Supreme Court Weekly Round Up

Update: 2019-02-11 05:30 GMT

Section 38 Specific Relief Act: Plaintiff Has To Prove His Actual Possession On The Date Of Filing The Suit [Balakrishna Dattatraya Galande V. Balakrishna Rambharose Gupta] The Supreme Court observed that in a suit filed under Section 38 of the Specific Relief Act, permanent injunction can be granted only to a person who is in actual possession of the property on the date of...

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Section 38 Specific Relief Act: Plaintiff Has To Prove His Actual Possession On The Date Of Filing The Suit [Balakrishna Dattatraya Galande V. Balakrishna Rambharose Gupta]

The Supreme Court observed that in a suit filed under Section 38 of the Specific Relief Act, permanent injunction can be granted only to a person who is in actual possession of the property on the date of suit.

Suit In Respect To Properties Situated In Jurisdiction Of Different Courts Can Be Instituted In One Of Those Courts [Shivnarayan V.Manik Lal]

The Supreme Court observed that, a suit in respect to immovable property or properties situate in jurisdiction of different courts may be instituted in any court within whose local limits of jurisdiction, any portion of the property or one or more properties may be situated. The bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice KM Joseph observed that interpretation of word "portion of the property" in Section 17 CPC cannot only be understood in a limited and restrictive sense of being portion of one property situated in jurisdiction of two courts.

Civil Court Has No Jurisdiction When There Is A Dispute As To Whether Suit Property Is Wakf Or Not [Punjab Wakf Board V. Sham Singh Harike]

The Supreme Courtobserved that when issue in the suit is as to whether suit property is Wakf property or not, it is required to be decided by the Tribunal and the Civil Court would have no jurisdiction. The bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice KM Joseph were considering appeals filed by Punjab Wakf Board against two orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in different cases.

Magistrate Is Not Required To Record Reasons For Summoning Accused in Cases Instituted On Police Report [State of Gujarat V. Afroz Mohammed Hasanfatta]

Allowing appeal against a Gujarat High Court Judgment the bench of Justices R. Banumathi and Indira Banerjee has explained the procedure to be adopted by a Magistrate in a case instituted upon a Police Report. The Bench observed that in summoning the accused, it is not necessary for the Magistrate to examine the merits and demerits of the case and whether the materials collected is adequate for supporting the conviction.

ESI Act: Company Directors, Who Receive Remuneration, Are Also 'Employees' [Employees' State Insurance Corporation vs. Venus Alloy Pvt. Ltd.]

The Supreme Court held that Directors of Company, who are receiving remuneration, comes within the purview of "employee" under sub-section (9) of Section 2 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948.

Sec.43 TP Act - Transfer By Erroneous Representation Of Title Will Hold Good If Transferor Acquires Title Later [Tanu Ram Bora V. PramodCh Das]

Applying the principle of "feeding the grant by estoppel" under Section 43 of the Transfer of Property Act, the Supreme Court granted relief to a party, who was misled to purchase a property by erroneous representation of title by the vendor.

Lieutenant General (Rtd) Cannot Be Tried In A General Court Martial Consisting Of Members Below His Rank [Ex.Lt. Gen. Avadhesh Prakash V. Union of India]

The Supreme Court observed that an army officer holding the rank of Lieutenant General cannot be tried by the General Court Martial (GCM) consisting of members below his rank. The bench comprising Justice AK Sikri, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice MR Shah, was considering an appeal filed by Ex. Lt. Gen. Avadhesh Prakash who was dismissed from service by the GCM for his alleged involvement in 'Sukna Land Scam'.

Proof Of Grievous/Life Threatening Hurt Not Necessary For Conviction Under Section 307 IPC [Attempt To Murder] [The State of Madhya Pradesh V. Kanha @ Omprakash]

The Supreme Court observed that proof of grievous or life-threatening hurt is not a sine qua non for the offence under Section 307 [Attempt to Murder] of the Indian Penal Code. The bench comprising Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah set aside the Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment that had acquitted the accused from attempt to murder charges on the ground that there was no evidence to prove that the injuries caused to the deceased were grievous in nature or life-threatening.

Arbitral Tribunal Cannot Award Interest If Agreement expressly Bars Its Payment [Jiprakash Associates LTd. V. Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Inida Ltd.]

