(81) RIDMAL AND OTHER Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN[RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT] 16-05-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 313 — Examination of accused — Purpose — To give the accused an opportunity to explain incriminating circumstances appearing against them in the evidence. India Law Library Docid # 2425958
(82) PAKU KARMAKAR Vs. STATE OF ASSAM[GAUHATI HIGH COURT] 16-05-2025 Penal Code, 1860 — Section 307 — Attempt to murder — Proof — Essential ingredients are act with intention or knowledge, under circumstances where if death is caused, it amounts to murder — Assault by husband on wife with a ‘dao’ (machete) — Injuries inflicted on vital parts including head and neck, resulting in grievous injuries and severed thumb — Victim’s testimony implicating husband, corroborated by medical evidence — Abscondance of accused and lack of plausible explanation India Law Library Docid # 2426140
(83) RUPCHAN BHUYAN Vs. HAMIDA KHATUN AND OTHERS[GAUHATI HIGH COURT] 16-05-2025 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — Section 125 — Order for maintenance of wife, children or parents — Petitioner (husband) earning salary from CRPF — Respondent (wife) and minor daughters unable to maintain themselves — Husband contesting claim but failing to adduce evidence to support claims of expenses or lack of income — Wife proving cruelty, inability to maintain herself and daughters, and husband’s income through uncontroverted testimony — Trial Court’s order directing maintenance of Rs India Law Library Docid # 2426141
(84) UNION OF INDIA Vs. M/S G.P. SALES CORPORATION[GAUHATI HIGH COURT] 16-05-2025 Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987 — Section 23(2) — Appeal — Consent Decree — Tribunal’s finding indicating agreement on price per bag of damaged cement, not complete settlement of dispute — Not construed as a consent decree barring appeal under Section 23(2) India Law Library Docid # 2426142
(85) NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. Vs. SUBODH KANTI MAJUMDAR AND OTHERS[GAUHATI HIGH COURT] 16-05-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Compensation — Assessment — Deceased bachelor — Deduction for personal expenses — Appeal against Tribunal’s award deducting one-third from deceased’s income — Deceased was bachelor (30 years 11 months) — Apex Court judgments mandates 50% deduction for personal expenses in case of bachelor where parents are claimants — Multiplier 17 appropriate for deceased aged 30 years 11 months — Recalculation of compensation by applying 50% deduction results in reduced awarded amoun India Law Library Docid # 2426143
(86) V.S.R. MOHAN RAO Vs. K.S.R. MURTHY AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982 — Section 2(d), 2(e), 2(cc), Section 10 — “Land Grabber” and “Land Grabbing” — Meaning and Scope — Act’s purpose to curb land grabbing by unscrupulous persons — Defines “land belonging to a private person” inclusively — Defines “land grabber” and “land grabbing” broadly to include various unauthorized activities for illegal possession — Ingredients of “land grabbing” include factum of taking possession unlawfully and mens rea/intention to ille India Law Library Docid # 2425731
(87) EBY CHERIAN Vs. JEREMA JOHN[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Child Custody — Interim Arrangements — Overseas Parent — Rotating Employment — Family Court requiring fresh application for overnight custody each time appellant visited India — High Court upholding this arrangement — Held, unduly burdensome and impractical — Child Welfare paramount consideration — Meaningful contact with both parents essential — Where non-custodial parent demonstrates consistency, pays maintenance, and arranges professional life around child’s calendar, procedure should not imp India Law Library Docid # 2425732
(88) HANSURA BAI AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Criminal Procedure — Investigation — Transfer of investigation — Credibility of investigating agency — Impeachable conduct — Power to transfer sparingly used for justice and public trust — Allegation of investigating agency being privy to dispute raises doubts on credibility, justifying transfer — Local police accused of custodial death of victim; investigating the act themselves — This situation invokes the maxim ‘nemo judex in causa sua’ (no one should be a judge in his own cause) — Investigat India Law Library Docid # 2425733
(89) VIRENDER PAL @ VIPIN Vs. STATE OF HARYANA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Penal Code, 1860 — Section 304-B — Dowry Death — Proof — Essential ingredients are unnatural death of a woman within seven years of marriage, subjected to cruelty or harassment for dowry, and such cruelty or harassment was soon before death — Evidence of dowry demands, ill-treatment, and circumstantial evidence from parental relatives supporting conviction — Demand for money to secure employment, even if not traditional dowry, considered related to marriage terms and within the ambit of Section India Law Library Docid # 2425734
(90) IN RE: CONSTRUCTION OF MULTI STOREYED BUILDINGS IN FOREST LAND MAHARASHTRA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Forest Act, 1878 — Section 34 — Reserved Forest — Notification dated 1st March 1879 declared land in Survey No. 20, Village Kondhwa Budruk, Pune District as Reserved Forest — Subsequent de-reservation of portion in 1934 left 29 Acres 15 Gunthas (11.89 ha), renumbered as Survey No. 21, as Reserved Forest — Forest Department records consistently show this status, despite Revenue Department recording it as “Government Grazing Ground” — Numerous letters by Forest Department India Law Library Docid # 2425717
