(321) N.SUBRAMANYA SARMA Vs. E.N.NARAYANA SARMA AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Hindu Succession Act, 1956 — Section 4 — Hindu Law and Customary Law — Ascetic life (Sanyasa) — Civil Death — The concept of "civil death" resulting from a Hindu adopting an ascetic life (Sanyasa) and renouncing worldly affairs, as recognized under Mitakshara law, is not abrogated or overridden by Section 4 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 or the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. India Law Library Docid # 2437155
(322) SUJATHA KRISHNAN AND OTHERS Vs. RADHA MOHANDAS AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — Section 32(5) — Admissibility of statement of deceased person concerning relationship — Exception to Hearsay Rule — Verbal statement made by deceased father (Krishnan) confirming paternity of child (Plaintiff No. 2) conceived before marriage, when admitted by a person who heard it (PW1, father of Plaintiff No. 1), is admissible and relevant under Section 32(5) — Essential conditions: statement relates to existence of relationship by blood, maker had special India Law Library Docid # 2437156
(323) ANUSHREE SRIVASTAVA AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHERS[PATNA HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of Criminal Proceedings / Cognizance Order — Matrimonial Dispute — Allegations of intimidation, changing medicines, theft of valuable items, and secretly video recording the mother-in-law while bathing (under IPC Sections 354C, 504, 506/34) — Counterblast Theory — Where the nature of allegations (videographing during bath, theft, and abuse) constitutes a serious prima facie case, subsequent filing of India Law Library Docid # 2437157
(324) RAJ KUMAR GUPTA Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHERS[PATNA HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 — Coverage and Continuous Service — Employer's Defenses — Finding that the employer's establishment was covered under the Act based on the number of employees (over 10) mentioned in official records — Finding that the employee rendered continuous service for over five years, satisfying the condition under Section 4, despite the employer's denial and lack of proper India Law Library Docid # 2437158
(325) KOUSIK PAL Vs. B.M. BIRLA HEART RESEARCH CENTRE AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Act, 2017 — Sections 2(c), 2(v), 29, 33, 36, 38(1)(iii), 38(1)(x) — Scope and Jurisdiction of West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (Commission) — Power to adjudicate deficiency in patient care service and award compensation — Commission's jurisdiction extends to monitoring qualifications of service pro India Law Library Docid # 2437355
(326) RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT AND ANOTHER Vs. RAJAT YADAV AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 19-12-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Articles 14 and 16 — Equality in Public Employment — Reservation — Migration of Meritorious Reserved Category Candidates — A candidate belonging to a reserved category (SC/ST/OBC), who secures marks higher than the cut-off marks prescribed for the General/Open category, must be treated as a General/Open category candidate based purely on merit at every stage of the selection process India Law Library Docid # 2437356
(327) SMT. SANNI BAI AND OTHERS Vs. VIPLOV RAI AND OTHERS[CHHATTISGARH HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 (Claim Petition) — Nature of death — Distinguishing Motor Accident from Murder — Claim petition dismissed by Tribunal holding deceased's death was a murder, not a motor accident — High Court found the non-accidental finding erroneous based on the acquittal of accused in the criminal trial (Sessions Trial No. 125/2010), testimony of independent eye-witness (A.W.-2) corroborated by medical evidence (post-mortem report stating cause of death as India Law Library Docid # 2437419
(328) LAXMAN PRASAD Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH AND OTHERS[CHHATTISGARH HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959 — Section 230 — Appointment of Kotwar — Eligibility criteria — Residence — Residence within the concerned village is a mandatory and foundational requirement (jurisdictional fact) for appointment as a Kotwar under the Rules framed under Section 230 — Failure to satisfy this mandatory criterion constitutes a statutory disqualification that goes to the root of eligibility and cannot be India Law Library Docid # 2437420
(329) DUDHU GRAM SEVA SHAKARI SAMITI LTD. Vs. THE UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 300A, 226 — Judicial Review — Economic Policy — Demonetisation — Challenge to RBI Circulars dated November 14 and 17, 2016, prohibiting District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs)/Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) from accepting deposits of Specified Bank Notes (SBNs) — Scope of judicial review in economic matters is India Law Library Docid # 2437718
(330) RAJASTHAN STATE ROAD DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION, CORPORTATION LTD Vs. M/S PRAMAN CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD.[RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Limitation Act, 1963 — Articles 18, 55, and 113 — Suit for recovery of money and breach of contract following contract rescission — Accrual of Cause of Action — Contract for construction rescinded by Corporation on 23.09.2010; final measurement conducted on 06.10.2010 — Cause of action for initiating legal proceedings stood crystallized, at the latest, on the date of final measurement (06.10.2010) — The India Law Library Docid # 2437719