The Supreme Court has reiterated that arbitrator cannot award interest on award if the agreement expressly prohibits grant of interest. The bench of Justices A K Sikri, Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah dismissed an appeal to uphold a judgment of Delhi High Court, which had set aside an arbitration award to the extent it granted interest overlooking the prohibition in the agreement.

Irregularity In Local Commissioner's Report Not A Ground To Dismiss The Suit: SC [Ram Lal V. Salig Ram]

The Supreme Courtobserved that a civil suit could not be dismissed merely for some irregularity in the report of the Local Commissioner appointed for local investigation.

Private Complaint Alleging Offence Under Section 193 IPC Not Maintainable [SH Narendra Kumar Srvastava V. State of Bihar]

The Supreme Courtreiterated that a private complaint alleging an offence under Section 193 IPC [False Evidence in Judicial Proceedings] is not maintainable. The bench comprising Justice AK Sikri and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer upheld the Patna High Court order that had set aside a Magistrate's order taking cognizance of the offence under the said provision on the basis of a private complaint.

Section 115 CPC: Revision Petition Not Maintainable Against Interlocutory Orders

The Supreme Court reiterated that revision petitions filed under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure are not maintainable against interlocutory orders. We are constrained to observe that every legal canon has been thrown to the winds, this is how the bench comprising Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran described the impugned judgment in the appeal which allowed a revision petition against an interlocutory order.

138 NI Act- Subsequent Filling Of An Unfilled Signed Cheque Is Not An Alteration [Bir Singh V. Mukesh Kumar]

The Supreme Court has held that subsequent filling in of an unfilled signed cheque is not an alteration and even a blank cheque leaf, voluntarily signed and handed over by the accused, which is towards some payment, would attract presumption under Section 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, in the absence of any cogent evidence to show that the cheque was not issued in discharge of a debt.

Writ Courts Can Order Revaluation Even When There Is No Provision For It [High Court of Tripura vs. Tirtha Sarathi Mukherjee]

The Supreme Court held that a writ court is not powerless in 'rare and exceptional' cases to order revaluation even in cases where there is no provision for revaluation. The benchcomprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice KM Joseph set aside the High court judgment on the other grounds raised in the appeal.

Court Has To Confine Itself To The Four Corners Of 'Disobeyed' Order While Exercising Contempt Jurisdiction [Er. K. Arumugam vs. V. Balakrishnan]

The Supreme Court reiterated that, while exercising the contempt jurisdiction, the court has to confine itself to the four corners of the order alleged to have been disobeyed. The bench comprising Justice R. Banumathi and Justice R. Subhash Reddy made this observation in an appeal challenging a Madras High Court order in a contempt case, which passed directions beyond the order allegedly disobeyed.

Haj-HGOs Policy 2019- 2023: Courts Are Ill-Equipped To Substitute Policy Decisions By Executive, Says SC [Federation Haj PTOs of India V. Union of India]

While disposing of writ petitions challenging certain conditions in the Policy for Haj Group Organisers for Haj 2019-23, the Supreme Court observed that it is not within the realm of the courts to go into the issue as to whether there could have been a better policy. The bench comprising Justice AK Sikri, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice MR Shah observed that in complex social, economic and commercial matters, decisions have to be taken by governmental authorities keeping in view several factors and it is not possible for the courts to consider competing and to conclude which way the balance tilts.

Liberty Granted By Court To Pursue Appropriate Remedy Does Not Bar Application Of Constructive Res Judicata [Asgar vs. Mohan Verma]

The Supreme Court observed that liberty granted by court to avail 'appropriate remedies' to a party does not bar application of principle of constructive res judicata when he/she invokes such a remedy. In this case

Job Experience As Assistant Company Secretary/Management Trainee Cannot Be Treated 'As' That Of Company Secretary [Ritu Bhatia V. Ministry of Civil supplies consumer affairs & Public Distribution]

The Supreme Court observed that Job Experience as Assistant Company Secretary or a Management Trainee cannot be treated 'as' that of a Company Secretary. The issue before the bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice MR Shah was whether, the period during which a candidate worked as 'Management Trainee' and/or 'Assistant Company Secretary' be considered for treating him/her been appointed 'as' a Company Secretary, when the eligibility criteria mentioned in the advertisement stipulated experience of five years 'as' a Company Secretary and/or, can it be said that.

