A. Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954—Section 51(2)(a)(i), (ii)—Succession to Bhumidhar rights—Hindu widow who had inherited interest before commencement of Act—Applicable personal law—Held, expression “personal law applicable to her” is not frozen as on 20.07.1954, the date of commencement of the Act—For determining whether Section 51(2)(a)(i) or Section 51(2)(a)(ii) applies, relevant personal law is the law applicable on the date of death of the female Bhumidhar—Where widow was entitled only to a life estate under the law applicable at commencement of the Act, but her limited estate was subsequently enlarged into absolute ownership by Section 14(1), Hindu Succession Act, 1956, succession would be governed by Section 51(2)(a)(ii) and Section 53, and not Section 51(2)(a)(i) read with Section 50. (Paras 37.1, 38–40, 42–45)B...
A. Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Services Rules, 1955—General Rule 10(a)(i)—Temporary appointment—Seniority—Direct recruits vis-à-vis temporary/regularised appointees— Government employee appointed through regular recruitment procedure cannot be rendered junior to a person who entered the cadre temporarily or through a stopgap arrangement and was subsequently regularised—Temporary service rendered under General Rule 10(a)(i), by itself, does not confer seniority in the cadre over Direct recruits appointed through competitive selection—Direct recruits of 1983 batch, having been selected through competitive examination, were rightly placed above Special appointees notwithstanding their later date of appointment. (Paras 17–21, 23)B. Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Services Rules, 1955—Special Absorption Rules, 1987—C...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 300 Exception 4, 302, 304 Part I and Part II—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Sections 101, 103(1), 105—Murder—Exception 4 to Section 300—Scope—Conviction under Section 304 Part II.—Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC can be invoked only where its statutory requirements are established—Mere finding that occurrence arose out of a sudden quarrel or domestic dispute does not, by itself, justify alteration of conviction from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder—Where High Court altered conviction from Section 302 to Section 304 Part II by bringing the case within Exception 4 to Section 300, without properly considering the evidence, such alteration was prima facie unsustainable—Even assuming applicability of Exception 4, conviction under Section 304 Part II could not follow on t...
A. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Section 11(6-A)—Appointment of arbitrator—Scope of judicial scrutiny—Existence of arbitration agreement—Minimal judicial intervention—Held, at the stage of reference under Section 11(6-A), the Referral Court is required to confine its inquiry to the prima facie existence of an arbitration agreement—Once such agreement is admitted or prima facie established, the Court ought to appoint an arbitrator and refer the parties to arbitration—Contentious questions concerning the scope, ambit or merits of disputes are matters for the arbitral tribunal and cannot ordinarily be adjudicated at the referral stage. (Paras 18–21)B. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Sections 11(6-A)—Multiple agreements—“Mother agreement” and subsequent independent agreements—Arbitration clauses...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 405, 409—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Sections 316(1), 316(5)—Criminal breach of trust—Entrustment—Dishonest intention—Essential ingredients.—To constitute criminal breach of trust, prosecution must establish entrustment of property or dominion thereover and dishonest misappropriation, conversion, use or disposal thereof—Dishonest intention is an essential ingredient and mere breach of trust simpliciter does not constitute the offence—Temporary misappropriation may also constitute criminal breach of trust if accompanied by dishonest intention—Where prosecution failed to produce original cashbook, daily register, audit report and other material records necessary to establish collection and entrustment of cash to accused, and there was no reliable evidence establishing dishonest mis...
A. Constitution of India—Arts. 21, 32, 142—Right to health—Pharmaceutical marketing practices—Public health— Right to health forms an integral part of the right to life under Art. 21. Regulation of unethical pharmaceutical marketing practices, having a direct bearing upon accessibility, affordability and safety of medicines, involves matters of considerable public importance. Paras 1, 16-19.B. Pharmaceutical marketing practices—Regulatory framework—UCPMP, 2024—Need for effective implementation— Mere existence of prescribed norms is insufficient; efficacy of a regulatory framework must also be assessed by its implementation, monitoring, transparency, accountability and enforcement. Existing framework having not proved entirely effective in curbing unethical practices, comprehensive strengthening of the regulatory mechanis...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 394—Robbery—Essential ingredients—Proof of robbery/attempted robbery—Conviction under Section 394 cannot be sustained merely on allegation of snatching jewellery where alleged jewellery was neither recovered nor otherwise connected with accused—Absence of purchase receipt or other material establishing identity/value of articles, and failure to connect beads allegedly found at spot with mangalsutra, rendered essential ingredient of robbery unproved—Conviction under Section 394, therefore, unsustainable. [Para 9]B. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Section 222—Conviction for minor offence—Cognate offences—Where charge consists of several particulars, accused may be convicted of a minor offence if proved facts constitute such offence, notwithstanding that minor offence was not separate...
