A. Limitation Act, 1963—Section 18—Acknowledgment of liability—Balance sheets—Entries in books of account, including balance sheets, may constitute acknowledgment of liability giving rise to a fresh period of limitation—Acknowledgment need not specifically name the creditor or be made in any prescribed format, provided it indicates a subsisting jural relationship when read in conjunction with surrounding circumstances—Balance sheets and accompanying notes, qualifications and auditor’s report to be considered as a whole. (Paras 9-11, 14)B. Limitation Act, 1963—Section 18—Acknowledgment of liability—Running bills and outstanding contractual dues—Defendant-Society’s bank reconciliation statements recording three cheques issued in favour of plaintiff as contractor, coupled with subsequent balance sheets continuously ca...
A. Hindu Succession Act, 1956—Section 8—Succession to property of Hindu male dying intestate—Grandson’s right—Property of a Hindu male dying intestate devolves simultaneously upon Class I heirs to the exclusion of all other heirs—Son’s son, whose father is alive, is not a Class I heir and does not acquire any right by birth in the property inherited by his father under Section 8—Property devolving upon a son under Section 8 is held by him in his individual capacity and not as karta of his own Hindu undivided family—Pre-existing Hindu law recognising a grandson’s right by birth stands modified by the codified statutory scheme. (Paras 34-38)B. Hindu Succession Act, 1956—Sections 6, 8 and 19—Ancestral property—Succession and partition among Class I heirs—Distinction between devolution by succession and coparcenary...
A. Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006—Sections 2(c), 2(o) and 6—Forest rights—Recognition of Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers—Eligibility—Claims required to be determined strictly in accordance with statutory three-tier mechanism comprising Gram Sabha, Sub-Divisional Level Committee and District Level Committee—Present occupation or cultivation of forest land, by itself, does not establish statutory entitlement—Forest rights confined to persons satisfying prescribed requirements of primary residence in and dependence upon forest or forest land for bona fide livelihood needs—Persons not satisfying statutory conditions liable to be removed in accordance with law. (Paras 43-55)B. Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwe...
A. Constitution of India—Article 131—Inter-State dispute—Bhakra-Nangal and Beas Hydel Projects—State of Himachal Pradesh—Entitlement to share in power generated—Earlier decree dated 27-9-2011 declaring entitlement of 7.19% of power attributable to composite Punjab and directing Union of India to compute amounts payable—Subsequent proceedings confined to working out energy arrears, capital-cost liability and mode of implementation—Earlier adjudicated rights and findings not open to reconsideration in execution proceedings. (Paras 3, 5.20-5.26, 28-30)B. Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966—Section 78—Bhakra-Nangal and Beas Projects—Apportionment of rights and liabilities—Earlier decree dated 27-9-2011 held that Section 78(1) conferred an enforceable legal right upon Himachal Pradesh—Tentative record dated 17-4-1967 and ...
A. Constitution of India—Articles 32, 141 and 142—Other Backward Classes—Creamy layer—Judgment dated 11-3-2026—Scope and temporal operation—Distinction between binding legal principle and operative relief—Interpretation of Office Memorandum dated 8-9-1993, as clarified by letter dated 14-10-2004, constitutes binding precedent under Article 141—Operative relief in the judgment confined to respondent candidates and intervenors whose claims were before the Court—No direction for retrospective reopening of concluded selections, appointments, service allocations or seniority—Miscellaneous applications cannot be used to seek rehearing or reconsideration of issues already decided. (Paras 11-16)B. Constitution of India—Article 141—Other Backward Classes—Creamy layer—Supernumerary posts—Intervention applications—Par...
A. Constitution of India—Article 14—Compulsory retirement—Discrimination—Challenge on ground that similarly situated employees were retained in service—Compulsory retirement involves individual assessment of each employee’s utility, integrity, efficiency and overall service profile—Non-retirement of another employee having comparable service record does not, by itself, establish discrimination or invalidate the order—Article 14 embodies positive equality and does not permit a claim founded on negative equality or perpetuation of an earlier illegality. (Paras 28-30, 34-36)B. Fundamental Rule 56—Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1976—Rule 42—Compulsory retirement—Scope of judicial review—Order of compulsory retirement is neither punitive nor stigmatic and does not attract principles of natural justice or...
