r/LegalAdviceIndia

Out of the blue, I received a message from one of my college friends. We spoke over the phone, and he told me that he was planning to shift to Pune. He asked me about the localities there, and during the conversation, he suddenly asked if I had a credit card. He said he wanted to buy a washing machine because he was getting a good discount and promised that he would repay me within a week.

I agreed to help him, and I used my credit card to make the purchase. The total amount was ₹30,000.

A week passed, then two weeks, but he kept giving me excuses for why he couldn't repay me. One day, he told me that he had never received the washing machine because the transaction had been canceled. He claimed that CRED was trying to reverse the transaction, but since I had already paid my credit card bill, the money couldn't be refunded. He then said I needed to make another transaction so the money could be transferred again.

At that point, I felt something was wrong and refused to do it. The next day, he said the transaction had failed in CRED. I asked him to send me a screenshot as proof. He tried to avoid sharing it, but I eventually managed to get the screenshot from him. To my surprise, it showed that the transaction had actually been made toward an education loan, not for a washing machine.

I didn't confront him about the lie or the gaslighting because my priority was getting my money back. After that, he stopped responding to my messages for a couple of days. When I warned him that I would file a police complaint, he told me to "go to the police" and said he would "see me in court."

I don't know what to do. ₹30,000 is a significant amount for me, and I had to borrow the money from my parents to pay my credit card bill. If anyone has been in a similar situation or can suggest what I should do next, I would really appreciate the advice. I have the call recording, WhatsApp chats, and the screenshot of the transaction as evidence.

I am posting this on behalf of a 20-year-old recent graduate who is preparing for competitive exams and belongs to a middle-class family in India.( u/GlitteringSurvive)

The situation is as follows: The father has a history of serial infidelity and physical violence against the mother throughout their marriage. The mother had one instance of emotional infidelity in response. The father confiscated her phone two years ago and has kept her without one, while he continues to have access to phones and may still be involved in extramarital affairs.

Today morning, during a dispute, the father threw a stool at the mother and nearly strangled her. One of the triggers he cited was that the child did not speak to him before he left on a trip. The father has also verbally abused the child in the past.

The mother has no independent source of income. Divorce is being resisted due to concerns about social reputation. The paternal family is suggesting a compromise, and the father has expressed regret for the physical violence. However, this pattern—anger, remorse, recurrence every 2–3 months—has continued for years, and the mother now refuses to accept any further compromise.

The child feels helpless and is unsure whether to pursue legal action. There is also a concern that if legal proceedings are initiated, the father may harm himself due to his perceived societal image.

The family is conflicted between moving out and attempting reconciliation. There are also unresolved personal issues between the parents.

Request:
What legal options are available in this situation? Can the mother file a complaint or seek protection without immediate divorce? What steps should be taken to ensure safety, and how can the child support the mother while also focusing on exam preparation?

I was scrolling instagram today and suddenly a disgusting, depraved reel came on my feed. In the reel a literal girl-child, at around 7-9 years old, was crying and it was very obvious from the video that she was s*xually assaulted. The account also seems like those disgusting Indian insta accounts where corn materials are shared. I reported the reel to Instagram and obviously the didn't remove it. I tried to lodge a complaint on cyber crime portal but it's not opening. It seems from the reel that the incident took place in Northern India but I have no idea about the exact place where it happened. What to do in this situation? Please help..

I am taking the help of chatgpt to clean up my post.

My boyfriend (let's call him H) was working as a Business Development Executive at a software company based out of Gurgaon. It was a remote job so H was working out of Bangalore. He'd been there for about a year and handled leads and accounts across five different regions worldwide, with the US being the biggest. He consistently performed well, never slacked off, and brought in a good number of leads.

Around three months ago, a new employee joined (let's call him Y), who happened to be a close friend of H's manager (X). Soon after, X reassigned H's two largest accounts to Y, leaving H with only three smaller ones.

