(961) STATE OF H.P. Vs. SURESH KUMAR AND ANOTHER[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 08-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 378 — Criminal Appeal — Against judgment of acquittal — Scope of interference — Presumption of innocence — In appeal against acquittal, the appellate court should be slow in interfering with the judgment, especially when the view taken by the First Appellate Court is a plausible view based on the evidence — After acquittal, presumption of innocence at the commencement of trial doubles — High Court in appeal against acquittal will not ordinarily interfere u India Law Library Docid # 2425945
(962) AMITY CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETY LTD. THROUGH ITS SECRETARY AND CHAIRMAN AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 08-04-2025 Gujarat Ownership of Flats Act, 1973 — Section 41A — Redevelopment of dilapidated buildings — Essential conditions for attracting Section 41A are building age over twenty-five years from development permission, concerned authority declaration of ruinous condition, and consent of not less than 75% of members — Society decided to redevelop due to dilapidated condition evidenced by municipal notice and photographs, meeting age criteria — India Law Library Docid # 2426033
(963) ARVINDKUMAR GANESHMAL DUGAR AND ANOTHER Vs. KAMALADEVI AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 08-04-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — Section 151 — Order 1, Rule 10 — Order 12, Rules 4 & 5 — Abatement — Substitution of Legal Representatives — Suit challenging Gift Deed filed by deceased — Application by legal heirs to be brought on record whether mandatory or discretionary for Plaintiffs — Trial Court rejecting application of Legal Heirs citing Order 1 Rule 10 instead India Law Library Docid # 2426034
(964) M/s. CELESTIUM FINANCIAL Vs. A. GNANASEKARAN ETC.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973— Sections 372 Proviso and 2(wa) — Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — Section 138 — Cheque Dishonour — Appeal against Acquittal — Right of Victim — Definition of “Victim” under Section 2(wa) is broad, inclusive, and encompasses a person suffering any loss or injury (including financial) due to the accused’s act or omission — In a Section 138 NI Act case, the complainant (payee or holder in due course) is a “victim” due to economic loss from dishonoured cheque — Provi India Law Library Docid # 2426440
(965) PHANI RAGHAVALU MEDURI Vs. LAKSHMI MEDURI[TELANGANA HIGH COURT] 08-04-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — Order 1 Rule 10(2) — Impleadment of parties — Necessary and Proper Parties — Divorce proceedings — Ground of adultery — Petitioner-husband seeking divorce on grounds of cruelty and adultery with a named individual — Application to implead alleged adulterer as respondent — Respondent-wife denying allegations — Evidence of alleged adulterer’s wife suggests continuous affair and previous divorce based on adultery with respondent — Finding of adultery significantly impac India Law Library Docid # 2426524
(966) MAYANK GOYAL Vs. BANK OF BARODA AND ANOTHER[NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION] 08-04-2025 Consumer Protection Act, 1986 — Section 21(a)(i) — Deficiency in Service — Insurance — Repudiation of life insurance claim — Unsubstantiated allegations of non-disclosure — Burden of proof on insurer — Where insurer conducted comprehensive pre-policy medical examination and found no adverse health conditions, subsequent repudiation of claim citing pre-existing diseases is arbitrary and constitutes deficiency in service — Absence of credible medical evidence, hospitalization records, or prescript India Law Library Docid # 2427247
(967) SAMBHUNATH MISHRA Vs. DR. DEBABRATA PANIGRAHI AND ANOTHER[NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION] 08-04-2025 Consumer Protection Act, 1986 — Section 19 — Medical Negligence — Standard of Care — Bolam Test — A medical professional is not deemed negligent merely because a surgical procedure did not achieve the desired outcome or if there were complications inherently known to the procedure — Liability for medical negligence requires proof that the doctor’s conduct fell below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner in their field — This involves establishing a duty of care, a breach of that du India Law Library Docid # 2427248
(968) HUTU ANSARI @ FUTU ANSAR AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF JHARKHAND[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 — Section 3(1)(r) & (s) — “Public View” Requirement — For an offence under Section 3(1)(r) (intentional insult/intimidation) or Section 3(1)(s) (abuse by caste name) of the SC/ST Act, the act must occur “within public view” — Where a key prosecution witness (PW-1, complainant’s husband) explicitly states in evidence that only immediate family members were present during the alleged incident and no other India Law Library Docid # 2424332
(969) SOHOM SHIPPING PVT. LTD. Vs. M/S. THE NEW INDIA ASSURANCE CO. LTD. AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Insurance Law — Marine Insurance — Special Condition — “Voyage should commence & complete before monsoon sets in” — Implied Waiver / Non-Materiality — Where a marine insurance policy covers a voyage (Mumbai to Kolkata) for a specific period (16.05.2013 to 15.06.2013) which overlaps with the officially defined monsoon/foul weather season (commencing 1st May East Coast / 1st June West Coast), a special condition requiring the voyage to both commence and complete before the monsoon sets in is deeme India Law Library Docid # 2424333
(970) UNITED INDIA INSURANCE CO. LTD. AND ANOTHER Vs. M/S. PARK LEATHER INDUSTRIES LTD.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Consumer Protection Act, 1986 — Pleading and Evidence — Rejoinder — A respondent/complainant cannot introduce new factual evidence, such as a surveyor's report assessing quantum of loss, for the first time in a rejoinder and expect the opposing party (appellant/opposite party) to have denied it in their earlier written statement/reply — The adjudicatory body cannot base its findings on the premise that the opposing party failed to deny evidence that was not before it when its pleadings India Law Library Docid # 2424334
