(121) M/S OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LTD Vs. SURYAKAND D. LAD AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 09-09-2026 Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 — Sections 2 and 4 — Payment of gratuity — Employer-employee relationship — Principal employer and contractor's workmen — Private respondents claiming gratuity were engaged through a contractor and were not "employees" of the appellant (ONGC); contract explicitly stipulated it was a job contract at arm's length and did not create any employer-employee relationship; provisions of the Gratuity Act are not applicable in the absence of an employer-employee relationship India Law Library Docid # 2455702
(122) SURENDER KUMAR Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 307 — Attempt to murder — Essential ingredients and nature of injury — Grievousness of injuries or capability of causing death is not an indispensable prerequisite to attract Section 307 — Determinative test is the intention or knowledge with which the overt act was committed, to be discerned from the surrounding circumstances — Bodily hurt, whether simple or grievous, is not a precondition to establish culpability, but merely serves as a statutory ground under t India Law Library Docid # 2453245
(123) NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Vs. SURYA WIRES PRIVATE LIMITED AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 7(5) read with 2(1)(h) and 37 — Multi-document commercial transaction — Incorporation of arbitration clause by reference — Binding nature on non-signatory guarantor — Appellant extended loan facilities to respondent-company for setting up training centres — Contemporaneous execution of Loan Agreements and Personal Guarantees by Respondent No. 2 (Managing India Law Library Docid # 2451611
(124) M/S. GVV CONSTRUCTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. THE UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 16 — Competence of Arbitral Tribunal to rule on its jurisdiction (Kompetenz-Kompetenz) — "Excepted Matters" clause in contract — Scope of Arbitral Tribunal’s enquiry — The question whether a particular claim is covered by, or falls outside, an "excepted matters" clause of a works contract is a matter squarely within the competence of the Arbitral Tribunal under Section 16, and not a question for a court — Neither a referral court under Section India Law Library Docid # 2451612
(125) NEW OKHLA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND OTHERS Vs. M/S SUNSHINE TRADE TOWER PRIVATE LIMITED AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act, 1976 — Section 12 — Read with U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 — Section 41(3) — Allotment of Commercial Plot — Zero Period Policy (28.03.2016) — Clause 5 — Grant of benefit on non-availability of access road — Land allotted to developer with proposed 45-metre Front Road and 24-metre Side Road as per site plan — 45-metre Front Road was encroached, unacquired ‘Abadi’ land, and unconstructed — NOIDA failed to clear encroachment or acquire India Law Library Docid # 2451613
(126) MANAV BHANOT Vs. NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 National Highways Act, 1956 — Section 3G(1) & (5) — Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — Sections 11 & 18 — Nature of determination of compensation by Competent Authority under NH Act — Determination of compensation made by Competent Authority under Section 3G(1) of the NH Act corresponds to an award passed by the Collector under Section 11 of the 1894 Act — Determination of dispute by an Arbitrator India Law Library Docid # 2451614
(127) SANTOSH SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 302 read with 34 / 149 — Reversal of acquittal — Overt acts and common intention — High Court acquitted A6 on the premise that holding the victim at close-range gunshot would have caused injury to A6, and acquitted A12 for lack of reliable evidence regarding exhortation — Held, the bullet entered the victim's chest and remained embedded inside, leaving no possibility of injury to the person holding him India Law Library Docid # 2451615
(128) ANNU KUMAR AND ANOTHER Vs. MAHARSHI DAYANAND UNIVERSITY ROHTAK AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Constitution of India — Article 226 — Writ of Quo Warranto — Service Law — Qualification for appointment — Burden of Proof — Primary onus lies on the writ petitioner, who may even be a stranger, to establish through unimpeachable evidence that an appointee lacks essential qualifications or suffers from a disqualification to hold a public office. Once established, the onus shifts to the appointer and appointee to demonstrate legality India Law Library Docid # 2451616
(129) ASHOK UPADHYAY AND ANOTHER Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 302 r/w 34 — Arms Act, 1959 — Section 27 — Conviction for murder and firearm offense — Benefit of Doubt — Conviction of appellants based primarily on eyewitness testimony of close relatives — High Court affirmed conviction — Assailed before Supreme Court — Held, serious discrepancies and inconsistencies in eyewitness accounts — Omission of alleged injured witnesses' details in Section 161 statements and lack of medical corroboration for their injuries — Conduct India Law Library Docid # 2451617
(130) KHANINDRA KR. DUTTA Vs. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) and Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Section 120B — Offence of criminal misconduct by public servant — Essential ingredients — Requirement of obtaining valuable thing or pecuniary advantage — Appellant store-in-charge certified receipt of medicines without actual supply based on false entries made by storekeeper — High Court acquitted appellant under Sections 420, 465, 471, and 477A of IPC but India Law Library Docid # 2451618