Revenue Record Entries Can Be Challenged On The Ground That It Was Made Fraudulently Or Surreptitiously [Dharam Singh vs. Prem Singh]

The Supreme Court reiterated that the entries in the revenue records can be challenged on the ground that it was made fraudulently or surreptitiously. The bench comprising of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice KM Joseph agreed with the High Court view that although correctness of entries in the revenue records cannot be challenged but entries are open to attack on the ground that it was made fraudulently or surreptitiously

Edible oil, Vanaspati and Sugar Are 'Agricultural Produce': SC Dismisses Britannia's Appeal [Britannia Industries Ltd. V.Bombay Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee]

Dismissing Britannia's appeal, the Supreme Court upheld the Bombay High Court ruling that "edible oil", "Vanaspati" and "sugar" are 'agricultural produce' within the meaning of Section 2(1) (a) of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1963.

'Long Pendency' Amounts To A 'Special Reason' For Imposing Lesser Penalty In Corruption Case Involving Meager Bribe Amount [Ambi Ram V. State of Uttarakhand]

The Supreme Court reduced punishment imposed on a man who was convicted for receiving a bribe of Rs. 1200 in the year 1985, to 'period already undergone'.

SC-ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act: Sentence Less Than The Minimum Prescribed By The Act Cannot Be Imposed [State of Madhya Pradesh V. Vikram Das]

The Supreme Court observed that a sentence lesser than the minimum sentence prescribed by the statute cannot be imposed. The court was dealing with an appeal against High court order which had reduced a convict's sentence to period already undergone.

NCLT Has No Jurisdiction To Enquire Into Justness Of Rejection Of The Resolution Plan [K. Sashidhar V. Indian Overseas Bank]

The Supreme Court observed that National Company Law Tribunal has no jurisdiction and authority to analyse or evaluate the commercial decision of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to enquire into the justness of the rejection of the resolution plan by the dissenting financial creditors.

Plea Of Maintainability Cannot Be Raised For First Time In Appeal, Revision Or Art.227 Proceedings [Deepak Tandon&Anr. V. Rajesh Kumar Gupta]

The Supreme Court bench of Justices A M Sapre and Dinesh Maheswarifound fault with a judgment of Allahabad High Court for setting aside an eviction order on the ground of maintainability, which was raised for the first time in HC in proceedings under Article 227 of the Constitution of India

Was He A Juvenile At The Time Of Occurrence? SC Asks 18 Years After Affirming Death Sentence [Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary V. State of Maharashtra]

The Supreme Court directed the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Pune, to decide the juvenility of a murder convict at the time of commission of offence, whose death sentence was upheld by the Apex court in the year 2000.

Don't Deprive Litigants Of Valuable Rights Just For Their Lawyer's Default[Thr Commissioner, Mysore Urban Development Authority V. S.S.Sarvesh]

Emphasizing the need to do 'substantial justice', the Supreme Court observed that valuable right of a litigant to prosecute an appeal should not be deprived merely because of non-appearance of his lawyer.

SC Upholds Constitutional Validity Of UP Higher Judicial Service Rules Stipulating Cut Off Dates And Age Limit [Hirandra Kumar V. High Court of Judicature at Allahabad]

The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutional validity of Rule 12 of the Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service Rules, 1975 which provides cut-off date for the fulfillment of the age criterion (35-45), as the first day of January next following the year in which the notice inviting applications is published.

Linkage of PAN With Aadhaar Mandatory, Reiterates SC

Linkage of PAN with Aadhar is mandatory, said the Supreme Court while disposing a special leave petition against a Delhi High Court order which it passed before the Constitution bench judgment in Aadhaar case.

Whether Sales Tax Payable On Free Replacement Of Defective Parts During Warranty Period : SC Refers Issue To Larger Bench

A two judges' bench of the Supreme Court referred to larger bench the issue whether sales tax in respect of the free replacement of defective parts in motor vehicles, during the period of warranty.

SC Asks ECI To Process TTV Dhinakaran's Application For Allotment Of Election Symbol If Delhi HC Does Not Decide The Case Within 4 Weeks

In a relief to T.T.V. Dhinakaran, the Supreme Court vacated its order keeping in abeyance the Delhi High Court order that had directed the Election Commission of India to consider permitting him and his group to use a common symbol of "Pressure Cooker".