(971) SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA Vs. RAM KISHORI GUPTA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Res Judicata / Constructive Res Judicata — Applicability to SEBI Proceedings — The principles of res judicata and constructive res judicata, based on public policy ensuring finality, apply to proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and its Whole-Time Members (WTMs) — SEBI cannot pass multiple final orders imposing penalties on the same cause of action against the same parties based on the same show-cause notice, particularly after an earlier order (imposing debarment India Law Library Docid # 2424335
(972) KUNCHAM LAVANYA AND OTHERS Vs. BAJAJ ALLIANZ GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Claim Petitions — Standard of Proof — In motor accident claim proceedings, the standard of proof required to establish the involvement of a vehicle and negligence is based on the preponderance of probabilities, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt as required in criminal cases. India Law Library Docid # 2424336
(973) K. GOPI Vs. THE SUB-REGISTRAR AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Registration Act, 1908 — Tamil Nadu Registration Rules — Rule 55A(i) — Validity — Ultra Vires — Rule 55A(i) of the Tamil Nadu Registration Rules, which empowers a registering officer to refuse registration of a document relating to immovable property unless the presentant produces the previous original title deed of the executant or other specified proof of the executant's right/title, is declared ultra vires the Registration Act, 1908 — The Rule imposes a condition for registration India Law Library Docid # 2424327
(974) BISWAJYOTI CHATTERJEE Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Penal Code, 1860 — Section 376 — Rape — Consent — Misconception of Fact — Promise to Marry — Consent to sexual intercourse given by a mature individual, fully aware from the outset that the promisor is already married (though separated), cannot be deemed to be vitiated by a “misconception of fact” under Section 375 IPC merely based on a promise to marry after obtaining a divorce — Such knowledge precludes the necessary “misconception” and indicates a reasoned decision to engage in the relationsh India Law Library Docid # 2424328
(975) JASPAL SINGH KAURAL Vs. THE STATE OF NCT OF DELHI AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Penal Code, 1860 — Section 376 — Rape — Consent — False Promise of Marriage — For consent to sexual intercourse to be vitiated by a “misconception of fact” arising from a promise to marry, the promise must be false ab initio, made without any intention of being adhered to, and must have a direct nexus to the complainant’s decision Where the complainant was aware that the accused was married at the inception of the relationship, and the relationship was prolonged (spanning several years, even af India Law Library Docid # 2424329
(976) UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR Vs. BRIJ BHUSHAN[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 482 — Quashing of FIR — Insufficient Allegations — An FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and S. 120-B IPC concerning a decades-old land transaction was rightly quashed under S. 482 Cr.P.C. against the Managing Director of the beneficiary cooperative society where the allegations amounted merely to a “bland allegation of connivance” with state officials, without specifying his role in the alleged criminal conspiracy or corruption, India Law Library Docid # 2424330
(977) JAGDISH GOND Vs. THE STATE OF CHHATTISGARH AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 498A & 306 — Cruelty & Abetment of Suicide — Allegations supporting charges under Sections 498A and 306 IPC must be specific and substantiated — Vague complaints about the deceased being lazy or sick, without evidence of physical violence or persistent harassment meeting the threshold of cruelty likely to drive suicide, are insufficient for conviction under these sections. India Law Library Docid # 2424331
(978) RAJIV GHOSH Vs. SATYA NARYAN JAISWAL[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-04-2025 West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997 — Section 2(g) — Inherited Tenancy — Limitation — The definition of "tenant" under S. 2(g) extends tenancy rights to specified heirs (including son/daughter) of a deceased tenant for a maximum period of five years from the date of the tenant's death (or the Act's commencement, whichever is later), provided they were ordinarily living with and dependent on the tenant and meet other conditions — This five-year limitation does not apply to the dependent spouse India Law Library Docid # 2424446
(979) A.R. PETER Vs. SARADA NARAYANAN[KERALA HIGH COURT] 07-04-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — Order 2 Rule 2 — Suit to Include Whole Claim — Rule mandates including the entire claim arising from a single cause of action in one suit — Omission to sue for one of several reliefs available on the same cause of action, without court leave, bars a subsequent suit for the omitted relief India Law Library Docid # 2424642
(980) BABU M Vs. STATE OF KERALA AND ANOTHER[KERALA HIGH COURT] 07-04-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 22(1) — Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) — Section 47(1) — Right to be Informed of Grounds of Arrest — Every person arrested must be informed of the full particulars or grounds for arrest “as soon as may be” — This is a mandatory constitutional and statutory requirement, violation of which infringes fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 22(1) India Law Library Docid # 2424643