Contempt of Courts Act, 1971—Civil Contempt—Non-Payment of Royalty—Unquantified Monetary Liability—Scope and Maintainability—Held, where the original orders passed in Civil Miscellaneous Appeals fixed only the rate of royalty (2% of net advertisement earnings subject to a minimum floor rate) but did not quantify the final executable amount, non-payment thereof does not amount to willful or deliberate disobedience so as to attract civil contempt—Contempt jurisdiction cannot be invoked as a substitute for execution, particularly in cases involving unquantified money claims—The proper remedy lies in seeking quantification and execution under Section 75 of the Copyright Act, 1957, upon issuance of a certificate by the Registrar of the High Court, and not by initiating contempt proceedings.—It wa...

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023—Sections 223(1), 528 and 531(2)(a)—Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002—Section 44—Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 197—Cognizance—Supplementary Complaint—Sanction—Applicability of BNSS to Pending Proceedings—Held, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) having come into force on 01.07.2024, its procedural provisions, including Section 223(1) mandating hearing before taking cognizance, do not apply to criminal proceedings that were pending immediately prior to the commencement of BNSS. In view of Section 531(2)(a) BNSS, all such pending proceedings are required to continue under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (erstwhile Code). The expression “pending” denotes that the proceedings were not concluded an...

Indian Succession Act, 1925—Section 63(c)—Evidence Act, 1872—Section 68—Proof of Will—Registered Will—Appreciation of Evidence—Effect on Partition Suit—Held, a Will can be validly proved by examining at least one attesting witness, provided such witness is alive and capable of giving evidence, and satisfactorily proves the signature of the testator and attestation by witnesses in the presence of the testator, in compliance with Section 63(c) of the Indian Succession Act and Section 68 of the Evidence Act—Once due execution is established through one attesting witness, examination of other attesting witnesses is not mandatory.—Where attesting witnesses depose after a long lapse of time (about eight years from execution), minor inconsistencies or inability to recall minute details ...

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Sections 34(2)(b)(ii), 34(2A) and 16—Setting Aside of Arbitral Award—Unexplained Delay—Public Policy and Patent Illegality—Award of Interest—Scope of Interference—Held, an arbitral award pronounced after an unexplained and inordinate delay of more than seven years from the conclusion of arguments (arguments concluded on 24.11.2013; award passed on 30.07.2020) is liable to be interfered with under Section 34, as such delay strikes at the very root of fairness, certainty, and credibility of the arbitral process—While delay per se is not an automatic ground to set aside an award, where the delay remains wholly unexplained and demonstrably impacts the quality, reasoning, and fairness of the decision, the award stands vitiated as being in conflict with the p...

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Sections 34 and 37—Scope of Judicial Interference—Patent Illegality—Severable Modification of Arbitral Award—Held, while exercising jurisdiction under Section 34, the High Court cannot sit in appeal over an arbitral award or reappreciate evidence merely because another view is possible—Interference is permissible only where the award suffers from perversity, patent illegality, or manifest disregard of the contract or evidence—Findings of the Arbitral Tribunal regarding reduction of construction rates for the ground and first floors, based on implied acquiescence of the respondent to reduced steel consumption, constituted a plausible view on evidence and warranted no interference—Likewise, rejection of rate reduction for the second floor and dismissal of...

Registration Act, 1908—Section 28—Tamil Nadu Panchayat Building Rules, 1970—Rule 18—Layout Approval—Land Earmarked for Community Purposes (LECP)—Estoppel against Local Bodies—Validity of Title—Validity of registration outside local jurisdiction: Prior to the Registration (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1997, there was no absolute prohibition against registering a sale deed in a Sub-Registrar Office other than the one having territorial jurisdiction over the entire immovable property, so long as the whole or a portion of the property was situate within the jurisdiction of that office—Any defect relating to stamp duty or registration fee could be cured by payment of differential duty and fees under Section 19-B of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, and such documents cannot thereafter be declared i...

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996—Sections 9, 36; Civil Procedure Code, 1908—Order XXI—Interim Measures and Enforcement of Arbitral Award—Maintainability of Section 9 Applications Post-Award: Applications under Section 9 for interim measures are only maintainable before an award is enforced—Once an award becomes enforceable and an execution petition is filed, Section 9 cannot be invoked as a substitute for enforcement under Section 36—Delay in initiating enforcement renders post-award Section 9 applications inadmissible—Relief against third parties requires separate proof, and lifting the corporate veil cannot be lightly presumed without evidence of fraud or misuse of corporate structure—Enforcement after award maturity is governed by CPC provisions, including Order XXI. (Paras 9, 18, 2...

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC)—Section 96, Order 41 Rule 1—First Appeal—Specific Performance and Refund—Plaintiff filed a suit seeking specific performance of a sale agreement and injunction, alternatively claiming refund of advance with interest—The Trial Court dismissed the suit—On appeal, the High Court upheld the dismissal of the specific performance and injunction claims but allowed the alternate relief of refund of the advance amount with interest. (Para 34) ...

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Section 138—Dishonour of Cheque—Compounding of Offence—Compromise—After conviction and dismissal of appeal, the parties entered into a compromise—The High Court allowed compounding of the offence, setting aside the conviction and sentence—The Court observed that the object of the Negotiable Instruments Act is primarily compensatory, not punitive, and recognized the spirit of compromise between the parties. (Paras 21, 26–28) ...

A. Service Law—Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS)—Estate—Nomination—Benefits under the CPS form part of the deceased employee’s estate—Unlike non-contributory pension schemes, CPS amounts are quantified and can be diverted from natural succession—Nominees act as trustees and do not acquire absolute ownership—Legal heirs are entitled to claim their rightful share according to succession law. (Paras 10–14, 25, 31) B. Service Law—Family Benefit Fund and Special Provident Fund (SPF 2K)—Estate—Nomination—Amounts under the Family Benefit Fund Scheme and Special Provident Fund – 2000 Scheme are part of the deceased employee’s estate—Nominees merely act as trustees to receive funds on behalf of legal heirs—Succession rights of heirs are not ove...