Calcutta High Court
'State Cannot Sleep For 20 Years & Recover Salary Before Retirement': Calcutta High Court Quashes Recovery Against Indian Museum Employee
Holding that the State cannot resurrect decades-old service decisions to penalise a blameless employee on the eve of retirement, the Calcutta High Court quashed a show-cause notice and recovery proceedings initiated against a Hindi Translator nearly 19 years after his financial upgradations and pay fixations had been repeatedly approved and acted upon. Justice Ananya Bandyopadhyay observed...
Sudden Fight Between Brothers Over Parents' Care Leading To Death Not Murder: Calcutta High Court Reduces Life Term To 14 Yrs
The Calcutta High Court has converted the conviction of two brothers from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, holding that a fatal assault arising out of a sudden family quarrel over responsibility for maintaining aged parents lacked premeditation and therefore did not attract Section 302 of the IPC. A Division Bench comprising Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Ajay...
Maintenance Tribunal Cannot Order Eviction Of Children Under Senior Citizens Act: Calcutta High Court
Holding that the Maintenance Tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 has no jurisdiction to direct eviction of children from property in proceedings under Sections 4 and 5 of the Act, the Calcutta High Court has ruled that the Tribunal's powers are confined to granting monthly maintenance and cannot be stretched to order vacating of...
Woman Forced Out Of Matrimonial Home Can Initiate DV Case From Shelter; Economic Abuse Creates Continuing Cause Of Action: Calcutta HC
The Calcutta High Court has held that a woman who takes refuge in a rented accommodation after being driven out of her matrimonial home can invoke the jurisdiction of the court within whose limits she is temporarily residing, and that continuing economic deprivation by the husband constitutes a recurring cause of action under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Setting...
Calcutta High Court Enhances Motor Accident Compensation; Says GPF & Insurance Deductions Cannot Reduce Income For Calculating Dependency
The Calcutta High Court has enhanced the compensation awarded to the family of a bus accident victim, holding that while computing income for motor accident claims, only statutory deductions like income tax or professional tax can be excluded and not savings such as GPF or group insurance contributions. The Court observed that such contributions are deferred benefits payable back to the...
Final Partition Decree Liable To Stamp Duty Even If Physical Division Not Possible: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has held that a final decree passed in a partition suit, which conclusively determines the shares of the parties and incorporates a commissioner's partition plan, constitutes an “instrument of partition” under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and is therefore liable to stamp duty, even where physical division of the property by metes and bounds is not feasible. The...
Cut-Off Marks Can't Be Introduced Midway In Recruitment; Similarly Placed Candidates Entitled To Same Relief: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has held that recruiting authorities cannot introduce qualifying or cut-off marks for interview after commencement of the selection process, and once such illegality is struck down in respect of one candidate, other similarly placed candidates must ordinarily be granted the same benefit to avoid discrimination under Article 14.A Division Bench comprising Justice...
30 Years Of Inaction By Employer Cannot Defeat Compassionate Appointment; Age Bar Can't Be Invoked After Management's Delay: Calcutta HC
Holding that an employer cannot defeat a dependent's claim for compassionate appointment by sitting over the matter for decades and then raising an age bar, the Calcutta High Court refused to interfere with an Industrial Tribunal award directing employment to the son of a deceased coal worker. The Court observed that keeping a dependent waiting for nearly 30 years without either granting...
Minister Appointing Contractual Employee In Secretariat Without Sanctioned Post Is 'Lawlessness', Misuse Of Funds: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has held that a purely contractual employee cannot claim continuation or renewal of service as a matter of right after expiry of the contractual term, and that a Minister cannot bypass statutory procedure to appoint an individual in the secretariat without a sanctioned post or recruitment process. Observing that such backdoor engagement amounts to misuse of public...
Will Must Be Respected Unless Suspicious Circumstances Are Proved; Unequal Distribution Not Grounds To Deny Probate: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has reiterated that probate proceedings are concerned only with the genuineness of a will and not with the fairness of distribution among heirs, holding that mere delay in seeking probate or unequal bequests cannot, by themselves, amount to suspicious circumstances. Emphasising that courts must respect the last wishes of a testator once due execution and attestation...
Moving From Chowkidar To MPA/FGM Passing Trade Test Is Promotion, Not Entitled For Second ACP: Calcutta HC
A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen held that movement from the post of Chowkidar/ General Mazdoor to Motor Pump Attendant (MPA)/Fitter General Mechanic (FGM) after clearing a trade test amounts to promotion and not reclassification, hence employees who have already been promoted are not entitled to benefits...
Calcutta High Court Acquits Convicts In Almost 40-Year-Old Culpable Homicide Case, Cites Witnesses' "Unnatural Conduct"
The Calcutta High Court has set aside the conviction of several persons in a nearly four-decade-old culpable homicide case, holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt as the evidence of related eyewitnesses was riddled with contradictions, their conduct appeared wholly unnatural, the very genesis of the FIR was doubtful, and the investigation suffered...