(321) THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Vs. RAKESH SINGH JADON AND OTHERS[MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT (GWALIOR BENCH)] 13-10-2026 Limitation Act, 1963 — Section 5 — Condonation of delay — Delay by State — Administrative and procedural formalities — State sought condonation of 213 days' delay in filing writ appeal, citing administrative movements between officials, seeking legal opinions, and obtaining sanction — Held, mere movement of files across governmental departments and obtaining legal opinion cannot ipso facto constitute "sufficient cause" — No satisfactory explanation was furnished as to why the appeal was not proc India Law Library Docid # 2456047
(322) RAMNARESH Vs. SURESH KUMAR[MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT (GWALIOR BENCH)] 13-10-2026 Administrative Law — Quasi-judicial authority — Requirement of speaking and reasoned order — Recording of reasons is an indispensable component of natural justice and fair decision-making — Collector set aside a decades-old partition order without addressing material objections regarding delay, maintainability, jurisdiction, and valid partition — Merely stating a conclusion without demonstrating application of mind or providing cogent reasons vitiates the order — Reasons are the heart-beats of c India Law Library Docid # 2456055
(323) DR. PREETI NIGOTIA Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS[MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT (GWALIOR BENCH)] 13-10-2026 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 226 — Service Law — Assignment of Current Duty Charge — Head of Department — Scope of Judicial Review — Petitioner challenged an administrative order entrusting the charge of Head of Department to Respondent No. 7 — Held, entrustment of current duty charge is an administrative arrangement governed by prescribed rotational instructions — An employee possesses no vested, statutory, or inherent right to claim or stick to a current duty charge — Courts will not India Law Library Docid # 2456059
(324) VEENA DEVI Vs. STATE OF H.P. AND ORS.[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 — Section 33 — Reservation of posts — Appointment on contract basis — Validity — Petitioner suffering from 100% blindness was appointed as Junior Office Assistant (IT) on contract basis under the quota reserved for persons with benchmark disabilities — Held, the object and purpose of reservation under Section 33 cannot be achieved by making temporary, ad-hoc, or contractual appointments — Such India Law Library Docid # 2456120
(325) RENU Vs. VINOD KUMAR SHARMA[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 24 — Matrimonial Disputes — Transfer of Proceedings — Cardinal Principles — Convenience of Wife — While deciding applications for transfer of proceedings in matrimonial disputes, convenience of the wife is the prime consideration and is ordinarily to be preferred over that of the husband — Broad parameters include the balance of convenience, distance between places, financial dependency, custody of minor children, and the interests of justice — Court is India Law Library Docid # 2456121
(326) DHANI RAM Vs. INDRU[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 26 Rule 9 — Appointment of Local Commissioner — Irregularity in demarcation report — Dismissal of suit versus fresh commission — Suit for injunction alleging encroachment — Trial Court discarded Court-appointed Local Commissioner's report for non-compliance with Financial Commissioner's guidelines and dismissed the suit — Held, non-compliance with applicable demarcation guidelines by a Local Commissioner is an irregularity that only warrants discarding th India Law Library Docid # 2456122
(327) PUNEET SOOD Vs. STATE OF H.P AND OTHERS[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Service Law — Seniority — Direct recruits — Date of appointment — Waitlisted candidate — Petitioner joined as Lecturer (Computer Application) on 16.02.1998, whereas Respondent No. 4 was appointed from the waiting list and joined as Lecturer (Computer Engineering) on 26.03.1998 — Seniority of a direct recruit cannot be counted from a date prior to actual appointment or before birth in service — A candidate appointed from a waitlist cannot claim seniority over a person who was regularly appointed India Law Library Docid # 2456123
(328) KRISHAN CHAND Vs. OM PRAKASH AND OTHERS[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 115 and Order 9 Rule 9 — Restoration of suit dismissed in default — Substantial justice vs. Technicalities — Delay in applying for restoration — Suit based on a Will involving valuable property was dismissed in default, and the restoration application filed after a short delay was rejected by courts below for unconvincing explanation — Held, courts exist to advance substantial justice and not to reject claims on mere technicalities — Given the high stak India Law Library Docid # 2456124
(329) PAWAN KUMAR AND ANOTHER Vs. JANAK RAJ[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Sections 96 and 100 — Maintainability of appeal — Person aggrieved — Appeal by successful party — Trial Court dismissed the plaintiff's suit for permanent and mandatory injunction in its entirety — Defendants appealed against the dismissal — First Appellate Court held appeal not maintainable — Held, an appeal lies against a decree and only at the instance of a person aggrieved and dissatisfied with the operative decision — A party in whose favour the suit is di India Law Library Docid # 2456125
(330) DEEPAK JAIN Vs. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 — Section 3 — Offence of money laundering — Accused not named in predicate scheduled offence — Maintainability of prosecution under PMLA — Scope of Section 3 — The Court held that an accused prosecuted under Section 3 of the PMLA need not be named as an accused in the predicate or scheduled offence. If an individual knowingly assists in the concealment, possession, acquisition, layering, or use of proceeds of crime, or projects them as untainted property India Law Library Docid # 2456127
