Aabad Ponda's Blog

NO CHANGE IN THE METHOD ADOPTED BY THE POLICE IN ARRESTING PERSONS FOR OFFENCES PUNISHABLE UP TO 7 YEARS AND BELOW IN SPITE OF AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 41 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE, 1973 By:- Aabad Ponda, Advocate Bombay High Court, practicing on the criminal side The power of arrest by the Police is one of the most misused provisions since times immemorial. The monstrous abuse of the powers of the Police are not unknown but the abuse of power is even more damaging when it relates to the power of arrest. The Supreme Court of India has minced no words way back in 1994 when it pronounced the famous Joginder Kumar's case  and quoted The National Police Commission in its Third Report that the power of arrest is one of the chief sources of corruption amongst the Police. The National Police Commission in its Third Report referring to the quality of arrests by the police in India mentioned power of arrest as one of the chief sources of corruption in the police. The report suggeste...

SECTION 50 OF THE PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT AS IT IS WORDED  IS BEING MISUSED IN VIOLATION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT AGAINST SELF INCRIMINATION UNDER ARTICLE 20(3) OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA. By:- Aabad Ponda advocate Bombay High Court practicing on the Criminal side.  The scheme of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is such that unless an offence is a scheduled offence and falling in parts A, B or C of the Schedule it would not attract the provisions of the Money Laundering Act. This is clear from the definition of money laundering  defined under Section 3 of the said Act which requires there to be proceeds of crime as defined under Section 2(u)  and which in turn relates to a scheduled offence. In other words the offence of money laundering is only in respect of offences found under the schedule to the Act which is located after Section 75 of the Act and has offences under various statutes which constitute the essential ingredient for an offence...

NEED FOR AMENDMENT TO SECTION 378 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE 1973. By -Advocate Aabad Ponda B. A. LL.B (Practicing in the Bombay High Court on the Criminal Side) Chapter XXIX Of The Criminal Procedure Code 1973 deals with appeals. An appeal is a creature of the statute and no appeal lies from any judgment or order unless it is expressly provided for. Such a provision that permits the filing of an appeal must find a place either in the Criminal Procedure Code itself or in any other law for the time being in force by virtue of Section 372 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973. This means that there must be a specific provision that permits a party to file an appeal against an appealable order from any judgment or order of a criminal court which is sub-ordinate to the court hearing an appeal. Section 378 of the Criminal Procedure Code deals with appeal against acquittals whether on a private complaint or on a police report. Section 378 of the Criminal Procedure Code is the princ...

Why Aires Rodrigues v. Vishwajeet P. Rane (2017 SCC OnLine SC 219) may need to be relooked at by the Supreme Court of India By -Advocate Aabad Ponda B. A. LL.B (Practicing in the Bombay High Court on the Criminal Side) "Justice is not a cloistered virtue; she must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, though outspoken, comments of ordinary men." (vide Andre Paul Terence Ambard Versus The Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago AIR 1936 PC 141) While I have the highest respect which cannot be described by mere words for the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India I feel that the above Judgement may be required to be reconsidered at some stage by the Hon'ble Apex Court and I attempt to pen down my reasons for the same as under. The issue which arose in the above Judgment was with reference to a notification issued prior to the coming into force of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, by virtue of Section 10 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932. The ...

NEED TO AMEND PART A OF THE SCHEDULE PART A OF THE PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING  ACT, 2002. By -Advocate Aabad Ponda B. A. LL.B (Practicing in the Bombay High Court on the Criminal Side) The legislature seems to have omitted to incorporate offences of criminal misappropriation punishable under section 403 and 404 of the Indian Penal Code as well as offences of criminal breach of trust punishable under sections 406 to 409 of the Indian Penal Code while drafting the entire schedule to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. The schedule under the said Act gets its importance from Sections 2(x) and  2(y) of the said Act which define schedule and scheduled offence respectively. A conjoint reading of these two sub-sections along with the principle definition of proceeds of crime as defined under section 2(u) of the said Act and Section 3 of the said Act clearly indicates that unless an offence falls within any of the Schedules to the said Act, it gets eluded an exclud...

SOLUTION TO THE DANGEROUS AND UNHEALTHY RISE OF CHEQUE BOUNCING CASES IN INDIA BY:- Aabad Ponda, Advocate, High Court, Mumbai, Practicing on the Criminal side. Honesty is the hallmark of a prosperous society and the caliber of a man is measured by how he keeps up a promise that he has made. In the olden times in ancient Indian society of Satyug it was often said PRAN JAYE PAR VACHAN NA JAYE which means a person may die but he would stand by his word. Today we are living in Kalyug and probably at its worst. It would be an understatement that there are less honest people than dishonest in society. If one looks into the mirror to gauge our degree of honesty and the same is required to be measured, then there is no better way to measure the same than to verify the statistics about the pendency of cheque bouncing cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. A bare reading about the pendency of such cases in various parts of the country would send shivers up the s...