(141) NAYAN BHOWMICK Vs. APARNA CHAKRABORTY[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-12-2025 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Sections 13(1)(i-a) and 13(1)(i-b) — Divorce — Desertion and Cruelty — Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage — Where parties have been living separately for a long period (24 years in this case) without any prospect of reconciliation, this long period of separation amounts to mental cruelty to both parties, justifying dissolution of marriage — The marriage is deemed to have broken down irretrievably — Fact that spouses hold strongly views and refuse to accommodate India Law Library Docid # 2436876
(142) M/S NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. Vs. NEERU DEVI AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-12-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Compensation — Assessment of income of deceased — Standard of proof — Where claimants assert a high monthly income (Rs. 95,000/-) for the deceased (a transport contractor owning two trucks), which exceeds the taxable limit, failure to produce Income Tax Returns (ITR) is highly relevant and undermines the claim — The contention that high EMI payments (approx. Rs. India Law Library Docid # 2436877
(143) DEVENDRA KUMAR TRIPATHI AND OTHERS Vs. THE ORIENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-12-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Compensation for Death of a Child — Calculation of Compensation — Deceased 14-year-old schoolboy — Principles adopted for calculating compensation for death of child — Notional monthly income adopted based on Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for a Class B city (Rs. 5400/- per month) — Addition of 40% for future prospects — Multiplier of 15 adopted based on Reshma India Law Library Docid # 2436878
(144) PUNEET BHASIN Vs. YES BANK LIMITED AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Investigation — Stay of Investigation — High Court's jurisdiction — The High Court must be mindful and follow the standards set by the Supreme Court (referencing Niharika Infrastructure Private Limited v. State of Maharashtra) when granting a blanket stay of investigation — Granting interim relief which amounts to a stay of the investigation without recording reasons, particularly when an earlier detailed interim order regulating the investigation was in pl India Law Library Docid # 2437398
(145) JYOTSNA KANOONGO Vs. SHAILENDRA KANOONGO[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-12-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 9 Rule 13 — Setting aside ex-parte decree — Service of Summons — Requirement of proper service — Trial court passing ex-parte divorce decree based on returned unserved postal cover — Husband subsequently obtaining decree continuing relations with wife for 10 years without informing her — Wife filing application under Order 9 Rule 13 CPC upon receiving India Law Library Docid # 2437498
(146) ROCKY ABHRAHAM Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 13-12-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 32, 136, 142 — Quashing of FIR and proceedings — Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — Sections 39, 49, 51 — NRI passenger arrested at airport for alleged possession of deer horn — Subsequent forensic report confirming the recovered item was a Reindeer horn (Rangifer Tarandus), which is not a protected or prohibited animal under the Act's schedules — Held, continued prosecution India Law Library Docid # 2437479
(147) THE DIRECTOR OF TOWN PANCHAYAT AND OTHERS Vs. M. JAYABAL AND ANOTHER ETC.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 12-12-2025 Service Law — Compassionate Appointment — Nature of right — Appointment on compassionate bases is a concession, not a matter of right, and serves as an exception to the general rule of public employment under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India — Core objective is to enable the dependent family to tide over sudden financial crisis following the death of the employee, providing relief against India Law Library Docid # 2436750
(148) SITHARA N.S. AND OTHERS Vs. SAI RAM GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 12-12-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 — Claim Petition — Standard of Proof — In motor vehicle accident claims, the standard of proof is based on preponderance of probabilities, not proof beyond reasonable doubt — However, claimants must establish three elements: (i) occurrence of accident; (ii) involvement of the specific offending vehicle; and (iii) rash and negligent act of the driver — Mere occurrence of India Law Library Docid # 2436751
(149) RANCHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND ANOTHER Vs. SURESH TIRKEY AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 12-12-2025 Jharkhand Municipal Act, 2011 — Section 606 — Encroachment on municipal property — Interpretation — Section 606 prohibits encroachment or obstruction on "any municipal property" and includes "such as a street or footpath or park" by way of elucidation — The provision is not confined only to streets, footpaths, or parks; it covers all municipal property — High Court Division Bench erred in restricting the India Law Library Docid # 2437509
(150) LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER Vs. VITA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-12-2025 Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 — Scope and Applicability — Overriding Effect over State Rent Control Legislations — Whether PP Act 1971 prevails over State Rent Control Acts (such as Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 or Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958) regarding eviction from 'Public Premises' defined under Section 2(e) — Both PP Act 1971 and State Rent Control Acts are India Law Library Docid # 2436681
