A. Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017, Section 5(1)(b) read with Section 5(2)—Arrest of vessel—Sister-ship arrest—Statutory pre-conditions—For sustaining arrest under Section 5(2) read with Section 5(1)(b), it must be established that the demise charterer of the vessel was liable for the maritime claim when it arose and that such person continued to be the demise charterer or owner when the arrest was effected—Jurisdictional requirements under Section 5(1)(b) must be independently satisfied qua the vessel sought to be arrested—Where the demise charter had already been validly terminated before arrest, the foundational requirement for arrest was absent and the arrest could not be sustained. [Paras 30–33]B. Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017, Section 5(1)(b) r...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 366 and 376—Rape—Prosecutrix’s testimony—Contradictory and unreliable evidence—Where prosecutrix’s testimony regarding her alleged forcible taking and confinement was found materially contradictory, and her conduct during travel through crowded and brightly lit places, including failure to raise alarm or attempt to escape, was inconsistent with alleged forcible confinement, her testimony could not be accepted as credible for sustaining conviction under Section 376 IPC—Court cannot partially reject the same testimony for Section 366 IPC and selectively accept it for Section 376 IPC when both charges arise from an intertwined factual matrix—Conviction based on inconsistent and unreliable testimony liable to be set aside. [Paras 20–25, 28–30]B. Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 376—Ra...
A. Railways Act, 1989, Section 124-A—Untoward incident—Compensation—Bona fide passenger—Absence of railway ticket—Mere non-recovery of ticket from deceased/injured passenger does not by itself negative his status as a bona fide passenger—Initial burden lies on claimant, which may be discharged by affidavit or evidence of relevant facts, whereafter burden shifts to Railways to rebut the claim on the basis of facts and attending circumstances—Victim’s father having deposed on oath that the deceased had purchased a ticket which was subsequently lost, and Railways’ witnesses having admitted that they had not searched the victim’s pockets, Tribunal was justified in holding him to be a bona fide passenger—High Court erred in placing undue emphasis on absence of ticket—Compensation restored. [Paras 9–10]B. Railways Act,...
Penal Code, 1860, Sections 323, 341, 354B, 504, 506 and 34—Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 3(1)(r)(s)—Anticipatory bail—Interim protection—Petitioner granted interim protection by Supreme Court and thereafter joined and cooperated with investigation—Having regard to the totality of circumstances, interim protection made absolute subject to condition that petitioner shall continue to cooperate with investigation and appear before Investigating Authority as and when called upon—Special Leave Petition disposed of accordingly. [Paras 3–6]....
A. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Sections 10, 22 and 33—Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, Section 25—Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Section 35—Child custody dispute between estranged parents—Allegation of sexual assault by father upon minor daughter during pendency of custody proceedings—CBI investigation, CCTV analysis, witness statements and independent psychiatric/psychological evaluation found allegations unreliable and untrustworthy—Held, continuation of POCSO proceedings would amount to abuse of process where criminal prosecution was initiated to create a foundation for obtaining custody—FIR quashed and legal custody directed to remain with father, subject to reintegration process before Family Court with welfare of child remaining paramount. [Paras 33–36, 78–85].B. Protection of Ch...
A. Constitution of India—Article 21—Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973—Sections 391 and 367—Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Sections 432 and 408—Fair trial—Capital case—Effective legal assistance—Where the mother of the child victim, being the star prosecution witness, was cross-examined by legal-aid counsel appointed on the same day without adequate opportunity for preparation, the procedure caused prejudice and fell short of effective legal assistance—However, the defect being confined to cross-examination of one witness did not vitiate the entire trial—Further cross-examination before the Supreme Court by counsel of the accused’s choice constituted a proportionate curative measure and, upon full cross-examination and absence of residual prejudice, the infirmity stood remedied [Paras 23–26, 138].B. India...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 302—Punishment for murder—Imprisonment for life—Special category sentence—Competence of Sessions Court—Section 302 IPC prescribes death or imprisonment for life and fine, but does not expressly provide that imprisonment for life shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of the convict’s natural life without remission—Though life imprisonment ordinarily extends for the remainder of natural life, it remains subject to statutory powers of remission and commutation under Sections 432 to 435 CrPC and constitutional powers under Articles 72 and 161—A Sessions Court is competent to impose imprisonment for life under Section 302 IPC, but is not competent to impose a special category sentence directing that the convict shall remain imprisoned till the end of natural life by excluding or curtaili...
