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.
Bail Before the Magistrate: S.480 – Advocate Manish Jha
Most bail litigation begins under Section 480 BNSS (old 437 CrPC): its restrictions for the gravest offences, the provisos for children, women and the sick, and how the first application is run.
Read → 27 August 2026 · Criminal LawThe Triple Test in Bail Matters – Advocate Manish Jha
Flight risk, tampering with evidence, influencing witnesses: how the triple test structures every bail and anticipatory bail hearing, and how each limb is argued and answered.
Read → 27 August 2026 · Criminal LawNo Blanket Anticipatory Bail – Advocate Manish Jha
Section 482 BNSS anchors anticipatory bail to a specific accusation. Why courts refuse blanket orders against future or unspecified FIRs, and the lawful toolkit for serial-FIR situations.
Read → 27 August 2026 · Criminal LawDrafting an AB Application – Advocate Manish Jha
Structure, annexures, disclosure duties and interim prayers: the anatomy of a well-drafted anticipatory bail application in Delhi, and the drafting failures that recur in dismissed ones.
Read → 27 August 2026 · Criminal LawPOCSO and Adolescent Cases – Advocate Manish Jha
Consent below eighteen is legally irrelevant under POCSO, yet adolescent relationship cases fill the dockets. The statutory grid, bail practice in this category, and the Law Commission's 2023 position.
Read → 27 August 2026 · Criminal LawSettlement in POCSO Cases – Advocate Manish Jha
POCSO offences cannot be compounded, and quashing on compromise is exceptional. What the inherent power under Section 528 BNSS can and cannot do, and the merits-based route that legitimately remains.
Read → 26 August 2026 · Criminal LawBail in Murder: Reasons Must Show – Advocate Manish Jha
In Yash Mahesh Gaikwad v. State of Maharashtra (2026 INSC 917, 20 August 2026) the Supreme Court set aside bail granted to murder accused, holding that bail orders in serious offences must record justifiable reasons reflecting application of mind.
Read → 26 August 2026 · Criminal LawNo Coercive Steps: True Scope – Advocate Manish Jha
By order dated 24 August 2026 in Arun Kumar Mandal v. State of Jharkhand, the Supreme Court clarified that interim protection from arrest does not bar the investigating officer from completing the investigation and filing a charge sheet.
Read → 26 August 2026 · Criminal LawLong Custody as a Ground for Bail – Advocate Manish Jha
Prolonged undertrial custody with no realistic prospect of early trial completion can itself justify bail on Article 21 grounds — the K.A. Najeeb principle and Section 479 BNSS explained.
Read → 26 August 2026 · Criminal LawAnticipatory Bail: Which Court First? – Advocate Manish Jha
Section 482 BNSS gives the Sessions Court and the High Court concurrent anticipatory bail jurisdiction. When to start in the district court, when a direct High Court petition is justified, and how the second application should be built.
Read → 26 August 2026 · Criminal LawPOCSO Offences & Punishments – Advocate Manish Jha
The POCSO Act's graded offence pairs mapped — Sections 3 to 12, the aggravated forms, the 2019 minimum-sentence enhancements, and why classification decides bail, trial and sentence.
Read → 26 August 2026 · Criminal LawFalse Complaints under POCSO: S.22 – Advocate Manish Jha
Section 22 POCSO punishes complaints made solely to humiliate, extort, threaten or defame — while immunising children entirely. Its three limbs, and why an acquittal alone does not trigger it.
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.