A. Representation of the People Act, 1951—Sections 81(1) and 86(1)—Election petition—Presentation—Mandatory requirement—Section 81(1) prescribes five specific requirements, namely, petitioner must be a candidate or elector, petition must be presented by the petitioner, it must be founded on grounds under Sections 100(1) and 101, presented before the High Court and within prescribed period—Requirement of presentation “by” the petitioner is substantive and not a mere procedural formality—Non-compliance attracts mandatory dismissal under Section 86(1). . [Paras 5–9]B. Representation of the People Act, 1951—Sections 81(1) and 86(1)—High Court Rules—Rule regulating mode of presentation of election petition—Validity—High Court competent to frame rules regulating administrative and ministerial aspects of receipt and...
A. Income-tax Act, 1961—Income—Subsidy—Capital or revenue receipt—Electricity subsidy granted under Government scheme—Nature of subsidy to be determined by applying “purpose test”, i.e. by examining the object and operative mechanism of the scheme as a whole—Form, source and point of time of payment are not decisive—Where subsidy is intended to assist running of an already established business more profitably, it is revenue receipt, whereas assistance intended for setting up a new unit or substantial expansion is capital receipt. [Paras 9–14].B. Income-tax Act, 1961—Income—Subsidy—Electricity subsidy—Government scheme providing subsidy at specified percentage of actual electricity charges for five years from commencement of production—Subsidy quantified with reference to power consumed in manufacturing proces...
A. Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 1982—Rule 14—Disability pension—Schizophrenia—Disease not noted at the time of enrolment—Mere non-recording of mental disorder at the time of enrolment does not mechanically give rise to a presumption that the disease was attributable to or aggravated by military service—Mental disorders may ordinarily escape detection at the time of enrolment, particularly where intervals of normality exist—Each case must be examined with reference to the nature of duties, conditions of service and circumstances of posting. [Paras 15–20]B. Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 1982—Rules 5, 9 and 14—Disability pension—Presumption of sound health—Burden of proof—The general principle that a member is presumed to be in sound physical and mental condition at the time ...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 302, 307 read with Section 34—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Sections 103(1), 109(1) and 3(5)—Murder and attempt to murder—Injured witnesses—Reliability— Evidence of injured witnesses carries an inherent assurance of their presence at the scene and cannot be discarded merely because they are related to the deceased—Where two injured witnesses consistently identified the accused as participants in the armed attack, their presence was independently corroborated by contemporaneous medical evidence and the place of occurrence stood supported by the site plan and physical evidence, discrepancies regarding particular weapons, sequence of blows or individual injuries being only peripheral, conviction for murder and attempt to murder with the aid of common intention was sustainable—Evidence of ...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 302—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Section 103—Murder—Circumstantial evidence—Complete chain— Where prosecution case is founded entirely on circumstantial evidence, prosecution must establish each incriminating circumstance by cogent, trustworthy and credible evidence and the proved circumstances must form a complete chain pointing towards guilt of accused and being inconsistent with innocence—Failure to establish the foundational circumstances connecting accused with administration of poison to deceased children renders conviction unsafe. (Paras 32–33)B. Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Section 106—Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023—Section 109—Burden of proof—Fact especially within knowledge of accused—Initial burden on prosecution— Section 106 Evidence Act cannot be invoked to m...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 304-B—Dowry death—Essential ingredients— Prosecution must establish that (i) death of woman was caused by burns, bodily injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances, (ii) death occurred within seven years of marriage, (iii) soon before death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by husband or his relative, and (iv) such cruelty or harassment was for, or in connection with, demand for dowry—Mere allegation of dowry demand is insufficient; cruelty or harassment in connection with dowry, proximate to death, must be established. (Paras 23–24)B. Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Section 113-B—Presumption as to dowry death—Foundational facts— Presumption under Section 113-B can arise only after prosecution establishes that soon before her death the woman was subjected by the accused to ...
