These notes are written for litigants and for younger members of the Bar. They explain procedure as it operates in the Delhi courts — the sequence of steps, the timelines that matter, and the points at which a matter is commonly lost. They are general information, not advice on any particular case.
Extra Work, No Approval: S.34 Fails – Advocate Manish Jha
The Delhi High Court upholds an arbitral award denying payment for additional consultancy work performed without prior written approval, and rejects quantum meruit as a route around the contract.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Commercial & CorporateCheque Complainant Is a Victim – Advocate Manish Jha
Applying the Supreme Court's Celestium Financial ruling, the Gujarat High Court holds that a Section 138 complainant may appeal an acquittal as of right under Section 372 CrPC and transfers the appeal to the Sessions Court.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Commercial & CorporateNo Bank Witness Recall in 138 Trial – Advocate Manish Jha
Five years into a cheque trial, a plea to summon the bank manager fails: the effect of a bank merger is a question of law, and account records prove themselves without oral testimony.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Criminal LawDetention Quashed: Public Order Test – Advocate Manish Jha
Two preventive detention orders fall in a single day as the Gujarat High Court reaffirms that ordinary criminal cases disturb law and order, not public order — and detention is no substitute for prosecution.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Procedure & PracticeRe-Evaluation Plea Fails on Appeal – Advocate Manish Jha
Where recruitment rules permit only retotalling, courts order re-evaluation of answer sheets in rare and exceptional cases alone — and a year's delay after disclosure is itself a reason to refuse.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Criminal LawPlea Bargaining Under the BNSS – Advocate Manish Jha
Chapter XXIII of the BNSS adds a thirty-day window after charge, a sixty-day cap on negotiations and deeper sentence cuts for first-time offenders. How the negotiated exit from a criminal case works.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Procedure & PracticeTrial in Absentia: Section 356 BNSS – Advocate Manish Jha
The new code lets courts try, convict and sentence proclaimed offenders in their absence after a lattice of warrants, publication and a ninety-day wait — with hard limits on appeals for those who stay away.
Read → 17 September 2026 · Commercial & CorporateSection 42: One Court for Arbitration – Advocate Manish Jha
The first Part I application anchors every later court application in the same court. What triggers Section 42 of the Arbitration Act, what does not, and why the first filing is a jurisdictional commitment.
Read → 16 September 2026 · Criminal LawCorporate Mens Rea: Sanofi v. CBI – Advocate Manish Jha
In Sanofi India Ltd v. CBI (2026 INSC 957), the Supreme Court holds a company can be prosecuted for offences requiring mens rea without a named officer as co-accused, adopting a flexible attribution framework — while quashing this prosecution on its facts.
Read → 16 September 2026 · Criminal LawSC Restores Conviction Under S.34 – Advocate Manish Jha
In Santosh Singh v. State of MP (2026 INSC 972), the Supreme Court reverses a High Court acquittal on an injured eyewitness's appeal: restraining the victim or exhorting the shooter is participation in furtherance of common intention under Section 34 IPC.
Read → 16 September 2026 · Criminal LawSection 69 BNS FIR Quashed by SC – Advocate Manish Jha
In Kunal Rameshbhai Kalyani v. State of Gujarat (2026 INSC 987), the Supreme Court quashes a Section 69 BNS FIR: a promise to marry broken for a genuine supervening reason, such as parental objection, is not deception from the inception.
Read → 16 September 2026 · Procedure & PracticeCaste Certificate & Article 142: SC – Advocate Manish Jha
The Supreme Court affirms invalidation of a Scheduled Tribe certificate on old revenue records, yet protects three decades of retiral benefits under Article 142 — a working study in moulding relief at the SLP stage.
Read →What Is Covered Here
The chamber writes on the areas in which it appears: criminal procedure under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, bail practice, matrimonial and family proceedings before the Delhi Family Courts, cheque dishonour and recovery, and proceedings before the NCLT and the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals. Notes on reported judgments of the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Delhi are published with a link to the official text of the decision, so that a reader can verify the position rather than rely on a summary.
No article on this page identifies a client or discusses a pending matter conducted by the chamber. Where a statutory provision is cited, the section number is given so that a reader can verify it against the bare Act.