#criminal miscellaneous application

Uttarakhand HC ruled that dowry related cruelty or harassment must be shown to have occurred soon before the victim’s death to sustain a Section 304B conviction, rejecting any presumption from death within seven years of marriage alone. The decision clarifies the evidentiary burden in dowry death cases and affects both prosecution strategy and defence rights.

Uttarakhand HC quashed a Section 306 IPC charge under Section 482 CrPC, ruling that abetment of suicide demands proof of a positive act of instigation, not mere allegations or presumptions. The decision sets a higher bar for charge-framing, protecting accused from speculative prosecutions.

The Rajasthan High Court has held that any judicial order founded on a precedent subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court is legally void from inception. This ruling reinforces the hierarchy of precedent and mandates proactive correction of judgments tainted by invalid legal foundations, affecting all litigants relying on erroneous judicial reasoning.