Spotlight is a series where we shine the, well, spotlight on members of the legal fraternity who made the news over the past week.
This past week, the spotlight was on Delhi High Court Justice Neena Bansal Krishna for more than a couple of reasons.
In a judgment passed on May 29 but made available last week, Justice Krishna quashed an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha in connection with a foreign direct investment (FDI) case.
The judgment was particularly critical of the ED's prolonged investigation which had left Purkayastha behind bars for around 7 months.
Justice Krishna termed the ED's actions as a fishing exercise and an attack on the freedom of press.
"Not only are the present proceedings only mala fide, but also an arbitrary attack and abuse of powers on the free and impartial journalism of the petitioners," the Court stated.
Apart from this clear indictment of the central agency, while presiding over a vacation bench last week, Justice Krishna made headlines by cracking down on targeted online campaigns against members of the judiciary.
While hearing a criminal contempt petition filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) against a social media user who allegedly posted scandalous videos blaming a sitting judge for the tragic Saket building collapse, the Bench of Justices Krishna and Madhu Jain observed,
“Any endeavour to use them [social media tools], to cause harm to the society or to interfere the independence of Judiciary and to malign the institutions and individuals, cannot be accepted in this country, where Rule of Law and principles enshrined in the Constitution of India, prevail."
However, in a different case that came up later in the week, Justice Krishna also made it clear that initiation of criminal contempt of court cases may not be the most effective or efficient strategy against such social media users.
In this case, Justice Krishna refused to take suo motu cognisance of the trolling of a Saket Court judge who stayed the order for registration of FIR against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for his alleged objectionable comments on Newslaundry and its journalists.
Justice Krishna said that comments like "pathetic judge" or "rotten institution" are made about judges on a routine basis, even by lawyers themselves.
“I still don’t find it of nature to be taken cognisance of. We are not finding that any extraordinary measures are required. It [one of the tweets] says “pathetic judge”. When you [lawyers] are standing in the corridor, is that not the general conversation? You don’t get an order in your favour, and you say who has made this person a judge. If we start taking cognisance of this… It’s not a case where I can take [suo motu] cognisance of this,” Justice Krishna remarked.
But perhaps the case which is most relevant to ordinary citizens from the past week was one regarding the Central government's plans to take over the lands of the Delhi Gymkhana Club, Indian Polo Club and Delhi Race Club.
It would be fair to say that Justice Krishna echoed the sentiments of millions of Delhiites when she remarked that Delhi is "choking" due to pollution.
Justice Krishna panned the Central government for seemingly deciding to take over whatever little green space is remaining in Delhi with no apparent regard for the health of its citizens.
"Little breather we have in the NDMC [New Delhi Municipal Council] area is also going to go. All of us are going to suffocate and die. Government never needed the land in 200 years? Only you know what you are going to make Delhi into. You are saying Delhi people, please go to chhota-mota mountain [small mountains] and Delhi will not be fit. You have no idea how we are choking. Small lung that we have, you are going to take it away," Justice Krishna remarked.
Justice Krishna's jurisprudence was honed in the district courts in the national capital.
After completing her LL.B. from Campus Law Centre and LL.M. from the Delhi University Faculty of Law, Justice Krishna joined the Delhi Judicial Service as Civil Judge in 1992 and was promoted to Delhi Higher Judicial Service in 2003.
During this time, she presided over various civil and criminal courts and dealt with a diverse array of cases cases of various spanning from matrimonial disputes, motor accident claims, POCSO cases, to money laundering and terrorism cases.
From 2005 to 2006, she was also a Presiding Officer in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), New Delhi.
She was later appointed as First Director in the Department of Law and Justice, NCT of Delhi, for setting up the Delhi Dispute Resolution Society, which was the first institution set up by any State government for pre-litigation mediation/community mediation.
Her journey in the district judiciary culminated in her appointment as District & Sessions Judge of Saket Court.
On February 2, 2022, Justice Krishna was elevated to the Delhi High Court.
Her tenure at the Delhi High Court began, as it normally does, on a division bench with a senior judge. Sharing the bench with Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, Justice Krishna dealt with numerous matrimonial disputes, some of which resulted in the laying down of foundational judgments.
One of the cases which grabbed headlines was regarding Karwa Chauth, the Hindu festival where married women observe a strict fast from sunrise to moonrise for a day, praying for the wellbeing of their husbands.
A husband's argument that his wife's refusal to fast on Karwa Chauth amounted to cruelty justifying divorce was strongly criticised by the Bench, which observed that having different religious beliefs and not performing certain religious duties is an individual's choice.