A. Constitution of India, 1950—Article 311(1)—Railway Protection Force Act, 1957—Sections 6 and 9—Railway Protection Force Rules, 1959—Rules 20 and 43, Schedules I and II—Removal from service—Authority by which appointed—The authority competent to appoint an employee for purposes of Article 311(1) must be determined from the actual appointment order read with the statutory and regulatory framework—Call letter dated 03.05.1979 issued by the Commandant, making proposed appointment conditional upon successful completion of initial training, did not constitute the operative appointment order—Battalion Order dated 04.12.1979 issued by the Assistant Commandant, expressly appointing the respondent as Rakshak upon successful completion of training with effect from that date, operated as both appointment and posting order—Sub...
A. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Section 34—Limitation—Challenge to arbitral award—Section 34 petition filed within three months from date of arbitral award—Where award was dated 25.10.2021 and petitions under Section 34 were filed on 08.12.2021, finding of High Court that petitions were barred by limitation was contrary to admitted facts and was rightly conceded to be erroneous by respondent—Petitions could not therefore be dismissed as time barred [Paras 17–21, 32].B. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Sections 2(1)(e), 11(6), 34 and 42—Territorial jurisdiction—Seat and venue of arbitration—Mere fact that arbitral proceedings were conducted at Cuttack pursuant to appointment of Arbitrator by Orissa High Court under Section 11(6) did not make Cuttack the juridical seat of arbitration—In absence of exp...
A. Constitution of India, 1950—Article 226—Public Interest Litigation—Tender validity—Challenge to award of tender involving inter-se comparative assessment of competing bidders—Where the grounds raised in PIL predominantly concern comparative assessment of the bids of two competing tenderers, validity of tender process cannot ordinarily be converted into a subject matter of PIL—More so, where the plea of wastage of public resources is not supported by work of such magnitude as to justify PIL intervention—In the present case, the unsuccessful bidder had itself complained against the successful bidder and subsequently withdrawn the complaint, and the PIL petitioner was found to be the alter ego of such unsuccessful bidder—PIL therefore involved essentially a private/inter-se tender dispute rather than a genuine issue of pub...
A. Contract Act, 1872, Section 213—Principal and agent—Liability of legal heirs of deceased agent—An agent is bound to render proper accounts to his principal on demand and, upon his death, enforceable liabilities survive against his legal heirs to the extent of the estate inherited by them—Such liability is not personal liability of the legal heirs—They are liable only to make good the loss from the estate inherited from the deceased agent. [Paras 8–10]B. Contract Act, 1872, Section 213—Principal and agent—Burden of proof—Liability of legal heirs of deceased agent—Where the agent himself is defendant, he must render and explain the accounts—Where proceedings are against legal heirs of deceased agent, their obligation is confined to producing books, vouchers and other records available with them and they cannot be re...
A. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Section 313—Examination of accused—Fair trial—Mandatory requirement—After prosecution evidence is completed, trial court is required to question the accused specifically and distinctly regarding every material circumstance appearing against him in the prosecution evidence—Such questioning enables the accused to explain the incriminating material and prepare his defence—Omission relating to material evidence, causing prejudice or miscarriage of justice, cannot be treated as a mere procedural irregularity. [Paras 16–18]B. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Section 313—Examination of accused—Violation of mandatory requirement—Trial court examined accused only with reference to testimony of one prosecution witness and certain documentary exhibits, while incriminating evidence of the rema...
A. Penal Code, 1860, Sections 307, 452—Attempt to murder—Nature of injury—Dangerous to life—Section 307 does not require that the injury caused must be grievous, dangerous to life or inflicted on a vital part of the body—Where the accused fires a gunshot with the requisite intention or knowledge and hurt is caused, the offence may be attracted even though the injury is not opined to be dangerous to life—Injured witness's unimpeached testimony corroborated by medical evidence establishing firearm injuries—Conviction under Sections 307 and 452 IPC upheld. [Paras 15–22].B. Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 3(2)(v)—Penal Code, 1860, Section 307—Ingredients—Offence against member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe—Prosecution must establish that accused is not a m...
A. Penal Code, 1860, Section 302—Murder—Eye-witness testimony—Presence at place of occurrence—Informant claiming to be an eye-witness at night from a distance of 60–70 steps—Surrounding fields covered with fully grown crops and wattage of electric bulb not established—Informant made no attempt to rescue his father or raise alarm when deceased was allegedly taken away by armed accused—Medical evidence showing only one firearm injury despite ocular allegation of firing by both accused—Material contradictions and subsequent improvements rendered informant's presence and eye-witness account highly doubtful—Conviction based on such unreliable testimony unsustainable. [Paras 25–35].B. Penal Code, 1860, Section 302—Criminal trial—Evaluation of eye-witnesses—Critical scrutiny—Mere consistency of witnesses is not conc...
