(121) RAMATHAL AND OTHERS Vs. K. RAJAMANI (DEAD) THROUGH LRS AND ANOTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2023 Power of Attorney - Power of Attorney found to be invalid, any further action taken pursuant to it, cannot also be held to be valid. India Law Library Docid # 1603472
(122) KISHAN CHAND JAIN Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2023 Right To Information Act, 2005 - Section 4 - Obligations of Public Authorities - Direction to Central Information Commission and the State Information Commissions shall continuously monitor the implementation of the mandate of Section 4 of the Act as also prescribed by the Department of Personnel and Training in its Guidelines and Memorandums issued from time to time - Power and accountability go hand in hand - While declaring that all citizens shall have the 'right to information' under Section India Law Library Docid # 1603477
(123) KONKAN RAILWAY CORPORATION LIMITED Vs. CHENAB BRIDGE PROJECT UNDERTAKING [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2023 Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 - Sections 34 and 37 - Setting aside of arbitral award - Section 34 jurisdiction will not be exercised merely because an alternative view on facts and interpretation of contract exists - Jurisdiction under Section 34 of the Act is exercised only to see if the Arbitral Tribunal's view is perverse or manifestly arbitrary - Question of reinterpreting the contract on an alternative view does not arise - Scope of interference by a court in an appeal under Section India Law Library Docid # 1603481
(124) CENTRAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH IN AYURVEDIC SCIENCES & ANOTHER Vs. BIKARTAN DAS AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-08-2023 Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 226 - Writ of certiorari - A writ of certiorari is a high prerogative writ and should not be issued on mere asking - For the issue of a writ of certiorari, the party concerned has to make out a definite case for the same and is not a matter of course - To put it pithily, certiorari shall issue to correct errors of jurisdiction, that is to say, absence, excess or failure to exercise and also when in the exercise of undoubted jurisdiction, there has been illeg India Law Library Docid # 1603451
(125) KALUBHAI KHATUBHAI ETC. ETC. Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT & OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-08-2023 Land Acquisition - Vadodara Branch Canal of Narmada Project - Enhancement of compensation - High Court fell in error in reducing the compensation based on compensation awarded in respect of lands comprised in village Nimeta - Lands comprised in village Nimeta having been acquired in pursuance of a section 4 notification dated 18th June, 1981, which was at least 5 years prior to the acquisition by notification dated 26th June, 1986, such prior acquisition and compensation paid to the landowners a India Law Library Docid # 1603452
(126) DHARMIN BAI KASHYAP Vs. BABLI SAHU & OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-08-2023 Chhattisgarh Panchayat Nirvachan Niyam, 1995 - Section 80 - Chhattisgarh Panchayats (Election Petitions, Corrupt Practices and Disqualification for Membership) Rules, 1995 - Rule 6 - Election Petition - Relief for re-counting of votes - Election Petition seeking relief for re-counting of votes only, without seeking any other reliefs i.e., declarations as contemplated in Rule 6, would not be tenable in the eye of law - Election contest is not an action at law or a suit in equity but purely a stat India Law Library Docid # 1603453
(127) H. VASANTHI Vs. A. SANTHA (DEAD) THROUGH LRS. AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-08-2023 Hindu Succession Act, 1956 - Section 29A - Coparcenary rights - Partition and separate possession of one-third in the plaint schedule property - Property is not available partition as of the date of coming into force of Section 29A - There is no prohibition to effect a partition otherwise than through an instrument in writing by duly complying with the requirement of law - Division may also be effected under a settlement or oral understanding - Plaintiff still failed to demonstrate that the plai India Law Library Docid # 1603454
(128) Y.P. LELE Vs. MAHARASHTRA STATE ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY LTD. AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-08-2023 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) - Order 17 Rule 2 - Procedure if parties fail to appear on day fixed - Where the evidence or a substantial portion of the evidence of any party has already been recorded and such party fails to appear on any day to which the hearing of the suit is adjourned, the Court would be at liberty to proceed with the case as if such party were present - Two phrases are important in the explanation "any party" and "such party". "Any party" refers to the party which has led India Law Library Docid # 1603455
(129) PESALA NOOKARAJU Vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-08-2023 This appeal is at the instance of a detenu, preventively detained under Section 3(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Boot-leggers, Dacoits, Drug Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Land Grabbers Act, 1986 (1 of 1986) (for short, ‘the Act 1986’) and is directed against the order passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dated 07.03.2023 in Writ Petition No. 33638 of 2022 filed by the appellant herein by which the Division Bench India Law Library Docid # 1603482
(130) COMMISSIONER OF SERVICE TAX, MUMBAI-II Vs. M/S 3I INFOTECH LTD. [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2023 Demand of Service Tax on the basis of Show Cause Notice - Assessee cannot be subjected to a penalty on the basis of a show cause notice containing a completely erroneous category of service - Elementary principles of natural justice required that the adjudication on the basis of show cause notice should be made only on the basis of classification stated in the show cause notice - Therefore, the demand made on the basis of the first show cause notice was illegal. India Law Library Docid # 1603468