H immediately raised concerns with X, explaining that most of his leads had always come from those larger accounts and that the smaller regions simply didn't generate the same volume. He repeatedly asked to have his accounts back, and X kept saying he'd "look into it," but nothing ever changed.

Fast forward to today. H was suddenly called into a meeting with HR and X and was told that he was being let go. They pressured him to submit his resignation during the call itself, without giving him any time to process what was happening or discuss any alternatives.

What frustrates me even more is that H had never received a warning, performance improvement plan, or any indication that his job was at risk. It went from everything seeming normal to "resign right now."

To make things even more suspicious, X had previously told H on multiple occasions that he had tried to hire Y before, but H had been selected for the role instead. Looking back, it feels like Y was brought in specifically to replace H.

I'm obviously biased because H is my boyfriend, but this whole situation feels incredibly unfair. He put in a year's worth of effort, built relationships, brought in business, and then had his biggest accounts taken away before being let go.

I've suggested that he request a meeting with the director to understand what actually happened and also speak with a lawyer friend of his before signing or agreeing to anything further. But sadly H has already put down his papers as he was coerced into it in the call.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Is this just unfortunate office politics, or does this sound like something that could amount to unfair or wrongful termination? We'd especially appreciate hearing from people who've dealt with similar situations or who know how employment law generally works.

Hi, need advice on a motor insurance issue.

I informed my insurance company (Reliance General insurance) about my car accident on 28 May. Since then they have dragged the claim.

Car details:

2017 Maruti Suzuki Dzire diesel

Around 1 lakh km running

IDV: approx ₹2.68 lakh

Policy has zero depreciation cover

Official service center repair estimate is around ₹3.5 lakh

Because the official estimate is more than IDV/75% IDV, the insurance company is treating it as Total Loss/CTL.

But I told them I can repair the vehicle from outside for around ₹1.6-2 lakh with proper bills. Earlier they also told me that if I want to keep the vehicle, salvage bidding will happen and I can retain the car after adjustment/payment of salvage value.

Now they are saying there are only two options:

1. Take total loss settlement, or

2. Keep the vehicle and get less than/around ₹1 lakh.

My main question is: Can the insurance company refuse the earlier salvage bidding/vehicle retention/outside repair option without giving any proper reason or written calculation?

Also, practically, should I accept total loss in this situation, or is there any legal/practical way to push them for around 50% of IDV as repair settlement if I get the car repaired outside with bills?

Hi everyone, seeking some legal guidance on the aftermath of a false criminal case.
The Background:
I was falsely accused under Section 69 of the BNS. The police investigation concluded, and a charge sheet was filed. The trial was supposed to commence at the lower court, but before it could even start, I approached the High Court. The High Court quashed the case in the very first sitting.
While I am incredibly relieved that the ordeal is legally over, I have two major concerns regarding the aftermath and my next steps:
Question 1: Impact on Future Job Prospects and Background Verification (BGV)
I work in the corporate sector and will likely change jobs in the future. Since the charge sheet was filed but the case was quashed before trial, how will this reflect in standard corporate background checks or police clearance certificates? If an employer's background form asks, "Have you ever been involved in any legal proceedings/criminal cases?" how should I legally and safely answer this without jeopardizing my employment?
Question 2: Exploring a Counter-Suit (Malicious Prosecution / Defamation)
Because the case was entirely baseless and quashed immediately by the HC, my initial reaction was to file a counter-suit against the accuser for defamation, malicious prosecution, and mental harassment.
However, my current legal counsel advised against it. They mentioned that in cases specifically related to BNS 69, pursuing the opposite party usually yields very little material relief or compensation. They warned that it would just be a severe drain on my time, money, and mental peace with almost zero return on investment.
Is this advice generally accurate for these types of cases in India? Is there any practical, effective way to hold the accuser accountable (either criminally or civilly for damages) without signing up for years of fruitless litigation?
Any advice from lawyers or individuals who have navigated the BGV process after a quashed case would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