(91) ISHWAR CHANDA SHARMA Vs. DEVENDRA KUMAR SHARMA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Societies Registration Act — Constitution of society — Dispute regarding validity of elections — Referral to Prescribed Authority under Section 25 — Prescribed Authority’s decision on validity of election. India Law Library Docid # 2425718
(92) M/S. INTERSTATE CONSTRUCTION Vs. NATIONAL PROJECTS CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LTD.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 37 — Appeal against Section 34 order — Setting aside of Arbitral Award concerning interest calculation — Scope of challenge — Division Bench of High Court restricted challenge to interest issue, specifically method of calculating interest including interest on interest rather than rate or entitlement to pre-reference interest — Held, challenge appropriately limited to the interest aspects of the India Law Library Docid # 2425719
(93) M/S GAYATRI PROJECT LIMITED Vs. MADHYA PRADESH ROAD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 34 — Setting aside of arbitral award — Madhya Pradesh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 — Applicability to works contracts involving State Government or public undertaking — Relationship between Central Act and State Act — MP Act, 1983 is a special Act providing for compulsory arbitration in specific works contracts, operating irrespective of an arbitration clause — Features of MP Act, 1983 Tribunal distinct from Arbitration Act, 1996 Tribunal India Law Library Docid # 2425720
(94) POWER GRID CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED Vs. MADHYA PRADESH POWER TRANSMISSION COMPANY LIMITED AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Electricity Act, 2003 — Section 79 — Functions of Central Commission — Regulatory and adjudicatory powers — Central Commission (CERC) is vested with both decision-making and regulation-making authority under Sections 79 and 178 respectively, distinct functions; former administrative/adjudicatory, latter legislative; but relationship needs harmonious reading; CERC’s regulatory powers under Section 79(1) are of ad hoc nature for specific parties and situations to fill regulatory gaps, not solely a India Law Library Docid # 2425721
(95) M/S DHANBAD FUELS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Commercial Courts Act, 2015 — Section 12A — Pre-institution mediation and settlement — Mandatory nature — Suit not contemplating urgent interim relief shall not be instituted without exhausting pre-institution mediation — Legislative intent to promote alternative dispute resolution and decongest courts — Mandatory nature of Section 12A established. India Law Library Docid # 2425722
(96) IN RE : ALARMING RISE IN THE NUMBER OF REPORTED CHILD RAPE INCIDENTS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Suo Moto Proceeding — Child Rape Incidents — Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) — Alarming rise in child rape incidents prompting suo moto cognizance by Supreme Court — Directions issued regarding timely completion of investigations and trials under POCSO Act — Emphasis on setting up exclusive/designated special Courts for POCSO cases in districts with high pendency, funded by Central Government, including support staff and infrastructure India Law Library Docid # 2425723
(97) NATIONAL SPOT EXCHANGE LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 142 — Powers of Supreme Court — Scope and ambit — Plenary and curative nature — Not limited by statutes but exists to do complete justice — Wide amplitude but tempered by restraint — Cannot ignore substantive statutory rights or supplant substantive law — Should not be exercised when it directly conflicts with express statutory provisions dealing with the subject, unless balancing equities or ironing out creases in a cause or matter arising out of such statu India Law Library Docid # 2425724
(98) SOUTH DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI Vs. SMS LIMITED[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Concession Agreement — Dispute Resolution Clause — Whether constitutes an arbitration agreement — Interpretation of — Essential ingredients of valid arbitration agreement are clear intent to arbitrate, binding adjudicatory process culminating in final and binding decision, and compliance with arbitral norms including impartiality, party autonomy in arbitrator appointment, and adversarial process — Article 20 titled “Mediation by Commissioner” refers disputes to MCD Commissioner or his appointee India Law Library Docid # 2425725
(99) NAGARAJAN AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Criminal Law — Sentencing — Probation — Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (PoFA Act) — Section 20AA — Exclusion of Probation Act, 1958 and Section 360 Cr. PC — Applicability of Section 20AA to offences committed under the PoFA Act between 1976 (introduction of Section 20AA) and 2006 (repeal by Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006) — Express exclusion by Section 20AA is clear and unambiguous, admitting no absurdity — Courts must be subservient to legislative wisdom — Benefit of probation u India Law Library Docid # 2425726
(100) MOHIT KUMAR Vs. VERSUS STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-05-2025 Recruitment Process — Terms of Advertisement — Non-compliance — Consequence — Where an advertisement for public employment stipulates specific requirements, such as the format of a caste certificate for claiming reservation benefits, non-compliance with such terms by an aspirant is likely to result in adverse consequences, including the rejection of the claimed status by the selecting body/appointing authority. India Law Library Docid # 2425727