Top Legal Updates for January, 2026 I January 1st- 15th I LegalWiki Updates!
Stay updated with the most recent and relevant developments in your practice area of law.
Constitutional Law
Delhi Assembly Approves 100% Court Fee Refund for Out-of-Court Settlements
The Delhi Assembly amended the Court Fees Act, 1870, to enable a 100% refund of court fees for out-of-court settlements. Read more.
Supreme Court asks Women Dog Feeders Alleging Harassment to Lodge FIRs & Approach High Courts
While hearing the stray dogs matter, the Supreme Court clarified that allegations of harassment, assault, or use of derogatory language against women dog feeders constitute criminal offences and must be addressed through FIRs and appropriate legal remedies, not at the apex court level. Read more.
‘Shocking’ That Minor Girls Missing for Over 10 Years & Police is Unaware of Whereabouts: MP High Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court expressed serious concern over minor girls remaining untraced for over a decade, directing police authorities to submit detailed data on missing, recovered, and voluntarily returned minor girls from 2014–2025. Read more.
Civil Law
Vendor is Necessary Party in Specific Performance Suits Even after Transferring Property: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court reaffirmed that in suits for specific performance of an agreement to sell immovable property, the vendor is a necessary party even if the property has been transferred to a third party. Read more.
Minor With Permanent Functional Disability Entitled to Skilled Workman Compensation: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court held that an unemployed minor who suffers 100% permanent functional disability in a motor accident is entitled to compensation as a skilled workman under the Motor Vehicles Act. Read more.
Gujarat High Court Upholds Order Directing Municipality To Compensate Family Of Man Killed By Stray Bull
The Gujarat High Court upheld an order directing the Vadodara Municipal Corporation to pay compensation to the legal heirs of a motorcyclist who died after being struck by a stray bull. Read more.
Criminal Law
Forced Unnatural Sex by Husband Amounts to Cruelty, Not Rape: MP High Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court held that forced unnatural sex by a husband amounts to cruelty under Section 498A IPC, but cannot be prosecuted as rape due to the marital exception under Section 375 IPC. Read more.
Differently Abled Saket Court Staffer Dies By Suicide Alleging Work Pressure; Employees Announce Protest
A differently abled ahlmad (court record keeper) posted at the Saket District Court died by suicide inside the court premises, reportedly citing extreme work pressure and mental stress. Read more.
Civil Decree For Loan Recovery Doesn’t Bar Criminal Liability Under PC Act: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court held that a civil decree for recovery of loan dues does not absolve accused persons from criminal liability for misappropriation and conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Read more.
Arbitration
Delhi High Court Reaffirms: Arbitrator Cannot Rewrite Repayment Framework Agreed by Parties
The Delhi High Court set aside an arbitral award, holding that an arbitrator cannot alter contractual terms by linking repayment obligations to commercial success when the agreement provides otherwise. Read more.
Bombay High Court Upholds Trader’s ₹1.75 Crore Profit Earned Due To Kotak Securities Margin Glitch
The Bombay High Court upheld an arbitral award allowing a trader to retain ₹1.75 crore earned through trades executed using erroneous margin credit caused by a technical glitch in Kotak Securities’ system. Read more.
Arbitration Commences With Notice, Not Section 11 Petition: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has clarified that arbitral proceedings commence when a notice invoking arbitration is received by the opposite party under Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, not when a Section 11 petition for appointment of an arbitrator is filed. Read more.
IPR
Bombay High Court Bars Restaurant Chains From Playing PPL Music Without Licence
The Bombay High Court, in an interim order, restrained restaurant operators running nearly 94 outlets from publicly playing music from Phonographic Performance Limited’s (PPL) repertoire without a valid licence. Read more.
DPIIT pushes AI Copyright Feedback Deadline to Feb 6
The DPIIT extended the deadline for stakeholder feedback on the proposed generative AI and copyright policy to February 6, 2026. Read more.
US Copyright Fair Use Dispute on Generative AI Reaches Crucial Year
A wave of copyright lawsuits against generative AI companies is set to see major US court rulings in 2026. Read more.
Family Law
Supreme Court Upholds Dismissal of CISF Constable for Bigamy
The Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a CISF constable for contracting a second marriage during the subsistence of his first marriage, observing that “dura lex sed lex”- the law is harsh, but it is the law. Read more.
Relatives’ Refusal to Address Husband’s Affair or Advice to ‘Tolerate’ Beating Not Cruelty: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court held that a father-in-law refusing to hear a wife’s complaint about her husband’s extra-marital affair, and a brother-in-law telling her to “tolerate” the husband’s beating, does not by itself amount to cruelty under Section 498A IPC. Read more.
No Presumption of Wife’s Earning Capacity Without Proof at Interim Stage: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court held that there is no presumption of a wife’s earning capacity at the interim maintenance stage without prima facie proof. Read more.
Legal Updates
Centre Notifies Justice Revati Mohite Dere as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court
The Central Government, on January 1, issued a notification appointing Justice Revati Mohite Dere, a judge of the Bombay High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. Read more.
Parliament Passes Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha Bill To Reform Insurance Laws
Parliament has passed the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025, introducing wide-ranging statutory reforms to India’s insurance framework. Read more.
Gujarat High Court Designates Four New Senior Advocates
The Gujarat High Court has designated four lawyers as Senior Advocates following a Full Court decision taken on January 8. Read more.
Advocates Rights
Delhi High Court Calls for Change in Adjournment Culture While Waiving Costs
The Delhi High Court heard a plea by to waive a ₹20,000 cost imposed for his counsel’s absence due to professional engagement in another case. Read more.
Fear Of Disciplinary Action Makes Trial Judges Reluctant To Grant Bail: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has flagged that trial court judges are increasingly hesitant to grant bail due to a fear of disciplinary action, leading to an influx of bail petitions before High Courts and the Supreme Court. Read more.
Rajasthan High Court Bar Boycotts Court Over Mandatory Working Saturdays
The Rajasthan High Court Bar in Jodhpur staged a coordinated protest, abstaining from court work after the High Court designated the second Saturday of each month as a working day for 2026. Read more.
Women’s Rights
Delhi High Court Grants Wife Guardianship of Husband in Vegitative State
The Delhi High Court held that the wife should be appointed as the legal guardian of her husband, who remains in a vegetative and comatose state after a brain haemorrhage. Read more.
Delhi High Court: DNA Mismatch Not Fatal If Circumstances Explain Absence Of Evidence In Rape Cases
The Delhi High Court has held that the absence of DNA matching does not by itself weaken a rape prosecution if the surrounding circumstances reasonably explain it. Read more.
POSH Committee Functional in Chhattisgarh High Court Amid Supreme Court Scrutiny
The Chhattisgarh High Court informed that its Internal Complaints Committee constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is functional, amid scrutiny by the Supreme Court on implementation of workplace sexual harassment redressal mechanisms. Read more.
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