Previous Post : https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceIndia/s/bqQlnEEkXI

Hey everyone, posting a very heavy and painful update to my previous posts regarding my father (Ex-BSF Constable, convicted by a General Security Force Court (GSFC) in a highly biased trial). I am a 21M, and my family is completely broken. We paid a private lawyer a good amount, and we just found out the truth by looking directly at the official order files. Maybe our lawyer completely misled us. He told us a bail matter was "ongoing" in the High Court, but the files show he only filed Civil Writ Petitions dealing with paperwork.

Our money is gone, nothing has been done on the criminal side, and my father has now spent nearly 3 years behind bars out of his 5-year sentence. The civil route through the BSF is completely over. We need to urgently pivot to a Criminal Appeal and an urgent Suspension of Sentence (Bail) application in the Delhi High Court based on the fact that he has served more than half his sentence.

We have absolutely no money left to hire another private lawyer. I am looking into approaching the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) or the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee (DHCLSC) for free legal aid.

My questions for anyone with legal experience in Delhi:

How trusted/effective is DLSA / Legal Aid for criminal appeals in the High Court? Will a free legal aid lawyer actually fight a tough case like a POCSO conviction, or will they treat it like a file on a desk?

Does anyone know a trusted, honest criminal lawyer or legal aid advocate who works with panels in the Delhi High Court who handles custody/bail matters cleanly?

What is the process to hold a private lawyer accountable for misleading a client and failing to file the correct criminal applications?

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Please upvote so this reaches Delhi lawyers or people who have used legal aid. We are desperate. Thank you 🙏

32M - Left a high-paying Dubai job for family, invested ₹1.5 Cr+ into family real estate, and now I'm questioning everything. Need unbiased advice.

I'm a 32-year-old software professional from India, and I genuinely need an outside perspective because I'm emotionally involved and don't know whether I'm thinking clearly.

Background

My mother passed away during COVID. Since then, it's been my father, my younger brother, and me.

My father has been in the real estate business for many years. Initially, he used to personally sit in the office, source deals, negotiate with clients, close transactions, and manage everything.

Later, my younger brother gradually took over the office operations.

My career

Worked in IT in India from 2015–2019.

Moved to Dubai in 2019 and earned around AED 23,000 per month.

Returned to India, worked at KPMG, and later continued my IT career.

I focused entirely on my profession, lived below my means, and saved aggressively.

Today I have built around ₹2 crore in liquid assets through my salary and investments.

Why I came back from Dubai

While I was in Dubai, my younger brother repeatedly told me things like:

"I can't keep taking care of Dad forever."

"You need to come back."

"You're running away from the family business."

At the same time, he wanted future real estate projects to be in his name so he could have assets under his ownership.

I became anxious that if I stayed abroad, one day I would have no visibility into the family business or property and would eventually be told that I had contributed nothing.

So I left a very good job in Dubai and came back to India.

Financial contributions

Since returning, multiple construction projects have started.

I have invested well over ₹1.5 crore of my own hard-earned money into these family projects.

Most of these payments were made online, so I have complete banking records.

What confuses me is that my younger brother has invested significantly less, yet ownership is generally treated as equal.

He often says his business isn't running well and that he doesn't have money to contribute.

At the same time, I've noticed that whenever he spends money through Paytm or other personal payments for business, he usually recovers that amount in cash from my father at the end of the month.

I, on the other hand, rarely ask my father for reimbursement because I always felt uncomfortable doing so.

Family dynamics

As the years passed:

My father continued bearing many business and household expenses.

Even when my brother started handling the office, my father was still heavily involved in finding clients and closing deals.

My brother receives the commissions from the deals he closes.

Rental income and many family expenses have also largely been managed by my father.

I never paid much attention because I was focused on building my IT career.

Ironically, I was often told by my younger brother that I had "run away from the family business."