(131) PUNJAB SCHOOL EDUCATION BOARD AND ANOTHER Vs. SATNAM SINGH AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 08-09-2026 Service Law — Regularization vs. Fresh Appointment — Standard for determining nature of engagement — Appellant-Board adopted Government Regularization Policy dated 23.01.2001 mutatis mutandis and issued appointment letters to contract/ad-hoc/daily-wage employees on regular basis — Appellant contended that issuance of appointment letters constituted fresh appointments post-01.01.2004 — Court held that substance of engagement must prevail over form — Public notice and internal communications expli India Law Library Docid # 2451619
(132) BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED Vs. THE DISTRICT REVENUE OFFICER (STAMPS) AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Stamp Act, 1899 — Section 47-A — Scope and Invocation — Power under Section 47-A — Pre-condition of "reason to believe" — Registering authority initiated proceedings under Section 47-A against the appellant on the premise that the guideline value of the property was higher than the value presented in the instrument — Single Judge quashed the show cause notice relying on V.N. Devadoss [(2009) 7 SCC 438], holding that jurisdiction under Section 47-A requires deliberate undervaluation with a fraudu India Law Library Docid # 2451424
(133) DHANRAJ Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 376, 376(2)(i)(j), 363, and 323 — Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) — Sections 3, 4, 5(m), and 6 — Identification of Accused — Test Identification Parade (TIP) vs. Dock Identification — Substantive vs. Corroborative Evidence — TIP conducted during investigation is merely corroborative in nature and does not constitute substantive evidence — Substantive evidence of identification is the dock identification of the accused by the witness India Law Library Docid # 2451425
(134) SANOFI INDIA LTD Vs. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Corporate Criminal Liability — Mens Rea — Principles of Attribution — Identification Doctrine — Scope and application — Corporate criminal liability under English and Indian jurisprudence examined — A corporation, being an artificial entity, acts through natural persons — To prosecute a corporate entity for an offence requiring mens rea, the state of mind and acts of a natural person must be attributed to the company — Under the identification doctrine, the acts and mental state of a India Law Library Docid # 2451426
(135) M/S PUNAHCHAKRAN PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. INDOTECH WASTE SOLUTION AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 — Revised Guidelines for Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities, 2016 (RG, 2016) — Mandatory nature of RG, 2016 — Enforceability — Executive guidelines issued in exercise of statutory powers under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 are binding and mandatory in nature — Non-publication of RG, 2016 in Official Gazette does not India Law Library Docid # 2451338
(136) M/S STL NETWORKS LIMITED Vs. CASPIAN INDIA ENGICON PVT. LTD.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 11 — Appointment of Arbitrator — Multiple agreements between same parties — Consolidation/Common Sole Arbitrator — Respondent initiated arbitration under first agreement (Mahanet Agreement) wherein a Sole Arbitrator was appointed by High Court — Disputes subsequently arose under a separate agreement (T-Fiber Agreement) between same parties, leading to appointment of a different Arbitrator under Section 11 — Appellant claimed cross-project India Law Library Docid # 2451620
(137) VIJAY CHHAGANRAO KUMAWAT Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 482 — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 316(2), 318(4), 336(2) and 340(2) — Anticipatory bail — Cooperation with investigation — High Court rejected the appellant's anticipatory bail application — Supreme Court had granted interim protection — Counsel for the State conceded that the appellant was cooperating with the investigation — Taking note of the facts and circumstances, the Supreme Court made the interim protection absolute and set India Law Library Docid # 2451761
(138) AMRITPAL SINGH @ DOCTOR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 318(4), 61(2), 336(2), 336(3) and 338 — Information Technology Act, 2000 — Section 66(D) — Prolonged trial — Appellant was arrested and detained in custody while the trial was ongoing — Only one out of twenty-six proposed prosecution witnesses had been examined, indicating that the trial was likely to take considerable time to conclude — Taking an overall view of the allegations, appellant was not required to be detained any longer — Order of the High Cou India Law Library Docid # 2451767
(139) ABHIMANYU SINGH @ ABHIMANYU KUMAR SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF JHARKHAND[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 389 and Section 374(2) — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 304B — Suspension of sentence pending appeal — Pendency of appeals and delay in hearing — Appellant convicted under Section 304B IPC and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment had served over 50% of the sentence in custody — High Court declined suspension of sentence — Substantial pendency of criminal appeals indicated no likelihood of an early hearing, justifying reasonable apprehension that sen India Law Library Docid # 2451785
(140) SURENDRA MISHRA @ SURENDRA PRASAD MISHRA Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-09-2026 Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 482 — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Section 318 — Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 — Sections 18A, 18(c), 27(b)(ii) and 28 — Anticipatory bail — Ground of implication — Appellant was implicated solely on the basis that a seized Bolero vehicle stood in his name, though it had been sold long ago — Appellant cooperated with the investigation and had been granted interim protection — Rejection of anticipatory bail by the High Court set aside — Interi India Law Library Docid # 2451788