Keeping Pace with Legal Change
On the 23rd July 2025 in Vishnu Vardhan @ Vishnu Pradhan v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors., the SC set aside a fraudulent compromise decree where a claim of exclusive title to land was based on. Reiterating fraud as vitiating all proceedings, the Court upheld co-ownership and directed CBI inquiry ending judicial finality as no obstruction to test the efficacy of deceit.
On 25th July 2025, in Manjusha & Ors. v. United India Assurance Co. Ltd., the SC reestablished the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal’s award of ₹25.82 lakh to the family of the deceased driver, rejecting the insurer’s post hoc plea of limited obligation. The Court held that insurance companies cannot trust on unwritten policy caps without any pleadings or proof before the trial courts.
Recently the SC held that a widow is the exclusive heir to ancestral property by considering a registered Will and an oral family settlement to be valid in the matter of Metpalli Lasum Bai v. Metpalli Muthaiah on 21st July 2025. The widow had long possession and the will was inviolable by any query on the Andhra Pradesh HC that was set aside.
The SC, on a July 22, 2025, judgment, acquitted two murder convicts, Pitchu Mani and Esakkimuthu, cancelling their life sentences. The Court opined that it was extremely unlikely for the prosecution to rely on the testimonies of interested witnesses and raised serious doubts about their presence at the crime scene and about the overall strength of the case.
The Supreme Court on 21 July 2025cancelled anticipatory bail to Nikita Shetty’s husband and in-laws in a trespass to property and forgery case. The Court held that the accused had suppressed material facts and also meddled with evidence and therefore custodial interrogation justified.
Supreme Court on Monday 21st July 2025, revoked anticipatory bail to Vishwajeet Jadhav and his relatives against accusations of hijacking estranged wife’s Hotel Vaishali in Pune. The court believed the accused had hidden facts and misused judicial proceedings in a serious criminal trespass case.
On 17 July 2025, the SC rejected Gurdial Singh’s appeal and agreed with the High Court that a registered Will leaving out the testator’s wife and without a reason for her exclusion was suspicious and therefore invalid.
Supreme Court quashed criminal case against woman, daughter-in-law on 18 July 2025, pointing out abuse of criminal law in family conflicts and reaffirming Section 482 CrPC protection in the background of State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal.
The Supreme Court reversed its previous order in favour of granting custody to the father on 15 July 2025 and reinstated permanent custody with the mother on grounds of severe psychological damage to the child. The Court highlighted that custody disputes have to be resolved with a view to a child’s emotional stability and not legal conclusiveness.
In a historic judgment on 15 July 2025, the Supreme Court made clear that SEBI is able to charge interest on fines from the date of elapse of the payment period in the order of adjudication itself. The Court rejected the necessity of a separate demand notice and held that interest liability arises automatically upon default, based on substantive law and the doctrine of legislation by reference.