What hurts me

This isn't only about money.

I often feel my younger brother tries to undermine me.

He frequently reminds everyone that:

he got married before me,

he had a child before me,

he stayed with Dad while I was abroad,

and sometimes speaks disrespectfully to me in front of my father.

At the same time, I feel that the financial risks I've taken are often ignored.

My current dilemma

Today I have around ₹2 crore in liquid investments outside these projects.

My concern is this:

If I continue putting more money into family projects while my brother contributes much less, am I simply increasing my own financial risk?

Should I stop funding future projects unless every contribution is documented?

Should I focus on building my own independent wealth instead of putting my salary into family real estate?

Or am I overthinking this because emotions are involved?

I'm not looking for validation or for people to say my brother is wrong.

I'm genuinely looking for objective advice from people who have dealt with family businesses, inheritance issues, or sibling partnerships.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

My wife has left me and her parents are asking for mutual divorce. We got married on April 3rd and its only been two months. Her parents didn’t give me a chance to speak to her after she left. I did all the begging but they eventually reached a lawyer. Now i dont want to force them so i am ready to give the mutual divorce. However, they asked to give back the gold and 5 lakhs amount before filing for petition. My father didn’t agree. Our plan is to give them the gold once the petition is filed and give them a DD check of 5 lakhs only under the condition that divorce is granted. Say if we file a petition tomorrow, and once the gold and amount is settled, how long do i gave to wait? The lawyers are telling both families we can divorce in 3 months to 6 months, by maybe fabricating a lie that we are married more than year. We both parties are mentally sound. Both me and my wife are job holders. She doesn’t want to even see my face. My thinking is that i dont want her no matter what once we settle the money after the petition.

Say even after filing the petition and amount settled what if she suddenly changes her mind. I would be fcuked. The question is can she change her mind? What if i refuse to take her back after the petition and amount settled? And how long does it realistically take to get divorced? Also do i need to reveal my payslip during petition? My hope is once the petition is filed and signed that stupid family and the court should not touch me again legally. Is that possible?

Hi everyone

Keeping it short to discuss further details offline:

I 29M was engaged to someone to be married two months back. But their behaviour post engagement was vastly different than pre engagement especially with my mom who was primarily dealing with wedding prep from our side and was talking about arrangements constantly to her dad.

Her father was very misogynistic and regressive and apparently did not like that mom was making decisions from our side and repeatedly wanted to talk to Dad to which Dad agreed once. During that conversation he passed sexist comments on the lines of We should not let women take decisions in households and asked to deal with Dad directly.

Primarily due to this and multiple other behavioural issues from their end we decided to end the engagement.

Post which they became verbally violent and threatened to file a legal case.

We got a call from our local PS that a complaint has been filed and asked us to visit.

I need legal advice and a lawyer to accompany my sister to the PS today as both my parents & I are temporarily out of the country.

Also no financial agreements, arrangements etc were ever discussed and set, there are no obligations from either side.

I(19M) from Mumbai is applying for a passport nd I'm the first one in my family to do so. I have every document and proof of myself nd even my parents does except their birth certificate. Police is saying that parents birth certificate is mandatory and without that I can't get the passport.

I tried convincing them but they said they will upload it from their side but it may get stuck later on nd they can't do anything then. My dad is now trying to make his birth certificate but thats complicated nd time consuming as well.

What can I do now ? Any one who has been through this kindly help me

Hi everyone,

I need some urgent advice. I filed a consumer complaint against Samsung on a website called consumercomplaininida for a defective product.

Here's what happened step by step:

They charged me ₹1549 as registration fees.

They sent me a legal notice via email and asked me to print it and send it via Speed Post to some address.

Now they're saying Samsung has agreed to a compromise — ₹48,000 refund for the product + ₹78,000 compensation.

But before releasing the money, they're asking me to pay ₹7,200 as "drafting charges".