A. Constitution of India—Article 12—‘State’—National Book Trust—Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860—Whether ‘State’ within meaning of Article 12—Determination—Mere registration as a society or non-statutory character does not exclude a body from Article 12—Constitutional inquiry depends upon substance of relationship between body and Government, and not its legal form or nomenclature—National Book Trust held to be an ‘other authority’ and consequently ‘State’ within Article 12. (Paras 6-10, 25-27)B. Constitution of India—Article 12—Instrumentality or agency of Government—Tests—Financial, functional and administrative control—Tests laid down in Ramana Dayaram Shetty and Ajay Hasia are indicative and not rigid or conclusive checklist—Cumulative assessment required to de...
A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order IV, Rule 1—Order VII, Rule 11—Rejection of plaint before registration—Court empowered to reject plaint even before its registration or numbering and at any stage of proceedings—Registration not a condition precedent for exercise of power—However, such power must be exercised strictly within grounds specified under Rule 11. (Paras 8-11)B. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order VII, Rule 11(a) and (d)—Rejection of plaint—Disclosure of cause of action—Meaningful reading—Plaint must be read as a whole, considering all material averments and reliefs—Where cause of action is disclosed and suit does not appear from statements in plaint to be barred by law, rejection at threshold is impermissible—Likelihood of dismissal after trial is no ground for rejection. (Paras 13-16)C. Code of Ci...
A. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Sections 57 and 167—Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Sections 58 and 187—Constitution of India—Article 22(2)—Reasonable period of detention—Statutory safeguard—Apart from mandatory 24-hours limit, detention without warrant must not exceed a reasonable period having regard to circumstances of the case—Even where production is technically within 24 hours, Magistrate must examine whether detention exceeded reasonable period and may decline remand—Magistrate duty-bound to record actual time of detention and examine compliance with constitutional and statutory safeguards. (Paras 17-20, 60, 67, 69)B. Constitution of India—Article 22(2)—Arrest and detention—Production before Magistrate within 24 hours—Commencement of limitation—24-hours period commences from the time when ...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 302 and 34—Murder—Conviction of one accused alone when all accused charged with common intention and three acquitted—Prosecution case founded on joint participation of all accused—No independent charge under Section 302 simpliciter against appellant—Conviction of appellant alone under Section 302 amounted to making out a new accusation causing prejudice and was legally unsustainable. (Paras 14-18)B. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 302 and 34—Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Section 386(a)—Appeal against acquittal—Reversal—Dying declarations—Multiple dying declarations containing material inconsistencies—Court must examine each declaration on its own merits, surrounding circumstances, medical fitness and possibility of corroboration—Where two declarations were discarded and...
A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order XXXIX, Rule 4—Temporary injunction—Discharge, variation or setting aside—Change in circumstances—Where injunction order has been passed after giving the affected party an opportunity of hearing, it cannot be discharged, varied or set aside on that party’s application unless such relief is necessitated by a change in circumstances or the Court is satisfied that the order has caused undue hardship—Power under the proviso is not available for re-agitating grounds already considered while granting injunction. (Paras 6-8)B. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order XXXIX, Rule 4—Change in circumstances—Meaning and scope—Subsequent communications from bank requiring production of injunction order, mortgage of another property and repayment of loan, along with valuation report of suit proper...
A. Indian Succession Act, 1925—Sections 59 and 61—Will—Testamentary capacity—Undue influence, coercion and fraud—A Will is not rendered invalid merely because the beneficiary has persuaded the testator, shown affection, given expensive gifts or provided attention, provided the testator retains sound disposing mind and exercises free judgment and volition—Illustrations (vii) and (viii) to Section 61 expressly recognise that persuasion, attention and flattery do not invalidate a Will in the absence of fraud, coercion or loss of free agency. (Paras 31-32, 51-55)B. Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Sections 68 and 69—Indian Succession Act, 1925—Sections 59 and 63—Proof and execution of Will—Attestation—Propounder examined an attesting witness, who established that the testatrix gave instructions voluntarily, understood the con...
A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Section 100—Second appeal—Substantial question of law—Concurrent findings of fact—Held, High Court cannot interfere with concurrent findings of fact merely because another view of the evidence is possible. Interference is warranted only where findings are perverse, based on no evidence or affected by an error of law. Where the findings of the Courts below are supported by the evidence on record, no ground for interference is made out. (Paras 20-21)B. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Partition—Oral partition—Family arrangement—Proof—Held, a genuine family arrangement may be oral and is not invalid merely because it is not reduced to writing. However, the party asserting such arrangement must establish its existence and the specific allotment claimed. Appellant's failure to prove oral partit...