(331) BHAURIKBHAI UTTAMBHAI GHIWALA AND OTHERS Vs. KOKILABEN W/O NADUBHAI @ NANDUBHAI HARIBHAI SURATI AND ANOTHER[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 (Rent Act) — Section 29(2) — Civil Revision Application — Scope of Revisional Jurisdiction — The revisional power under Section 29(2) is limited to correcting errors of law that go to the root of the decision; it does not authorize the High Court to re-hear the matter or reappreciate evidence, even if a different view of the evidence is possible — The High India Law Library Docid # 2437750
(332) RAVAL BHANUBEN BABUBHAI AND OTHERS Vs. RASHMIKABEN DEEPAKBHAI DOSHI AND ANOTHER[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 7 Rule 11 — Rejection of Plaint — Scope of Jurisdiction — When considering an application for rejection of plaint under Order 7 Rule 11(d) (suit barred by law), the court must confine itself strictly to the averments made in the plaint and nothing else, without undertaking an inquiry into disputed facts, veracity of documents, or considering the defense — The suit must be India Law Library Docid # 2437751
(333) SHRI ASHWINBHAI MANUBHAI PATEL AND OTHERS Vs. HEIRS OF CHUNIBHAI VERIBHAI PATEL AND HEIRS OF LATE PRAVINBHAI CHUNIBHAI PATEL AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948) — Sections 85 and 85A — Bar of Civil Court Jurisdiction — Suits involving tenancy issues — Mandate to stay suit — Section 85 expressly bars the Civil Court from settling, deciding, or dealing with any question required to be determined by the Mamlatdar or Tribunal, including the question of whether a person is or was in the past a tenant — Section 85A obligates the Civil Court to stay a suit and India Law Library Docid # 2437752
(334) STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. PRAMODBHAI MANILAL PATEL AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of Appellate Court’s Power — The appellate court in an appeal against acquittal should not substitute its own view by reversing the acquittal into conviction, even if an alternate view is possible, unless the trial court’s findings are perverse, contrary to the material on record, palpably wrong, manifestly erroneous, or demonstrably unsustainable India Law Library Docid # 2437753
(335) LAND ACQUISITION AND REHABILITATION OFFICER AND ANOTHER Vs. PATEL MEGHAJI PABAJI AND OTHERS[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — Sections 4, 6, 11, 28 — Determination of Compensation — Uniformity in Valuation — Land acquired for "Sujalam Safalam" Canal — Applicability of Precedent — Where appeals and cross objections arise from the acquisition of land in the same village (Ghela) or an adjacent village (Lakhani) for the same public purpose—and an earlier coordinate bench judgment determined the compensation for the adjacent village based on the Valuation Committee Report and India Law Library Docid # 2437754
(336) SAIYED SABBIRALI AKBARMIYA Vs. BANUBIBI AKBARMIYA SAIYED[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 37 (Summary Suits) — Leave to Defend — Effect of unconditional leave to defend — Once a court grants unconditional leave to defend, the summary suit is converted into a long cause suit, and the Civil Court must proceed further to decide the matter on merits by allowing parties to place their evidence on record, thereby crossing the threshold of proceedings under Order 37 of the CPC — India Law Library Docid # 2437755
(337) KAILASH CHAND SAINI AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN[RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT (JAIPUR BENCH)] 19-12-2025 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — Sections 7, 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) — Essential Ingredients — Proof of Offence — For conviction under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d), the prosecution must prove three essential ingredients beyond reasonable doubt: (1) demand of illegal gratification by the public servant, (2) acceptance or recovery thereof, and (3) pendency of work related to the bribe. India Law Library Docid # 2437779
(338) JAI RAO AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN AND OTHERS[RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT (JAIPUR BENCH)] 19-12-2025 Writ Petition — Maintainability — Locus Standi and Exhaustion of Alternative Remedy — Petitioners (a handful of students) sought directions for conducting annual Student Union Elections based on the Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations — Held, the petitions lacked locus standi because a minuscule number of students without authorization cannot represent the student community at large (approximately India Law Library Docid # 2437780
(339) PYAR SINGH Vs. MEENA KUMARI[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — Section 138, 139 — Dishonour of cheque — Presumption of legally enforceable debt (Section 139) — Financial capacity of Complainant — While the presumption under Section 139 arises upon admission of signature, it is rebuttable; the accused can rebut it by raising a probable defence through cross-examination or independent evidence, including questioning the complainant's financial capacity to advance the loan. India Law Library Docid # 2438001
(340) ARUMUGAM (AUCTION PURCHASER) Vs. PAZHANIAPPAN CHETTIAR AND OTHERS[MADRAS HIGH COURT] 19-12-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 47 (Questions to be determined by the Court executing decree) and Order XXI Rule 90 (Application to set aside sale on ground of irregularity or fraud) — Execution Sale — Maintainability of Application — Challenge to auction sale on grounds of pre-sale illegalities (namely, failure to serve mandatory notices under Order XXI Rules 54 and 66, and non-compliance with Order XXI Rule 64) and fraud in proclamation (fabricated signatures by Court Bailiff) — India Law Library Docid # 2438108