By Res Judicata
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court held that seeking police assistance to enforce an interim injunction is a continuing procedural remedy, and that such an application cannot be barred by the doctrine of res judicata merely because earlier applications for police protection were filed and disposed of. The ruling clarifies that repeated requests for police aid to implement the same injunction do not amount to relitigating a settled issue, since the need for enforcement can recur over time. The decision is a practical procedural tool for civil litigators and property-dispute lawyers seeking to keep injunctions effective on the ground.
- Karnataka High Court: Bank Can't Deny Education Loan Over Parent's Poor CIBIL Score Alone
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court quashed a bank's rejection of a student's education-loan application, holding that a parent's poor CIBIL score alone cannot be used to deny a loan where doing so would impede the student's constitutional right to pursue education. The court found a CIBIL score to be only one factor among several relevant to creditworthiness, and not a blanket disqualifier when weighed against the student's aspirations. The order requires the bank to reconsider the loan and is likely to be cited by education and consumer-rights lawyers challenging similar loan denials by public-sector and cooperative banks across the state.
- Karnataka High Court Hears PIL Alleging 67 Lakh Voters Face SIR Deletion Without Notice
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Karnataka High Court heard a public interest litigation challenging the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state, on the allegation that nearly 67 lakh voters face exclusion from the rolls without notice or an opportunity to be heard. The division bench sought clarification on how the state's exercise aligns with the Supreme Court's own directions governing the SIR process. The case carries major consequences for election lawyers and litigants across Karnataka ahead of prospective elections, since a flawed roll-revision process could disenfranchise a large section of the electorate and invite further constitutional challenge.
- SC Issues Contempt Notices To 15 States Over Manual Scavenging Deaths
News · 28 Jul 2026
In a long-running public interest litigation on eradicating manual scavenging, the Supreme Court issued contempt notices to the Chief Secretaries of fifteen states, including Karnataka, over continued non-compliance with the Court's earlier directions, directing them to file affidavits within four weeks explaining why contempt proceedings should not be initiated. The Court had earlier banned manual scavenging and sewer cleaning in metropolitan cities and enhanced compensation for sewer deaths. The fresh notices put state governments' top bureaucrats on personal notice for continuing sewage-related worker deaths, a significant development for sanitation-worker rights and public-interest litigators tracking compliance across the country.
- IBC Moratorium On Company Doesn't Shield Its Promoters From Consumer Complaints
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court held that a moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, operating against a real-estate development company does not bar consumer complaints from proceeding against that company's promoters and directors in their individual capacity. The bench clarified that the moratorium's protection is confined to the corporate debtor undergoing insolvency resolution and does not extend to persons who are not themselves subject to the moratorium. The ruling gives homebuyers and other consumers a continuing route to pursue promoters and directors personally even while the underlying company remains in insolvency proceedings, a recurring issue for consumer-forum lawyers handling stalled projects nationwide.
- Confirmed Government Employees Can't Be Sacked Without Inquiry Over Past Appointment Flaws
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court held that a public servant whose appointment has been confirmed cannot be terminated merely on the ground that the original recruitment process was allegedly illegal, without first holding a proper disciplinary inquiry under Article 311(2) of the Constitution. The ruling arose from a service dispute and reinforces that confirmed government employees retain the constitutional safeguard against removal without notice and a hearing, even where questions are later raised about the legality of their initial appointment. The decision stops government departments from using appointment irregularities as a shortcut to bypass due-process protections for millions of confirmed employees across central and state services.
- SC Clarifies Police Custody Timing And Advocate's Interrogation Rights Under BNSS
News · 28 Jul 2026
Ruling in a custodial-death investigation from Andhra Pradesh, the Supreme Court held that police custody under Section 187(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 need not be confined to the first fifteen days of remand and can be sought in parts, in aggregate not exceeding fifteen days, across the permissible detention period. The same bench also held that Section 38 BNSS, which entitles an arrested person to meet an advocate of choice, does not require the advocate's continuous physical presence throughout interrogation, and set aside a High Court condition requiring such presence. The dual ruling reshapes custodial-interrogation practice for defence lawyers and investigators under the new criminal codes.
- SC Issues Notice On Plea Challenging Anti-Defection Law's 'Merger' Loophole
News · 28 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court issued notice to the Union Government on a writ petition filed by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing as a party-in-person, challenging the interpretation of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution that lets legislators escape disqualification under the anti-defection law by routing a defection through a political-party merger. The petition argues this interpretation can turn an electoral majority into a minority verdict through post-election mergers, citing an ongoing Goa dispute. The bench sought the Centre's response without granting interim relief. The case could reshape how election and constitutional lawyers argue future anti-defection disputes nationwide.
