Every day, courts across India decide cases that end up shaping ordinary people’s lives — students, employees, consumers, and families. This Daily Legal Digest gives you a quick, plain-English look at a few notable legal developments from the past few days, explained the way we would explain them to a client sitting across our desk. Here is what has been happening in India’s courts.
1. Supreme Court Quashes FIRs Filed Against NEET 2026 Protesters
The Supreme Court has quashed a batch of FIRs that police in Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Assam had registered against students and young people who took part in protests earlier this year over issues linked to the NEET 2026 examination, including alleged paper leaks. Notably, it was the Centre and the concerned state governments themselves who asked the Court to use its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to wipe out these cases, on the reasoning that students should not carry a criminal record simply for taking part in a protest. Following the order, organisers called off a protest march that had been planned for September 5.
This case is a useful reminder that an FIR is not the end of the road. There are established legal routes to have an unjust, exaggerated, or overbroad FIR quashed by a High Court or the Supreme Court. If you or someone in your family is facing an FIR you believe is false or filed only to pressure you, our office handles FIR quashing and criminal defence matters — you can read more on our criminal law page.
Source: Bar & Bench
2. Supreme Court Pushes States to Fix Vacancies and Delays in Consumer Courts
Anyone who has ever filed a consumer complaint in India knows the frustration of a long wait for a hearing date. The Supreme Court has now directed all state governments to respond within three weeks to a status report that flagged widespread vacancies, pay issues, and infrastructure gaps in district and state consumer commissions — the very forums where ordinary consumers go to seek relief against defective products, poor services, or unfair trade practices. The report placed before the Court reportedly pointed to close to 18,000 pending cases at the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission alone, with some state commissions functioning without a president for years.
For consumers, this matters directly: it affects how quickly a genuine complaint against a builder, an insurance company, an online seller, or a manufacturer actually gets heard and decided. If you are considering filing or defending a consumer complaint, our consumer dispute services page has more information on how the process works.
Source: Bar & Bench
3. Punjab & Haryana High Court Strikes Down Blanket Foreign Travel Ban for Government Employees
In a significant order, the Punjab & Haryana High Court set aside a Haryana government instruction that had imposed a complete ban on foreign travel — official or personal — for all state government employees, holding it to be “manifestly arbitrary” and in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The case was brought by a nursing officer at PGIMS Rohtak who was denied leave to travel to Australia for a professional examination, even though the government’s stated reason for the ban, conserving fuel and resources, had no real connection to her personal travel. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar remarked that applying such a blanket rule was “a sledgehammer being used to crack a nut,” and directed the department to let her travel.
This case is a good reminder that even government policies and internal office orders must meet the constitutional test of reasonableness, and that employees do have the right to legally challenge instructions that unfairly restrict their personal freedoms.
Source: LiveLaw
Have a legal question about a matter like one of these, or something else entirely? Get in touch with Sukhdeep Singh Khaira & Associates in Patiala for a consultation. Contact us here.
This digest is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Advocate Sukhdeep Singh Khaira & Associates, Patiala.