(131) PRADYUMAN BISHT Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-08-2023 Firings at Delhi Courts - It is appalling that court premises in the national capital itself, in the past year or so, have witnessed at least three major incidents of gunfire - Preserving the sanctity of a court as a space where justice is administered and the rule of law upheld being non-negotiable, it is critical that judicial institutions take comprehensive steps to safeguard the well-being of all stakeholders - Such incidents, that too in court premises, are deeply concerning and pose signif India Law Library Docid # 1603446
(132) DEVESH SHARMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-08-2023 Right to Education Act, 2009 - Section 23(1) - Appointment to Post of Primary School Teachers - Decision of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to include B.Ed. as a qualification for teachers in a primary school seems arbitrary, unreasonable and in fact has no nexus with the object sought to be achieved by the Act i.e. Right to Education Act, which is to give to children not only free and compulsory but also 'quality' education - It goes against the letter and spirit of the Fundam India Law Library Docid # 1603447
(133) MANOJ KUMAR SONI AND OTHER Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-08-2023 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) - Sections 411 and 120-B - Acquittal - Criminal conspiracy and dishonestly receiving stolen property - Conviction cannot be justified solely on the basis of illusory knowledge regarding their involvement in the crime - Solely relying on the disclosure statements made by accused and the other co-accused, does not suffice to warrant a presumption under Section 411 of IPC - Sole connecting evidence that the recovery based on disclosure statements of accused, along with those India Law Library Docid # 1603448
(134) SATHYAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-08-2023 Abkari Act, 1077 - Section 8 - Carrying 5 litres of illicit arrack - Conviction based solely on testimony of official witnesses - Delay in investigation - Testimonies of official witnesses can not be discarded simply because independent witnesses were not examined - Mere urging that delay casts a suspicion on the investigation, without any evidence being led in furtherance thereof, cannot be sustained - Inordinate delay has been taken as presumptive proof of prejudice, but in particular cases w India Law Library Docid # 1603449
(135) UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. K. PUSHPAVANAM AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-08-2023 Writ of mandamus - Direction to Government to propose a comprehensive legislation in the field of 'Torts and State Liability' - Power of Constitutional Court - No Constitutional Court can issue a writ of mandamus to a legislature to enact a law on a particular subject in a particular manner - Court may, at the highest, record its opinion or recommendation on the necessity of either amending the existing law or coming out with a new law. India Law Library Docid # 1603450
(136) M/S LARSEN AIR CONDITIONING AND REFRIGRATION COMPANY Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-08-2023 The dispute between the appellant and Union of India (hereafter ‘respondent-state’) arose from a contract entered into pursuant to being awarded the tender. In the course of work, certain disputes arose. On 22.04.1997, the respondent-state referred the dispute to arbitration, and the proceedings closed on 24.10.1998. The tribunal published its award on 21.01.1999 and directing the first four respondents to pay 18% pendente lite India Law Library Docid # 1603456
(137) BALLA @ FARHAT Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-08-2023 In the early morning of 27.11.2001, while the Truck was passing through Bairagarh, it was overtaken by a white Maruti Car. The criminals sitting in the car got out and stopped the truck under the false pretext that the Truck was involved in an accident. One of them pushed the driver aside and started driving the Truck himself. The other two persons entered the truck. They were brandishing weapons. The allegation is that the offenders picked up all the articles in the Truck. India Law Library Docid # 1603483
(138) HIND OFFSHORE PVT. LTD. Vs. IFFCO - TOKIO GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 09-08-2023 Insurance Policy - Mere knowledge on the part of the insurer that there was a breach of warranty would not amount to a waiver in the absence of an express representation to that effect. (Para 21) India Law Library Docid # 1603439
(139) ASSISTANT WILD LIFE WARDEN AND ANOTHER Vs. K. K. MOIDEEN AND ANOTHER [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 09-08-2023 Release of rosewood logs and lorry - Illicit rosewood logs. 37 such logs were found beneath 92 bunches of bananas and 26 bags of rice husk - Lorry nor the rosewood logs are available as both have been sold by the state and the amount is lying with the exchequer, hence cannot be returned back - Release order upheld. (Para 7) India Law Library Docid # 1603441
(140) DEV GUPTA Vs. PEC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND OTHERS [SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 09-08-2023 Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 14 - Admission in engineering courses - Imposition of a minimum 75% aggregate marks as an eligibility condition (in the qualifying examination) for enabling a candidate to claim admission in engineering courses under the 2% sports quota - Objective of introducing sports quota, however, is not to accommodate academic merit, but something altogether different: promotion of sports in the institution, the university, and ultimately, in the country - Imposition o India Law Library Docid # 1603442