The Supreme Court has delivered a wide-ranging set of rulings over the past two weeks, touching on criminal law, land acquisition, evidence standards and environmental oversight, in what has been an unusually busy stretch for the bench.
In a closely watched criminal law ruling, the Court held that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with cruelty by a husband or his relatives, can extend to live-in relationships that qualify as being ‘in the nature of marriage’ between consenting adults who intended to marry. The judgment is expected to shape how lower courts treat complaints arising from long-term live-in partnerships going forward.
On criminal procedure, the Court upheld the acquittal of 20 accused in a murder case, reiterating that where an investigation is found to be defective and the substantive evidence is weak, the benefit of that doubt must go to the accused. Separately, in a civil dispute, the bench reminded lower courts that simply marking a document as an exhibit during trial does not amount to proof of its contents, which must still be established in accordance with law.
On land acquisition, the Court elevated the evidentiary bar for Reference Courts, holding that determining fair compensation is a ‘substantive inquiry’ rather than a mechanical or purely mathematical exercise, a ruling likely to influence how compensation disputes are argued and decided across the country.
The bench also weighed in on environmental matters, ordering continued monitoring of pollution in the Jojari River and issuing a ruling in a long-running dispute involving PepsiCo that sought to balance plant breeders’ rights against protections for farmers. Taken together, the month’s rulings underline the Court’s role in shaping not just headline-grabbing constitutional questions but also the everyday standards used in trial courts across India.