(341) M/S SANTOSH ASSOCIATE PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. HARYANA STATE INDUSTRIAL AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Sections 16, 37(2) & 18 — Mandatory pre-deposit clause for initiating arbitration — Validity and maintainability of reference — Arbitrator dismissed contractor's claim for failing to deposit 10% of claim amount as pre-deposit per contractual clause — Commercial Court affirmed order relying on S.K. Jain [(2009) 4 SCC 357] — Held, pre-deposit clauses requiring India Law Library Docid # 2449292
(342) UNION OF INDIA Vs. CHIDIEBERE KINGSLEY NAWCHARA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 — Sections 8(c), 21(c), 23(c), 27A, 28, 29 & 37 — Grant and Cancellation of Bail to Foreign National — Non-compliance with statutory conditions and jumping of bail — Held, grant of bail under special statutes like the NDPS Act requires strict compliance with the twin conditions under S. 37(1)(b)(ii) — The court must be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the accused is not guilty and is unlikely to commit any offence while on bail — India Law Library Docid # 2449293
(343) NEPAL SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 302/149, 324/149, 148 & 147 — Eyewitness testimony — Unreliable and contradictory evidence — Acquittal — Conviction of accused based on testimonies of alleged injured eyewitness (PW-6) and deceased's wife (PW-7) set aside — PW-6 admitted falling unconscious upon the first blow and not personally witnessing his father being struck — PW-7 admitted reaching the spot after the incident occurred, contradicting her examination-in-chief — Their India Law Library Docid # 2449294
(344) THE STATE OF KARNATAKA AND ANOTHER Vs. PRATHIK PARASRAMPURIA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Election Law — Electoral Integrity and Free and Fair Elections — Role of Money Power / Black Money — Money power and undeclared/black money used to influence voters strike at the very heart of representative government and compromise the core of a democratic polity — Free and fair elections demand that voters exercise their choice unencumbered by monetary gratification or inducements — The three foundational concepts—democracy, the rule of law, and the electoral process—are India Law Library Docid # 2449295
(345) KESHVENDRA SINGH Vs. SHANKAR SINGH AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 — Section 12— Scope & Interpretation — Priority of Proceedings — Section 12 of the Gangsters Act does not operate to freeze, stay, or indefinitely stall trials for predicate/underlying offences (such as murder) pending in other courts until the gangster trial concludes — The true purpose of Section 12 is to provide priority in the India Law Library Docid # 2449296
(346) THE ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. Vs. TUNI PATI AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Fraudulent Motor Accident Claims — Investigation and Preventive Measures — Special Investigation Team (SIT) at State level — Supreme Court observed that fraudulent motor accident claims involving fixed patterns and repeated use of the same vehicle in multiple accidents constitute a fraud of enormous proportion, causing undue financial stress on insurance companies and higher premiums for genuine consumers — Fresh direction issued to India Law Library Docid # 2451176
(347) ILABEN Vs. THE STATE OF GUJARAT AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 482 — Quashing of criminal proceedings — Offence of cheating and sexual favors on false promise to marry — Allegations against mother of main accused — Proceedings were initiated alleging that the appellant’s son obtained sexual favors and financial gains on a false promise of marriage with the appellant’s active connivance — Held, the First Information Statement revealed a consensual relationship and contained India Law Library Docid # 2449360
(348) KANAD SAHA Vs. THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 9CrPC) — Section 482 —Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 506, 509, and 34 — Quashing of criminal proceedings — Absence of specific allegations in FIR and Chargesheet — Abuse of process — Second respondent (a advocate) filed a complaint alleging intimidation and abusive language against the appellant, who was a friend of her client (3rd respondent) in a fee dispute — High Court declined to quash, noting that a chargesheet had been filed — Held, the FIR and voluminous India Law Library Docid # 2449361
(349) THE ORIENTAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. Vs. TUNI PATI AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Motor Vehicles — Fraudulent Insurance Claims — Pan-India Fraud — Enlargement of Scope — Court took cognizance of a widespread pattern where identical vehicles were falsely depicted as involved in multiple accidents to secure fraudulent claims, causing financial distress to insurers and increased premiums for genuine consumers — Scope of proceedings enlarged to unearth and curb fraudulent insurance claims across the country. India Law Library Docid # 2451755
(350) SIDDARTH JEPH @ SIDDHARTH JEPH @ SIDDHARTH Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Criminal Law — Regular Bail — Parity — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 140(2), 140(3), 61(2) — Arms Act, 1959 — Sections 25(1-B)(a), 26, 35 — Appellant was not named in the FIR and was implicated solely based on a co-accused's statement — No Test Identification Parade was conducted by the investigating agency — Three other co-accused, including the sole accused named in the FIR, had already been released on bail — Appellant had been in custody since August 2024 — Considering parity and India Law Library Docid # 2451770
