Kerala High Court Act, 1958—Section 5—Writ Appeals—Police Protection—Civil Disputes—The writ jurisdiction under Section 5 of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958, and Article 226 of the Constitution of India, is not a substitute for civil courts in adjudicating civil rights, particularly in disputes involving property or private claims—Police protection writs primarily aim to maintain law and order and prevent cognizable offences, not to enforce civil rights where alternate civil remedies exist. (Points A, B) Police officers, under CrPC Section 149 (now Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Section 168) and Kerala Police Act, 2011 Section 27, have a duty to maintain peace and prevent offences, enforceable by mandamus in cases of inaction—However, this duty does not extend to resolving priva...

Land Acquisition Act, 1894—Public Purpose—Minority Educational Institutions—Constitutional Safeguards—Compensation—Under Section 3(f) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the definition of “public purpose” is restrictive and does not extend to land acquisition for private companies—Acquisition for educational institutions is permissible only when the scheme is sponsored or supported by the Government. (Point A) Article 30(1A) of the Constitution of India, 1950 guarantees minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions, and any compulsory acquisition affecting such institutions must not impair this constitutional right—The State is required to enact specific legislation to acquire property of minority educational institutions, ensuring compensation does not re...

A. Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988—Sections 7, 13(1)(d) r/w Section 13(2); Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 34—Illegal Gratification—To constitute an offence under Sections 7 or 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the prosecution must demonstrate both demand and acceptance of illegal gratification. Demand is an essential prerequisite and may be established through either direct or circumstantial evidence. Mere acceptance, without a prior demand, does not satisfy the legal threshold under Section 13(1)(d). Conversely, an unsolicited offer from a bribe giver that is accepted by a public servant constitutes an offence under Section 7. Presumption under Section 20 applies exclusively to Section 7 and not to Section 13(1)(d). For proceedings to withstand judicial scrutiny, particularly at the stage of quashi...

A. Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988—Allegations of Misappropriation and Discharge Plea Under Sections 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with Sections 468, 477A, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a discharge plea was considered in a case involving allegations of misappropriation, forgery, falsification of accounts, and criminal conspiracy—The prosecution based the charge of misappropriation on a rough estimate prepared by an Assistant Executive Engineer, without considering the bills and vouchers provided by the PTA, which demonstrated the actual expenditure—Key individuals who handled the funds, namely the PTA President and Secretary, were made witnesses and not accused—Additionally, there was no evidence to show that the accused personally benefited from the funds transf...

A. Hindu Marriage Act, 1955—Sections 13(1)(ia) and 13(1)(ib)—Cruelty and Desertion—Grounds for Divorce—The husband filed a petition for dissolution of marriage on grounds of cruelty and desertion—The Family Court granted the decree of divorce after considering the evidence, which included the testimony of the daughter supporting the husband’s claim of mental cruelty by the wife—The wife’s appeal against the decree was dismissed. (Paras 1–6) B. Evidence—Oral Testimony of Daughter as Witness—The daughter, though married and living separately, gave evidence corroborating the husband’s claims of mental cruelty by the wife—The Family Court found her testimony credible, and no grounds were shown to discredit it—The appellate court upheld this finding.&nb...

Banking Regulation Act, Section 45ZA(2)—Rights of Nominee in a Bank account—Appeal by brother of deceased account holder—Plaintiff are children—Plaintiffs 1 and 2 are the children of late Mayadevi and the defendant is only her brother, the plaintiffs are her natural heirs and as such they are the legal representatives of the deceased—In the above circumstances, the defendant being only a nominee is liable to disburse the amount received from the bank, to the plaintiffs. Having not done so, the trial court was justified in decreeing the suit—Therefore, I do not find any illegality or irregularity in the impugned judgment decreed passed by the trial court so as to call for any interference. (Paras 18, 20-22) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Section 7—Ceremonies for a Hindu marriage —Valid marriage...

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Order 30—The Kerala High Court held that under the Redressal of Public Grievances Rules, 1998—later substituted by the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017—only individuals who have obtained insurance policies on personal lines are eligible to file complaints before the Insurance Ombudsman—Citing Rule 13 read with Rule 4(i) and 4(k), the Court emphasized that "personal lines" mean policies taken in an individual capacity, thereby excluding incorporated companies, partnership firms, and proprietorship concerns from the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction—The Court rejected the argument that a proprietorship concern is indistinct from its owner, distinguishing prior Supreme Court rulings in the context of the Civil Procedure Code—It ruled that the Ombudsman erroneously ...

Companies Act, 2013—Sections 248—A petition under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of proceedings against a director of a dissolved company, the court addressed the legal vacuum concerning prosecution of companies post-dissolution under Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013—It was held that although dissolution under Section 250 terminates the company’s operations, liabilities incurred during its existence, including criminal liability under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), persist—Section 70 of the PMLA, read with Section 71, permits prosecution of companies and their officers, without distinguishing between existing and non-existing entities—In the absence of specific procedural provisions for prosecuting dissolved companies, prosecution may proceed either by restoring the compan...

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Section 13—Appeal by husband to impugn order granted divorce—Wife filed petition for Divorce on the ground of cruelty—It is in evidence that marital life of the couple is dead both emotionally and practically and there is no chance of it being retrieved and it is better to bring the marriage to an end, as rightly held by the Family Court—Hence, the petitioner/wife is entitled to get divorce under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act. (Para 19) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Section 13—Appeal by husband to impugn order granted divorce—Wife filed petition for Divorce on the ground of desertion—Petition filed without completing 2 years of separation—This ground rejected. ...

  Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Section 13B—Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, Section 125—During mutual consent divorce, the amount paid by husband to be proved—If no proof, wife has right to claim maintenance—Divorce by mutual consent, in which wife relinquished the entire claim—Revision petition by husband—The Family Court considered the matter in detail in the impugned order—The Family Court observed that, in cross-examination of CPW1, he admitted that he is not in possession of any document evidencing that he had paid a sum of Rs.3,00,000/- to the 1st petitioner during the pendency of the joint application for divorce—It is also observed that no witnesses have also been examined to support such a contention—After considering the entire facts, the Family Court found that the resp...