They're also asking for my father's name, nearest post office address, and bank account details.

This whole thing feels very suspicious now. Why would they ask for more money after claiming the settlement is already agreed? It sounds like a classic scam where they keep asking for small-to-medium payments.

Has anyone dealt with consumercomplaininida before? Is this a legitimate consumer forum or just another scam portal?

I’m really confused and don’t want to lose more money. Any advice would be appreciated — especially from people familiar with consumer courts or similar cases in India.

Should I proceed ahead with them or ignore the claim of them that Samsung has agreed for the compromise. Please help me with this I am really confused at this point. I think I have already lost Rs.1549 now I don't want to lose another Rs.7200 as it is a huge amount for me.

Thanks!

I don't know what to do about this. I'm 20, I've tried to move out and run away before to escape this, but they are wealthy and well connected and I've slowly lost most freedoms except whatever can be done online because they do not understand tech. I do not have access to a vehicle anymore and I'm not allowed to leave the house without them tracking me.

I also don't have control over my finances. I have a bank account in my name but it is currently under my father's control, and because my aadhar card has my mother's phone number I cannot access it or try to open another one secretly. They also have all my legal documents hidden so if I try to escape on foot it will be without money or identity proof.

Realistically, what can I do about this? Is there any legal action I can take? Is it considered a crime for parents to have full control over their adult children's bank account or to keep them at home against their will?

I and and my mother had settled an OD account of 24 lakh with canara bank in October 2025. The amount was 450000 . Canara bank gave me a letter saying that the loan stands settled will issue noc after internal formalities. It has been around 9 month I still have not got any NOC and it still shows active in my mother cibil . Whenever I try to call them they say that they are waiting for the funds from headquarter profit to close the account . They are not giving me a certain timeline , what should I do ? Pls help

An ICICI Bank employee allegedly misused his official access to obtain my banking information and then harassed me and my wife through calls, emails, and messages. ICICI later admitted there was a lapse, conducted an internal investigation, and claimed "necessary action" was taken, but refused to disclose what action.

I approached the RBI Ombudsman. The complaint was closed after the bank offered me ₹25,000 as compensation. I had explicitly refused the compensation and asked the bank not to credit it, but it deposited the money anyway.

The Ombudsman advised me to approach law enforcement if I wanted further investigation. My lawyer asked me to obtain the dates and number of times the employee accessed my banking information, so I raised a service request with ICICI. I also asked whether I am free to discuss this matter publicly or with journalists. More than three months passed without any substantive response, despite repeated follow-ups and escalation to senior management.

I complained to the RBI Ombudsman again about ICICI's complete non-response, but that also led nowhere. ICICI eventually gave a generic reply that answered none of my questions.

What are my legal options now?

There is a certain person who will be joining the Civil services soon and I was reached out by this person clearly in an intimidation attempt to give out a small sum of money to their family member living in the same country as I. Clearly a misuse of power.

It is very confusing why someone is going so far for such a small sum and trying to get that out of me clearly illegally. As I understand it there was a ledger(app) between me and this person where on the app it shows I owed him X amount but I paid in person and never bothered to change it. Now my denial to paying it again is what has led to this. This person is pushing it far and my guess is he hopes that I will give in to pressure, just based off of his ledger app that I can’t access anymore.

Right now I’ve reported both contacts which have tried to contact me. Just to stop them from contacting me again because clearly this is ridiculous. I’ve also mailed the DoPT committee (UPSC) about this incoming civil servant, reporting his intimidation attempt.

The fact that this person has pushed this so far in an attempt to extort what would be a small sum of money from me is already insane and makes me wonder with his civil servant connection what other trouble could he bring me back in India?

My understanding is that we clearly dislike each other and I basically don’t even interact with this person anymore and as weird as it is, that might have been the motivation behind this, without elaborating further.

As far as I can tell, legally I don’t see how they can do anything at all but I’m just trying to cover my bases. One day you are living peacefully and another day this happens.