A. Hindu Marriage Act, 1955—Section 13(1)(i-a)—Divorce—Cruelty—Irretrievable breakdown of marriage—Reciprocal cruelty— Irretrievable breakdown of marriage, by itself, could not be made an independent ground for divorce; however, where parties had been living separately for a long period, there was complete absence of mutual trust, love, affection or intention to resume conjugal life and both parties admitted that the marriage had failed beyond repair, such complete and reciprocal estrangement could be treated as reciprocal cruelty—Marital tie accordingly severed under Section 13(1)(i-a). (Paras 13–14)B. Hindu Marriage Act, 1955—Section 13(1)(i-a)—Cruelty—Long separation—Failure of matrimonial relationship— Where there was no possibility of reconciliation and both spouses categorically expressed unwillingness to r...
A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Section 10—Stay of suit—Subsequent suit—Directly and substantially in issue—Scope— Section 10 attracted only where the matter in issue in the subsequent suit is directly and substantially in issue in the previously instituted suit and the statutory requirement regarding identity of parties, or parties litigating under the same title, is satisfied—“Matter in issue” means the entire subject-matter in controversy and not merely some common or incidental issues—Fundamental test is whether decision in the previous suit would operate as res judicata in the subsequent suit. (Paras 39–44, 49–53)B. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Section 10—Parties—Non-party to previous suit—Claiming through a party—Same title— A defendant in the subsequent suit, who was not a party to the previous...
A. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Section 175(3)—Direction for registration of FIR—Magistrate’s jurisdiction—Scope— Magistrate exercising jurisdiction under Section 175(3) is required only to examine whether complaint, read as a whole, prima facie discloses cognizable offences requiring police investigation—Magistrate is not required to adjudicate correctness of allegations, determine civil title or appreciate evidence at this stage—Where complaint discloses cognizable offences, Magistrate can direct registration of FIR and proper investigation—Refusal to exercise such jurisdiction on ground that dispute is civil in nature amounts to jurisdictional error. [Paras 18–26, 32–42]B. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Section 175(3)—Civil dispute—Criminal offence—Co-existence of remedies— Mere exi...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 304-B—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Section 80—Dowry death—Essential ingredients— Death of a married woman within seven years of marriage, by itself, does not constitute dowry death—Prosecution must establish that death was otherwise than under normal circumstances and that soon before death deceased was subjected to cruelty or harassment by husband or his relative for, or in connection with, demand for dowry—Expression “soon before” requires a proximate and live link between dowry-related cruelty and death—Where prosecution failed to establish such proximity and continuity, conviction under Section 304-B IPC could not be sustained. [Paras 37–46, 61–68]B. Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Section 113-B—Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023—Section 118—Presumption as to dowry death...
A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Sections 62, 64, 65, 82 and 87—Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Sections 64, 66, 67, 84 and 90—Service of summons—Warrants—Proclamation—“Ordinarily resides”— Service of summons, execution of warrants and publication of proclamation must be directed to the place where accused ordinarily resides—Where returned summons and warrants consistently disclosed that accused was neither residing nor working at addresses furnished in complaint, trial court could not mechanically presume deliberate avoidance of process—Findings regarding service, execution and proclamation must be based on objective examination of record and reasons recorded in writing—Reliance merely on court staff’s endorsement, ignoring reports of Process Server and police officials, was impermissible. [Paras 5.1...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 307—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Section 109(1)—Attempt to murder—Injured witness—Credibility— Testimony of an injured witness ordinarily carries a high degree of reliability, his presence at the scene being intrinsically established—Where injured witness gave a clear and consistent account of the occurrence, naming the assailant, and his testimony stood corroborated by prompt FIR and medical evidence showing a fresh stab injury on a vital part of the abdomen capable of causing death, conviction under Section 307 IPC was sustainable—Minor discrepancies not affecting the core prosecution case held immaterial. (Paras 21–27)B. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 307—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023—Section 109(1)—Attempt to murder—Ocular evidence vis-à-vis medical evidence— Reliab...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 328—Causing hurt by means of poison, etc.—Proof of offence— Conviction under Section 328 IPC cannot be sustained where prosecution fails to establish by reliable evidence that the victim’s deteriorating health was caused by administration of an intoxicating or poisonous substance by the accused—Non-examination of the doctor who initially examined the victim and the doctor connected with the forensic examination, coupled with absence of reliable medical evidence, renders the prosecution case doubtful—Conviction and sentence set aside. [Paras 19–25]B. Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Sections 3 and 45—Forensic evidence—Identity and integrity of sample— FSL report cannot safely be relied upon where the prosecution fails to establish the identity, source, proper seizure and safe custody of t...