A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order 39, Rule 2-A—Disobedience of injunction—Proof of breach—Evidence of third parties—Held, where the petitioner-company had examined its authorised signatory and two witnesses and the documentary evidence established that the respondents had sent emails to various authorities containing the alleged defamatory statements, the application could not be rejected merely for non-examination of the persons or authorities to whom such emails were addressed. The contents of the emails were self-explanatory and the trial Court’s insistence on independent evidence from the recipients was erroneous. (Paras 20-22)B. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order 39, Rule 2-A—Proceedings for breach of injunction—Appreciation of evidence—Remand—Held, rejection of an application for breach of injunction on t...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 395—Dacoity—Identification of accused—Held, where the incident allegedly involved 20 to 22 persons, who entered the house at 1.30 a.m. with their faces covered, during rainfall and absence of electricity, identification of the appellants in the light of a kerosene lamp required careful scrutiny. Mere familiarity of the witnesses with the appellants could not remove the doubt arising from the circumstances of identification. (Para 12)B. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 395, 337, 342 read with Section 34—Appreciation of evidence—Interested witnesses—Previous enmity—Held, evidence of related witnesses cannot be discarded merely on account of relationship; however, admitted partition disputes, pending civil and criminal proceedings and previous complaints between the parties were relevant c...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Sections 498-A, 306, 107—Matrimonial cruelty—Abetment of suicide—Essential ingredients—Held, mere unnatural death of a married woman or existence of matrimonial differences is insufficient to establish abetment of suicide. Prosecution must establish that the deceased committed suicide and that the accused intentionally instigated or aided its commission, satisfying the ingredients of abetment under Section 107. In absence of evidence establishing the necessary ingredients, conviction under Section 306 cannot be sustained. (Paras 17-20)B. Indian Evidence Act, 1872—Dying declaration—Reliability—Voluntariness—Medical evidence—Held, a dying declaration can form the sole basis of conviction only when the Court is satisfied that it is voluntary, truthful and made in a fit state of mind. Surrounding...
A. Constitution of India—Article 30(1)—Minority educational institution—Right to appoint Principal—Held, the right to choose and appoint a qualified Principal or Headmaster is an essential facet of the right to administer an educational institution. The State cannot impose seniority-based promotion or departmental selection procedures upon a minority institution so as to impair its autonomy; regulatory requirements may prescribe qualifications and conditions of service but cannot destroy the substantive right of choice. (Paras 8-9, 18)B. Constitution of India—Article 30(1)—Goa School Education Act, 1984—Goa School Education Rules, 1986—Rules 78, 86, 86A—Appointment of Principal—Transfer from another State—Held, a minority institution is entitled to appoint a duly qualified candidate of its choice, even if transferred...
A. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Section 483—Regular bail—Murder—Absence of specific overt act—Held, though the applicant’s house was allegedly used for bringing and assaulting the deceased, the charge-sheet material did not disclose any specific overt act of assault attributable to him. The allegations of assault were specifically directed against co-accused who had already been enlarged on bail; continued detention of the applicant pending trial was therefore not warranted. (Paras 9, 12)B. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Section 483—Regular bail—Parity—Role of co-accused—Held, where co-accused against whom specific overt acts of assault were alleged had been granted bail, and no specific overt act of assault was attributed to the applicant, the applicant was entitled to bail on the principle of ...
A. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Sections 118(a), 139—Dishonour of cheque—Statutory presumption—Legally enforceable debt—Held, admission of signature on the cheque raises the statutory presumption in favour of the holder regarding consideration and legally enforceable liability. Where the accused failed to rebut the presumption by raising a probable defence and did not lead any evidence, mere denial in the statement under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was insufficient to displace the presumption. (Paras 18-21)B. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Section 138—Dishonour of cheque—Difference between loan amount and cheque amount—Interest liability—Held, mere difference between the original loan of Rs.2,50,000 and the cheque amount of Rs.5,89,000 did not disprove the legally recoverable liability whe...
A. Goa, Daman and Diu Mamlatdar's Court Act, 1966—Section 4—Obstruction of pathway—Traditional access—Encroachment—Held, where the petitioners alleged obstruction of their traditional access to their houses through the respondents’ property, the Mamlatdar’s finding of encroachment could not be sustained merely on a general inspection report which did not specify the nature and dimensions of the obstruction or contain a map depicting the encroachment. (Paras 2, 4)B. Goa, Daman and Diu Mamlatdar's Court Act, 1966—Section 4—Joint site inspection—Survey access—Fresh enquiry—Held, where the inspection report merely recorded construction of a shed up to the edge of the gutter obstructing the pathway, without specifying the dimensions of the obstruction, the matter required fresh joint inspection by the Surveyor attached ...