18M this side. Joining college this year. There are two unis in which I have applied - Manipal and BITS. For Manipal, they follow aicte guidelines, according to which the last date of refund of full tuition fees is 20th July. BITS fourth iteration is on 22nd july. Suppose i get a seat at BITS on 22nd, I'll forfeit my tuition fees (6L) and will get back my hostel fees (2L) at manipal. However, what I've read in aicte, if my seat is filled by another candidate, the University is bound to return my money. And there is a possibility of another round of admissions at manipal after 20th july, and my seat is the most sought after (main campus cse), it is almost certain to be filled.

Now the main problem, it's a private uni, they have control with the admin panel, they can simply say that my seat was left vacant and refuse my money. Nobody wants to mess with their dirty politics.

And my plan has a lot of ifs - if I get in BITS and 22nd and if there is another round at manipal. Too risky?

What do I do?

Title: Kerala - Buyer wants possession and to develop my land before paying full amount. What are the legal risks?

Hi everyone,

I'm selling my ancestral property in Kerala (23 cents).

Transaction details:

• Agreed sale price: ₹1.11 lakh per cent (total approximately ₹25.53 lakh).
• Buyer will pay ₹5 lakh as advance.
• Balance amount will be paid within 8 months.
• The sale deed will be registered only after I receive the full consideration.

I have already provided copies of the title documents (pattayam, title deed, possession certificate, EC, tax receipts, etc.). The buyer has also requested a Relationship Certificate because the property is ancestral and he says SBI requires it for processing his loan.

The issue is that the buyer wants physical possession immediately after paying the ₹5 lakh advance. He says he wants to:

• clear the land,
• cut trees,
• develop the property into plots,
• and possibly construct structures as part of the development.

He says he cannot market or sell the plots without first developing the land.

I have no objection to him cutting the trees, but I'm concerned about permanent development or construction before the sale deed is executed.

My questions are:

1. If I give possession under a registered or unregistered Agreement for Sale, but the buyer has paid only ₹5 lakh, what legal risks do I face?
2. If the buyer constructs a house, office, compound wall, roads, or other permanent structures before paying the balance, what happens if he later defaults?
3. Since the property is still legally in my name until registration, can I legally stop construction if it begins?
4. If the buyer defaults after developing the land, what remedies would I realistically have? Would I need to file a civil suit to recover possession?
5. Can the buyer create third-party rights or book/sell plots before the property is registered in his name?
6. The buyer says he is obtaining an SBI loan. Can SBI create any charge or mortgage over my property before the sale deed is registered, or is that possible only after ownership transfers?
7. What clauses should I insist on including in the Agreement for Sale to protect myself if I decide to hand over possession?

I'm willing to sell the property and have no intention of backing out. My concern is only about protecting myself if the buyer gets possession before paying the full sale consideration.

I would especially appreciate responses from advocates or anyone with experience in similar property transactions in Kerala.

My friend (24M) and his girlfriend (23F) went to Sagar Nagar Beach around 11:45 PM, and it was about to become 12:00 AM. They were just sitting and talking when a police officer approached them and started speaking rudely.
The officer took my friend’s phone and kept it.
He then asked the girl to unlock her phone. She initially refused, but a woman police officer was called, and she felt forced to unlock it. The officers then accessed her phone and noted down her father’s phone number.
After that, they told my friend to come to Arilova Police Station tomorrow morning with his parents/family members.
Both of them are consenting adults, and this incident has left the girl extremely scared and traumatized. We are trying to understand whether the police acted within their legal powers.
How should we proceed? Is it advisable to go to the police station with a lawyer? If anyone here is a lawyer, has handled similar situations, or knows a lawyer in Visakhapatnam who can accompany us, please let me know.
We are not trying to create unnecessary trouble, but if the officers acted beyond their legal authority, we don’t want to let it go. We just want to know our rights and the proper legal course of action.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.