"Fasting or not fasting on Karwa Chauth may be an individual choice and if dispassionately considered, may not be termed as an act of cruelty. Having different religious beliefs and not performing certain religious duties, perse would not amount to cruelty or would not be sufficient to sever a marital tie,” the Court held.
The division of domestic labour was another issue dealt with by the Bench in a case where it held that a husband expecting his wife to do household chores cannot be termed as cruelty or be equated to the work of a maid servant.
In one case, the Bench held that financial instability of the husband which leads to him indulging in other vices can be termed as mental cruelty towards the wife. However, in another case, the Bench also said that constant taunts by a wife about her husband’s financial capacity and pressurising him to fulfill whimsical dreams beyond his financial reach will amount to mental cruelty towards the husband.
Another issue that plagues matrimonial disputes jurisdiction across borders arise when spouses fling false allegations against each other.
The Bench of Justices Kait and Krishna passed several judgments on this topic, holding that a wife making false allegations of rape and dowry harassment against the family members of husband amounts to extreme cruelty.
Such cases are even more damaging when there are children involved, the Bench noted in another case. In the judgment in that case, the Bench held that a woman trying to turn her children against their father and making them write complaints against the father is a clear case of parental alienation and an act of grave mental cruelty towards the father/husband entitling him to divorce.
In one judgment, the Bench held that publicly alleging that one's husband is impotent is cruelty to the husband.
In another, the Bench held that a father’s refusal to accept the legitimacy/paternity of children and making unsubstantiated allegations of extra-marital affairs against the wife is an act of mental cruelty against her.
On the topic of extra-marital affairs, the Bench also held that an adulterous spouse does not make an incompetent parent automatically disentitling them from custody of the children.
After she started sitting as a single judge bench, Justice Krishna passed several judgments upholding the rights of women and children.
In April this year, while deciding a 2010 case involving allegations of adultery under the now-struck-down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, Justice Krishna warned against treating women as property by referring to the treatment of Draupadi in the Mahabharat. The judge observed that despite the well-documented plight of Draupadi and the consequences that followed, the misogynistic and patriarchal mindset that women are property continues to prevail in our society.
Justice Krishna also stood firmly by a woman government officer and member of the Kashmir Administrative Service who had alleged harassment at the workplace. In her judgment, Justice Krishna elaborated on the struggles faced by women at workplace, noting that even a high government position does not guarantee safety for women at the workplace.
"While now, though grudgingly, woman's right to equal opportunity of work, has found recognition but challenges being faced at workplace are insurmountable and still resisted by “masculine strategists” who have specious reasons to justify their acts and attitudes" the judgment stated.
While upholding the conviction of a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), Justice Krishna ruled that making a minor child touch another person's private parts with sexual intent also amounts to aggravated sexual under the Act.
Last year, Justice Krishna also dealt with the rights of prisoners, urging jail authorities to handle parole requests by prisoners with more sensitivity. Justice Krishna said that prisoners cannot be treated as "chattel" who are devoid of basic human rights. She even summoned Delhi's Principal Secretary (Home) over delays in processing parole applications.
In her four-year tenure at the High Court, Justice Krishna has also presided over several important cases involving political figures.
Two years into her tenure, Justice Krishna had to deal with the the arrest of then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case.
Justice Krishna upheld the arrest of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, finding that there were adequate grounds for arrest.
In the same month, Justice Krishna upheld a session court order to close the rape case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, noting that said that oral, documentary and scientific evidence ruled out the possibility that Hussain intoxicated and raped the woman.
In October 2024, Justice Krishna dismissed an application filed by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda seeking suspension of his conviction by a trial court in a coal scam case.
In 2024, Justice Krishna also ordered the takedown of social media posts by Congress leaders Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera alleging that journalist Rajat Sharma abused and used foul language against Nayak on live television.
Last year, ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections, Justice Krishna granted custody parole to former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in the Delhi Riots case to enable him to file his nomination papers.
Apart from Hussain's petition, Justice Krishna has also dealt with other cases related to the Delhi Riots over the past few years.
In December 2025, Justice Krishna slammed the Delhi Police's investigation into the shooting of a Muslim man during the riots, noting that there were several lapses on the part of the Police.
Earlier this month, the Delhi Police sought transfer of a matter away from Justice Krishna, who had reserved verdict but had not delivered judgment for over 6 months on a plea moved by Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita. Kalita had sought video recordings of the protests against the CAA-NRC that the prosecution relied upon in the Delhi Riots case, as well as WhatsApp chats of police groups. However, on June 5, Justice Krishna dismissed Kalita's plea and vacated the Court's previous order restraining the trial court from passing a final order on charges in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case.