Accused Who Did Not Appear On The Date Of Judgment Not Entitled To Seek Judgment Copy As Of Right

The Supreme Courtobserved that, an accused who did not appear before the Court on the date of judgment cannot as of right seek for supply of the copy of the judgment.

National Policy For Treatment Of Rare Diseases : SC Seeks Views Of Centre, States.

The Supreme Court sought to know the stand of the Centre and that of all States and Union Territories barring Delhi, Jharkhand and Sikkim on constitution of a committee to examine the case of patients of rare diseases for financial assistance and identifying hospitals for their diagnosis and treatment under the National Policy for Treatment of Rare Diseases, 2017.

SC Reserves Judgment InSabarimala Review Petitions

After a marathon hearing which lasted from morning till 3 PM, the Supreme Court constitution benchreserved judgment in a bunch of review petitions filed against the September 28 judgment, which declared right of women of all age groups to enter the temple.

SC Asks Lawyer To Approach ECI With Plea Against Misuse Of Election Conduct Rules

The Supreme Court asked an advocate to approach the Election Commission of India with his plea for measures to stop misuse of Conduct of Election Rules as per which an MLA has to cast vote in Rajya Sabha polls with the instrument/article (pen with indigo ink) supplied by the Secretariat.

CBI vs Mamata : SC Directs CP Rajeev Kumar To Appear Before CBI,CBI Can't Arrest Him, Issues Notice In Contempt Petition

The Supreme Court directed the Kolkata City Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to make himself available for investigation by CBI in relation to Saradha chit fund scam case. The CBI has been restrained from arresting Kumar. The questioning of Police Commissioner has been directed to be made at a neutral place, Shillong.

SC Dismisses Tejashwi Yadav's Challenge Against Order To Vacate Govt Bunglow; Imposes Rs.50,000 Costs

The Supreme Court dismissed former Bihar deputy chief minister TejashwiYadav's plea, challenging the Patna High Court order asking him to vacate the government bungalow meant for the deputy chief minister, and ordered him to shift to an accommodation for the leader of the opposition. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) leader for challenging the decision.

Notice To Lawyer Prashant Bhushan On Contempt Petitions Filed By AG & Centre

The Supreme Court issued notice on the petitions filed against Advocate Prashant Bhushan for his tweets stating that the Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal had misled the Court by submitting that the appointment of interim CBI Director Nageshwar Rao had the approval of the High Powered Selection Committee.

"Enough Is Enough", SC Transfers Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case From Bihar To Delhi

The Supreme Court ordered the transfer of the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case from Bihar to a court in New Delhi and slammed the state government for its management of shelter homes. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said the cases should be transferred from the Bihar CBI court to a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Saket trial court within two weeks.

Contempt Of Court : SC Summons Ex- CBI Interim Director Nageswara Rao In Muzaffarpur Case

The Supreme Court came down heavily on CBI for transferring its former Joint Director A K Sharma, who was probing Bihar's shelter home cases, out of the agency in violation of the court's order and directed its then interim chief M Nageswara Rao to personally appear before it on February 12.

SC To Look Into Sikh Advocate's Request To Allow Kirpan Inside Court Premises

The Supreme Court, assured a Sikh lawyer that it will look into his grievance that he has repeatedly been denied entry to the Apex Court for carrying a Kirpan.

Economic Reservation : SC Agrees For Early Hearing Of Petitions Challenging EWS Quota

The Supreme Court issued notice on a fresh petition by Congress leader TehseenPoonawalla challenging the Constitutional (103rd Amendment) Act of 2019 which introduced the 10% EWS (Economically-Weaker Sections) quota.

'Mayawati Should Reimburse Public Money Spent On Statues', SC Remarks Orally

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi orally remarked that BahujanSamajwadi Party (BSP) SupremoMayawati should reimburse the public money she had spent for installing statues of herself and the party symbol 'elephant' at public places.

Governing Scheme To Consider Applications For Compassionate Appointment: SC Refers To Larger Bench

Which scheme would apply to applications seeking compassionate appointments when the original scheme under which appointment on compassionate grounds could be made, was substituted by one under which only ex gratia payment would be made over to the dependants? The Supreme Court has referred this question to a larger bench.

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