(151) PRADEEP ARORA AND OTHERS Vs. DIRECTOR, HEALTH DEPARTMENT, GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-12-2025 Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 — Prevention and Containment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Regulations, 2020 (Maharashtra) — Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19 — Insurance Claim — Eligibility — Requisition of Services — Private medical practitioners — Interpretation of "requisition" in the context of pandemic India Law Library Docid # 2436682
(152) JOTHI @ NAGAJOTHI Vs. THE STATE, REP. BY THE INSPECTOR OF POLICE[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-12-2025 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) — Sections 8(c) read with 20(b)(ii)(C) and 29(1) — Conviction for possession of commercial quantity of ganja (23.500 kg) and conspiracy — Appeal against concurrent findings of lower courts — Absence of independent witnesses — Failure to secure independent witnesses is not fatal to the prosecution case, especially under the NDPS Act, if the India Law Library Docid # 2436683
(153) CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Vs. DAYAMOY MAHATO ETC.[SUPREME COURT OF INDA] 11-12-2025 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 — Section 436-A — Applicability — Undertrial detention exceeding half of maximum sentence — Section 436-A mandates release of undertrial prisoners who have undergone detention extending up to one-half of maximum period of imprisonment specified for the offence, unless further detention is ordered with reasons — Exception: This provision is explicitly India Law Library Docid # 2436684
(154) KAPIL WADHAWAN Vs. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 11-12-2025 Criminal Procedure – Bail Jurisprudence – Fundamental Principles for Grant of Bail – "Bail is the rule and jail is an exception" entrenched in criminal jurisprudence and constitutional guarantee of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India – Presumption of innocence mandates that pre-trial incarceration should not degenerate into punishment – Courts must intervene when prolonged custody becomes disproportionate, arbitrary, or excessive. India Law Library Docid # 2437400
(155) DR. SOHAIL MALIK Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-12-2025 Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) — Section 11 — Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) — Jurisdiction against employee of different department — The ICC constituted at the workplace/department of the "aggrieved woman" has jurisdiction to entertain and inquire into a complaint of sexual harassment against a "respondent" India Law Library Docid # 2436626
(156) NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Vs. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-12-2025 Income Tax Act, 1961 — Section 36(1)(viii) — Deduction for profits derived from the business of providing long-term finance — Scope and Interpretation of "derived from" — The amendment by Finance Act, 1995, intentionally narrowed the scope of deduction from "total income" to "profits derived from such business of providing long-term finance" to prevent corporations from claiming benefits on diversified income, thereby "ring-fencing" the fiscal benefit India Law Library Docid # 2436627
(157) THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL Vs. ANIL KUMAR DEY[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-12-2025 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) — Section 18A — PC Act read with Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944 — Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 102 — Seizure vs. Attachment/Confiscation of Property — Whether power of police officer to freeze accounts under Section 102 CrPC is co-existent or mutually exclusive with the machinery for attachment under Section 18A India Law Library Docid # 2436628
(158) MOHAN LAL FATEHPURIA Vs. M/S BHARAT TEXTILES AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-12-2025 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Sections 29A(1), 29A(4), 29A(6), 23(4) — Time limit for arbitral award — Termination of mandate — Substitution of Arbitrator — Section 29A aims for time-bound disposal of arbitration proceedings — An award in non-international commercial arbitration must be made within twelve months from completion of pleadings (Section 23(4)) — If the award is not made India Law Library Docid # 2436629
(159) M/S. SHRI KARSHNI ALLOYS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. RAMAKRISHNAN SADASIVAN[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-12-2025 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) — Section 62 — Liquidation Process — Sale of Assets — Appeals against NCLAT majority decision confirming forfeiture of amount paid by bidder — Private sale requiring Adjudicating Authority's prior approval — Regulation 33(2)(d) of IBBI (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 — Where liquidator seeks NCLT approval for private sale after failed auctions India Law Library Docid # 2436630
(160) M/S. SARASWATI WIRE AND CABLE INDUSTRIES Vs. MOHAMMAD MOINUDDIN KHAN AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 10-12-2025 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 — Section 9 — Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) — Application by Operational Creditor — Pre-existing Dispute — Adjudicating authority must determine if operational debt exists, if non-payment has occurred, and if a dispute existed prior to the demand notice (Section 8) — Dispute must be genuine, substantial, and not spurious, hypothetical, or illusory India Law Library Docid # 2436631