- Supreme Court hears pleas alleging police excesses against NEET protesters
News · 27 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court is hearing two pleas alleging police excesses against students protesting over the NEET paper leak and exam irregularities, before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The lead petition (Shailendra Mani Tripathi v. Union of India, Diary no. 44078/2026) arises from the march towards Parliament, alleging tear gas, baton charges, mass detentions, gender-based misconduct, plainclothes personnel, and roughly 60 injured protesters. It also challenges repeated prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS and seeks implementation of police reforms. Highest mass-impact story of the window.
- Supreme Court bans uploading and sharing court hearing recordings without prior permission
News · 27 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court has barred the uploading and sharing of audio-video recordings of court hearings without prior permission. This is the single most operationally significant item for advocates in the window. It directly affects social-media clipping of proceedings, legal-content creators, litigation PR, and any legal-tech product ingesting or redistributing hearing media. Advocates who routinely circulate courtroom clips on WhatsApp or X now face a compliance question. Expect Bar Council and High Court follow-on circulars. Article angle: what "prior permission" means procedurally, who grants it, and what the exposure is for advocates and platforms already hosting such recordings.
- Supreme Court rethinks livestreaming, seeks impact reports from High Courts
News · 27 Jul 2026
Observing that courts cannot function as a round-the-clock entertainment channel, the Supreme Court has revisited its livestreaming policy and sought reports from High Courts on the impact of livestreaming. This pairs directly with item 2 and signals a broader retrenchment on open-court digital access. It matters to advocates because livestreamed conduct has become a reputational variable, and to legal-tech because livestream archives are a data source. A strong companion piece to the recordings ban — together they suggest a coordinated policy shift on courtroom transparency.
- Supreme Court signals women's reservation must rise proportionately if Bar Council seats increase
News · 27 Jul 2026
The Supreme Court has indicated that if Bar Council seats are increased, women's reservation should also be increased proportionately. Direct institutional impact on every enrolled advocate in India, including the Karnataka State Bar Council. It touches Bar Council election composition, eligibility, and the internal politics of state bars ahead of forthcoming elections. Given that Bar Council governance affects enrolment, discipline, and welfare schemes for lakhs of advocates, this is high-priority for an advocate-facing publication despite being an indication rather than a final ruling.
- Supreme Court Sets Aside NCLT Order Over AI-Hallucinated Case Citations, Directs Bar Council to Frame Guidelines
News · 24 Jul 2026
New Delhi, July 2, 2026 The Supreme Court has set aside a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) judgment after finding that the tribunal had relied on case law that did not exist — precedents generated by an artificial intelligence tool and cited before it without verification. The ruling, delivered by a Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, is the Court's strongest statement yet on the use of AI in judicial proceedings and sets out a zero-tolerance standard that lawyers across the country will now have to reckon with. The case The appeal, Pooja Ramesh Singh v. Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd. & Anr. (Civil Appeal No. 11950/2025), arose out of an insolvency dispute. NCLT Mumbai had, in August 2024, admitted Essel Infraprojects Ltd. into corporate insolvency resolution on a Section 7 application filed by Jammu and Kashmir Bank over a claimed default of roughly ₹87.43 crore, tied to a ₹200 crore facility extended to Pan India Utilities Distribution Company Ltd. and secured by an Essel corporate guarantee and a mortgage in Borivali, Mumbai. The NCLAT upheld that order in September 2025. On further appeal, the appellant's counsel discovered that several of the "precedents" the NCLT had leaned on to justify its order simply did not exist — they had been produced by an AI tool and never verified before being placed on record. What the Court held The Bench held that a judgment built on fabricated authorities cannot stand, since reliance on hallucinated material strikes at the integrity of the adjudicatory process itself. It set aside both the NCLT and NCLAT orders and sent the insolvency application back for fresh adjudication. Going further, the Court declared that courts and tribunals must adopt a zero-tolerance approach toward unverified AI-generated precedents, and that an advocate who cites such fabricated judgments without checking them commits professional misconduct. It directed the Bar Council of India to constitute a committee to examine the issue and prescribe guiding principles — including disciplinary consequences — for members of the bar who file AI-hallucinated material as though it were genuine case law. At the same time, the Bench was careful to frame this as a call for verification rather than a rejection of the technology itself, describing AI as a tool meant to assist adjudication while human judgment remains firmly in control at every stage. Why it matters This is not an isolated flashpoint. The ruling follows a string of similar incidents before Indian tribunals and comes shortly after the Supreme Court circulated a draft framework, the "Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts, 2026," inviting feedback from legal experts and the public on how AI should be governed inside the justice system. For practising advocates, the takeaway is immediate: any citation sourced through an AI assistant — whether a general-purpose chatbot or a legal-research platform — must be cross-checked against an authoritative database (SCC Online, Indian Kanoon, or the official court website) before it is filed. Citing a case that turns out not to exist is no longer a harmless drafting slip; the Court has now classified it as misconduct, with the BCI expected to lay down the disciplinary framework in the months ahead. [Source: Supreme Court of India, Civil Appeal No. 11950/2025, decided 2 July 2026]