(331) RAVINDER KUMAR GUPTA Vs. STATE OF H.P. & ANOTHER[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of FIR — Compromise — Offence of forgery — Alteration of terms and consideration in an agreement — Petitioner sought quashing of FIR following an amicable settlement with the informant — Held, non-compoundable offences involving forgery and fabrication cannot be quashed under Section 482 merely on the basis of a compromise — Offences of forgery and financial manipulation carry significant societal impact and transcend private disputes India Law Library Docid # 2456128
(332) M/S ADS DHALLI Vs. RAJINDER CHAUHAN & ANR.[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — Section 138 — Legally enforceable debt — Proof of commercial dealings — Complainant firm, operating fruit business under an agreement using another trader's platform and license, alleged sale of apples to accused — Accused disputed transactions citing complainant's lack of independent license — Documentary evidence including ledgers, folios, bahi-khata, bills bearing complainant's insignia, and electronic bank transfers made by accused established financial dea India Law Library Docid # 2456129
(333) STATE OF H.P. Vs. SANJEEV KUMAR[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 378 — Appeal against acquittal — Scope of interference — Presumption of innocence of the accused is reinforced by an order of acquittal — Appellate court has limited jurisdiction to interfere unless the trial court's view is impossible, perverse, wholly unsustainable, or manifestly illegal — When two reasonable views are possible on the evidence, the view favorable to the accused must prevail — Appellate court cannot substitute its own view merely b India Law Library Docid # 2456132
(334) STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. BHAWAN SOOD[HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 — Section 21 — Search and seizure — Non-joining of independent witnesses — Fatal to prosecution — Incident occurred during daylight in busy town areas near a market and SP office where public witnesses were readily available — Investigating Officer made no effort to associate independent witnesses — Two official police witnesses were also withheld from examination without justification — While absence of independent witnesses is not fatal per India Law Library Docid # 2456133
(335) MONU AND ORS Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND[UTTARAKHAND HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 528 — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 115(2), 190, 191(3), 351(2) and 352 — Quashing of criminal proceedings — Dispute between neighbours — Amicable settlement — Allegations of assault with lathis and dandas — Charge-sheet submitted and cognizance taken — Parties subsequently resolved their dispute and filed joint compounding application — Injured persons sustained no serious injuries and expressed no desire to prosecute — Held, dispute India Law Library Docid # 2456158
(336) RAJ KUMAR Vs. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK AND OTHERS[UTTARAKHAND HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Punjab National Bank Officer Employees' (Discipline & Appeal) Regulations, 1977 — Regulation 11 — Dismissal based on criminal conviction — Petitioner, a Senior Branch Manager, was convicted under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — Disciplinary Authority dismissed him following show-cause notice — Held, under Regulation 11, the competent authority is empowered to impose penalties, including dismissal, solely on the strength of conviction recorded by a criminal court — As conviction India Law Library Docid # 2456164
(337) UNION TERRITORY OF J&K AND ORS. Vs. GHULAM MOHAMMAD SHEIKH[JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH HIGH COURT AT SRINAGAR] 13-10-2026 Service Law — Higher post pay and responsibilities — Charge of higher post — Workplace exploitation — Respondent was formally ordered to discharge the duties of Sanitary Supervisor from the year 2000 and granted charge allowance with effect from 28.04.2005 — General rule limits pay to the substantive post held, but an exception operates when an employee is formally directed to hold charge of a higher post — Requiring an employee to continuously perform higher-level responsibilities while paying India Law Library Docid # 2456200
(338) PATHURI UMA MAHESHWAR REDDY AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND OTHERS[TELANGANA HIGH COURT] 13-10-2026 Service Law — Recruitment process — Changing rules of the game midway — Permissibility of threshold modification — Amendment to Rule 7 of recruitment rules reserving 30% of Secondary Grade Teacher posts for D.Ed. candidates via G.O.Ms.No.28 dated 29.01.2009 — Petitioners contended impermissible mid-process alteration — Held, the amendment was introduced well before hall tickets were issued or examinations conducted, duly publicized via press notes, newspapers, and Gazette, and the application de India Law Library Docid # 2456211
(339) UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. BABU RAM[JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH HIGH COURT AT JAMMU] 13-10-2026 Military Service — Disability Pension — Presumption of sound health at entry — Rebuttal of presumption — The respondent was enrolled in the Army and re-enrolled in the Defence Security Corps without any recorded disability, but developed a bilateral cataract during service — The Release Medical Board opined the disability was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service without assigning any reasons — Held, if no disability was noted at the time of entry into service, it is presume India Law Library Docid # 2456173
(340) UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. NO. 8016675F EX. PNR CHARAN DASS[JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH HIGH COURT AT JAMMU] 13-10-2026 Pension Regulations for the Army, 2008 — Regulations 44 and 56 — Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961 — Regulations 164 and 167 — Special Pension — Condonation of shortfall in qualifying service — Respondent was discharged as surplus to establishment with 9 years and 289 days of qualifying service, falling short of the mandatory 10-year requirement by 76 days — Regulation 44 empowers competent authority to condone deficiency up to 12 months — None of the statutory exceptions applied — Condonat India Law Library Docid # 2456180