01 Read
What happened
The week of 10–16 August 2026 saw three significant legal developments. The Supreme Court upheld Tarun Tejpal's conviction in a sexual assault case, reinforcing appellate deference to trial court findings on witness credibility. Courts also addressed digital arrest scams, clarifying custodial rights and coercive online detention. Separately, rulings on Arya Samaj marriages examined registration validity and evidentiary weight of marriage certificates, a recurring area of personal law litigation. Each development carries direct doctrinal significance for criminal procedure and evidence law.
02 Understand
Why it matters
Three distinct legal threads emerged this week, each with exam relevance.
**Tejpal Conviction Upheld:** The Supreme Court's affirmation signals an important principle in appellate criminal procedure — that appellate courts should be slow to reverse trial court findings on witness credibility unless they are perverse or against the weight of evidence. This connects to Section 386 CrPC (now Section 432 BNSS) governing appellate powers, and the distinction between reversing findings of fact versus findings of law. CLAT PG has repeatedly tested when an appellate court can re-appreciate evidence.
**Digital Arrest Scams:** Courts have begun addressing a new form of coercion where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officers online and subject victims to prolonged 'virtual detention.' The legal questions arise under Sections 383–389 IPC (extortion provisions) and Section 503 IPC (criminal intimidation), and now under parallel BNSS provisions. Whether such online coercion constitutes 'putting in fear' for extortion — without physical custody — is the doctrinal puzzle the examiner will exploit.
**Arya Samaj Marriages:** Registration of marriages solemnised under Arya Samaj rites raises questions about the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Section 7 — rites and ceremonies), the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and whether a certificate issued by an Arya Samaj institution itself creates a valid marriage or merely records a ceremony. Courts have consistently held that registration is not constitutive of marriage — the rites are — but evidentiary weight of such certificates is a separate question.
All three threads feed directly into CLAT PG's passage-based criminal law and personal law questions.
**Tejpal Conviction Upheld:** The Supreme Court's affirmation signals an important principle in appellate criminal procedure — that appellate courts should be slow to reverse trial court findings on witness credibility unless they are perverse or against the weight of evidence. This connects to Section 386 CrPC (now Section 432 BNSS) governing appellate powers, and the distinction between reversing findings of fact versus findings of law. CLAT PG has repeatedly tested when an appellate court can re-appreciate evidence.
**Digital Arrest Scams:** Courts have begun addressing a new form of coercion where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officers online and subject victims to prolonged 'virtual detention.' The legal questions arise under Sections 383–389 IPC (extortion provisions) and Section 503 IPC (criminal intimidation), and now under parallel BNSS provisions. Whether such online coercion constitutes 'putting in fear' for extortion — without physical custody — is the doctrinal puzzle the examiner will exploit.
**Arya Samaj Marriages:** Registration of marriages solemnised under Arya Samaj rites raises questions about the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Section 7 — rites and ceremonies), the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and whether a certificate issued by an Arya Samaj institution itself creates a valid marriage or merely records a ceremony. Courts have consistently held that registration is not constitutive of marriage — the rites are — but evidentiary weight of such certificates is a separate question.
All three threads feed directly into CLAT PG's passage-based criminal law and personal law questions.
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