(351) N ASHA DEVI Vs. R ARAVIND KUMAR AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 7 Rule 11(d) — Rejection of plaint — Bar of limitation — Scope of examination — When deciding an application under Order 7 Rule 11, only the averments in the plaint and documents annexed therewith are germane — Although limitation is ordinarily a mixed question of fact and law, where the plaint averments glaringly and obviously demonstrate that the suit is hopelessly barred by limitation, the court must not hesitate in granting relief by rejecting the pla India Law Library Docid # 2452427
(352) NALIN (YOGESH) JAGANNATH VARMA AND ANOTHER Vs. NARENDRA JAGANNATH VARMA AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 — Section 2(b) — Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 41 Rule 5 and Order 39 Rule 2A — Conditional stay of decree — Maintainability of contempt proceedings — High Court stayed a money decree subject to deposit of decretal amount and costs — Appellants failed to deposit, leading to contempt proceedings — Held, deposit was a condition attached to stay, not an independent direction — Non-compliance merely renders the stay inoperative or vacated, entitling decree-hol India Law Library Docid # 2451728
(353) M/S SANTOSH ASSOCIATE PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. HARYANA STATE INDUSTRIAL AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-08-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Pre-deposit condition — Right to sue and alternative dispute resolution — Contractual clause requiring contractor alone to furnish ten percent pre-deposit of claim amount before reference to arbitration — Permissibility — Right to sue inheres in an individual unless expressly barred by law — Under Section 28 of Indian Contract Act, 1872, arbitration is an exception to ordinary litigation — Arbitration clauses cannot impose onerous pre-deposit conditions t India Law Library Docid # 2455990
(354) SAMEEM BEGUM AND OTHERS Vs. K. VENKAT SWAMY AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166(1)(c) — Claim for compensation — Maintainability of claim by legal representatives — Expression "legal representative" includes major children irrespective of complete financial dependency — Liability to pay compensation does not cease due to absence of dependency — Legal representatives entitled to maintain claim petition and seek compensation under conventional heads. India Law Library Docid # 2449020
(355) VINOD SHIVAKUMAR Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 306 r/w Section 107 — Abetment of Suicide — Essential Ingredients & Mens Rea — To sustain a charge for abetment of suicide under Section 306 read with Section 107 IPC, the prosecution must establish direct or indirect instigation, incitement, or goading in close proximity to the time of commission, accompanied by a clear mens rea to drive the victim to commit suicide — Allegations of continuous harassment, workplace stress, or stern behaviour alone, India Law Library Docid # 2449297
(356) SHEELA GEHLOT AND OTHERS Vs. MOHINI HARDAYAL SINGH AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 60(1)(ccc) (as applicable to Delhi) — Exemption from attachment and sale — Main residential house — Protection under Section 60(1)(ccc) CPC is personal to the judgment-debtor and is not available to his legal representatives — Legal representative is a distinct juridical concept from judgment-debtor, with liability limited to the estate in hand, and cannot claim personal India Law Library Docid # 2449021
(357) RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LIMITED Vs. NTPC LIMITED[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Evidence Act, 1872 — Section 60 — Admissibility of oral evidence in respect of excluded documents — Parties cannot be permitted to adduce oral evidence regarding contents of internal communications/documents that have already been held irrelevant and excluded from record — Where previous orders excluding internal documents have attained finality, adducing oral evidence to depose India Law Library Docid # 2449022
(358) XXX AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Criminal Law — Quashing of FIR — Child Marriage — Welfare of victim and child — Marriage arranged by parents under the misunderstanding that Muslim personal law permitted marriage of a girl over sixteen years — Prosecution initiated after pregnancy revealed minority — Victim subsequently attained majority and had a two-year-old child with the accused — Incarcerating the accused would leave the victim and child destitute and serve no purpose — Considering the peculiar facts and social dilemma, cr India Law Library Docid # 2451751
(359) MAHESHWARI AND OTHERS Vs. STATE REP. BY SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 120B read with Section 34 — Second sale of land — Offence of cheating and forgery — Sustainability of conviction — Accused executed a subsequent sale deed in 2008 for land previously sold to complainant in 1977 — Physical possession remained continuously with complainant's successors — Held, ingredients of cheating and forgery are not made out — In the absence of dishonest delivery of property or creation of a false document, execution of India Law Library Docid # 2451766
(360) RAHUL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 14-08-2026 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 439 — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 306 and 498-A — Regular bail — Offence of abetment of suicide and cruelty — Appellant-husband incarcerated since July 2023 — Investigation complete and chargesheet filed against appellant alone, with application under Section 319 CrPC to summon family members dismissed — Out of twenty-six prosecution witnesses, five examined — Nexus between appellant's conduct and death to attract Section 306 IPC to be determi India Law Library Docid # 2451798