A. Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Order XII Rule 6—Decree on admission—A formal application under Order XII Rule 6 CPC is not mandatory for passing a decree on the basis of clear, categorical and unambiguous admissions contained in the pleadings—Court can suo motu exercise power to grant decree on admission. [Para 26] B. Co-ownership—Suit for possession and recovery of rent—A co-owner is competent to institute a suit for possession and recovery of rent against a tenant without impleading other co-owners—A decree passed in favour of one co-owner does not prejudice the rights of other co-owners. [Paras 29, 30] C. Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958—Section 50—Bar of jurisdiction—Urbanization of area—Bar under Section 50 is not attracted in the absence of a notification extending t...

A.Industrial Disputes Act, 1947—Section 33C(2)—Jurisdiction of Labour Court—Labour Court, while exercising powers under Section 33C(2), cannot adjudicate upon a disputed entitlement—Its jurisdiction is confined to computation of benefits flowing from a pre-existing, recognised, or adjudicated right—Where the very basis of entitlement is in dispute, the matter requires adjudication under Section 10 of the Act. [Paras 15, 23–25, 29, 31–33, 37] B. ndustrial Disputes Act, 1947—Section 33C(2)—Applicability of settlements—Where entitlement is claimed under subsequent settlements and such entitlement itself is disputed, and there is no prior adjudication or recognition of the right, the Labour Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the claim under Section 33C(2). [Paras 19, 29, 35, 36...

A. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Section 11(6)—Appointment of arbitrator—Pre-arbitration mechanism—Disputes arose under works contract containing Clause 25 of the General Conditions of Contract providing for mandatory pre-arbitration procedure—Petitioner exhausted the pre-arbitration mechanism and issued notice under Section 21, but respondent failed to respond—Requirements for invocation of arbitration having been satisfied, Court appointed an arbitrator for adjudication of disputes. [Paras 1–10] B. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Limitation—Exclusion of COVID-19 period—For computing limitation for invoking arbitration, period from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 stood excluded in terms of orders passed in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 3/2020—Notice invoking a...

A. Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Section 96—Order XLI—Order XII Rule 6—Appeal—Decree on admission—Trial Court decreed suit for recovery of possession, permanent injunction, arrears of rent, mesne profits and maintenance charges by allowing application under Order XII Rule 6—Essential ingredients, namely existence of landlord-tenant relationship and admitted rate of rent, stood established—Defence of oral settlement and vacation of premises rejected, as possession of tenant’s wife remained juridical possession of tenant and no independent tenancy arose—Trial Court rightly passed decree on admission—Appeal dismissed. [Paras 1, 33–47] B. Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Order XII Rule 6—Judgment on admission—Admissions in written statement and statement under...

A. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947—Section 10(1) read with Section 10(2A)—Reference of industrial dispute—Where earlier award dated 15.09.1989 of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal held that no employer-employee relationship existed between contractual workers and the principal employer, and the said award was upheld up to the Supreme Court, no industrial dispute survived—Consequently, reference order dated 10.05.2016 was unsustainable—Single Judge rightly quashed the reference and appeal dismissed. [Paras 1, 2, 10, 12, 13, 19–21] B. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947—Section 10(1)—Constitution of India—Article 226—Interference with reference—Though ordinarily courts do not interfere with a reference made under Section 10(1), High Court can exercise jurisdiction under A...

A. Specific Relief Act, 1963—Section 31—Cancellation of instrument—Maintainability—A suit under Section 31 can be filed by “any person” against whom a written instrument is void or voidable and who has a reasonable apprehension of serious injury if left outstanding—The expression includes a person claiming derivative title and is not restricted to the executant of the instrument—Relief is available against an instrument executed by a person who is not a stranger to the asserted title—Respondent No. 1, claiming derivative title from Respondent No—2, was entitled to seek cancellation of the subsequent agreement to sell executed in favour of the appellant, as it affected her asserted rights—A contention raised for the first time in appeal and not urged before the Trial Court w...

A. Railways Act, 1989—Section 124-A—Untoward incident—Bona fide passenger—In a claim for compensation under Section 124-A arising out of death in an untoward incident, recovery of a valid journey ticket from the deceased establishes him as a bona fide passenger—Once such recovery and verification remain unchallenged, the burden shifts upon the Railways to disprove bona fide travel—Uncontroverted evidence of recovery of the ticket is sufficient to hold the deceased a bona fide passenger. [Paras 7–8] B. Railways Act, 1989—Section 124-A—Untoward incident—Suicide or accidental fall—Determination—Where contemporaneous records consistently describe the incident as a person being “run over” without attributing it to suicide, and the loco pilot’s statemen...

A. Constitution of India—Article 226—Judicial review—Transfer of employee—Scope of interference—Limited jurisdiction—Transfer being an incident of service, employee has no vested right to be posted at a particular place—Judicial review under Article 226 is limited to cases of mala fides, statutory violation or patent arbitrariness—Where transfer effected pursuant to policy and Supreme Court directions, and based on administrative exigencies and availability of vacancies, no interference warranted—Tribunal rightly declined interference. [Paras 16–18, 27–29] B. Service Law—Transfer policy—Medical grounds—Reasonable accommodation—Applicability of disability law—Requirement of proof—Claim for accommodation on medical grounds must sati...

A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order XII Rule 6—Decree on admission—Requirement of clear and unequivocal admission—A decree on admission can be passed only where the admission is clear, unambiguous, and leaves no room for doubt—Where the defendant’s written statement reproduces the plaintiff’s averments regarding outstanding rent but simultaneously denies non-payment and asserts timely payment, the pleadings disclose a dispute raising triable issues—In such circumstances, passing a decree on admission is unwarranted and the matter requires full trial. (Paras 14 to 18) B. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order XII Rule 6—Reproduction of pleadings—Not an admission—Holistic reading of written statement—Mere reproduction of the plaintiff’s pleadings in the w...

A. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Section 37—Appeal against order under Section 34—Scope of interference—Limited judicial review—While exercising jurisdiction under Section 37, the appellate court does not rehear the matter on merits or sit in appeal over findings of fact recorded by the arbitral tribunal—Interference is warranted only where the court under Section 34 has ignored settled parameters or where findings suffer from patent illegality, perversity, or manifest error—Legislative intent is to minimise judicial intervention and accord finality to arbitral awards—Where the learned Single Judge has applied the correct principles and the findings disclose no manifest error, appellate interference is unwarranted and the appeals are liable to be dismissed. (Paras 1 to 3, 25 to 28, ...