A. Penal Code, 1860, Section 302—Arms Act, 1959, Section 27—Evidence Act, 1872, Section 32(1)—Murder by firearm—Appeal against conviction—Deceased sustained fatal firearm injury on back while attempting to flee—PW-2, a natural eyewitness present at deceased's shop, consistently deposed that appellant took out pistol and fired at deceased—PW-3 and PW-5 reached spot immediately after gunshot and PW-5 saw appellant fleeing from place of occurrence—Deceased also made consistent oral dying declarations before PW-2, PW-3, PW-4 and PW-6 naming appellant as assailant—Medical evidence corroborated firearm injury and homicidal death—Conviction under Sections 302 IPC and 27 Arms Act rightly affirmed. [Paras 7–9].B. Evidence Act, 1872, Section 32(1)—Oral dying declaration—Admissibility and evidentiary value—Oral dying decl...
A. Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Sections 18 and 18A(2)—Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Section 482—Anticipatory bail—Statutory bar—Sections 18 and 18A(2) expressly bar applicability of Section 438 CrPC, corresponding to Section 482 BNSS, in cases involving offences under the SC/ST Act—However, the bar operates only where the FIR or complaint, on its plain reading and without conducting a mini-trial, discloses a prima facie offence under the Act—If the necessary ingredients of the alleged offence are not made out even at first impression, the Court may consider pre-arrest bail—Where prima facie offence is disclosed, anticipatory bail is not maintainable. [Paras 6–11] B. Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atr...
A. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 166—Uttar Pradesh Motor Vehicle Rules, 1998, Rule 220A(3)—Future prospects—Deceased aged 58 years and 11 months—Where statutory Rule 220A provides a more beneficial formula than the percentage indicated in Pranay Sethi, the statutory prescription would operate—Following New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Urmila Shukla, the Court held that Rule 220A, as amended in 2011, was applicable and 20% of the income was liable to be added towards future prospects for a deceased between 50 and 60 years of age. [Paras 21–24].B. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 166—Multiplier—Deceased aged 58 years and 11 months—Second Schedule prescribing multiplier of 8 for the age group of 55–60 years—Sarla Verma, as affirmed in Pranay Sethi, prescribing multiplier of 9 for the age group of 56–60 years provi...
A. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 166—Just compensation—Notional income of deceased student—Deceased aged about 26 years, pursuing M.A. and preparing for B.Ed.—Income of an educated postgraduate student at the threshold of career cannot mechanically be equated with minimum wages of an unskilled or skilled worker—Minimum wages are only a guiding factor in absence of reliable evidence and not an absolute criterion for determining notional income—Considering educational qualification, age, earning potential and future prospects, monthly notional income assessed at Rs.15,000 instead of Rs.5,000 awarded by Tribunal. [Paras 17–29].B. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 166—Uttar Pradesh Motor Vehicle Rules, 1998, Rule 220A—Future prospects—Deceased below 40 years of age—Where statutory Rule 220A provides a more beneficial...
A. Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s)—Intentional insult or intimidation—Essential ingredients—Mere abuse, filthy language or quarrel does not constitute an offence under the Act unless the insult or intimidation is intentional and is made with the intent to humiliate the victim on the ground that he belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe—Mere fact that the complainant belongs to SC/ST community is insufficient to attract Sections 3(1)(r) or 3(1)(s)—Where the allegations and statements do not disclose the requisite caste-based intention, the statutory ingredients remain unfulfilled. [Paras 8–10, 148–167].B. Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 3(1)(r)—“Public view”—An incident occurrin...
A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 307—Attempt to murder—Essential ingredients—Intention or knowledge is the decisive requirement and not the actual consequence of the act—The prosecution must establish that the accused intended to cause death or intended to cause such bodily injury as was likely to cause death, or possessed the requisite knowledge contemplated by Section 300 IPC—The intention being a state of mind, direct evidence is ordinarily unavailable and may be inferred from the weapon used, nature and location of injuries, persistence of assault, preparations, words uttered and surrounding circumstances—The physical act need not be the penultimate act and the fact that death did not result is immaterial where the requisite intention or knowledge is established [Paras 23–23.3]. B. ...