Jharkhand High Court Weekly Round-Up: January 08 To January 14, 2024

Rahul Yadav @ Hari Kumar Yadav, vs. The State of Jharkhand & Anr 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 1

Gautam Kumar Banarjee vs. Dr. C.P. Vidyarthi & Anr 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 2

Steel Authority of India Ltd vs. The State of Jharkhand and others 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 3

CTET Utteern Abhiyarthi Sangh vs. State of Jharkhand 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 4

Branch Manager, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance vs. Binita Toppo and others 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 5

Satyendra Singh Kushwah vs The State of Jharkhand and Anr 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 6

Manoj Kumar @ Manoj Sao vs The State of Jharkhand and Anr 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 7

Rina Kumari vs The State of Jharkhand and Ors 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 8

Judgements/Orders This Week

POCSO Act | Repeatedly Following, Watching Or Contacting Child With Sexual Intent Amounts To Sexual Harassment : Jharkhand High Court

Case Title: Rahul Yadav @ Hari Kumar Yadav, vs. The State of Jharkhand & Anr

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 1

The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that engaging in persistent acts of following, watching, or contacting a child with sexual intent constitutes sexual harassment under Section 11(4) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

Justice Subhash Chand observed, “In the FIR itself, it has been stated that the minor victim girl of the informant was sexually harassed by the teacher of the school he used to tease her. He was also having evil eye so the complaint was made against him to the Principal of the school and he was removed from the post of teacher from that school. Thereafter, he had threatened to see them.”

MACT Can't Disbelieve Claimant's Testimony Regarding Monthly Income In Absence Of Rebuttal Evidence By Opposing Party: Jharkhand High Court

Case Title: Gautam Kumar Banarjee vs. Dr. C.P. Vidyarthi & Anr

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 2

The Jharkhand High Court has observed that a Motor Accident Claim Tribunal is not entitled to discredit the sworn testimony of a claimant regarding their income unless there is counteracting evidence presented by the opposing party.

Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed, “It appears that learned tribunal while deciding the income of the claimant failed to take into notice the evidence on oath of the claimant and there was no rebuttal evidence from opposite parties to cast any doubt in respect of monthly income of the claimant.”

Heavy Earth Moving Vehicles Under MVA Can Only Be Driven By Licensed Individuals: Jharkhand High Court

Case Title: Steel Authority of India Ltd vs. The State of Jharkhand and others

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 3

The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that registration of mining equipment, including drill masters and dumpers is mandatory under the Motor Vehicles Act. However, the Court has further said that the issue of whether a vehicle is taxable or not will depend upon the test as to whether the vehicle is proposed to be used for transporting goods from one place to another.

Residents Who Cleared CTET & TET Exams From Neighboring States Allowed To Apply For Teacher Appointment Process In Jharkhand: High Court

Case Title: Jharkhandi CTET Utteern Abhiyarthi Sangh vs. State of Jharkhand

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 4

In a significant ruling, the Jharkhand High Court has granted permission to residents of Jharkhand who had successfully cleared the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) and Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) from neighboring states to participate in the recruitment examination for Assistant Teacher positions in Jharkhand.

The Court passed such a direction upon noting that Jharkhand had not held CTET or TET exams in many years, and further directed the State to conduct such exams every year.

[MV Act] Insurer Charging Additional Premium For Employee Can't Deny Liability To Compensate For Hired Driver's Death Citing Negligence: Jharkhand HC

Case Title: Branch Manager, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance vs. Binita Toppo and others

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 5

In an important order, the Jharkhand High Court has held that an insurance agency is liable to pay compensation for a motor vehicle accident claim for a hired driver in the event of his death, even if the accident is caused due to the driver's negligence. This liability arises once the insurer has accepted additional premium to cover indemnity of vehicle owner.

Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed, “In view of the above discussion and reasons, I am of the definite opinion that the insurance company is liable to pay the compensation for a Motor Vehicle Accident claim for a hired driver in the event of his death, even if the accident is caused due to negligence of the driver. This liability arises once the insurer has accepted additional premium to cover the liability of paid employee and to indemnify the vehicle's owner.”

CGST Act | Jharkhand High Court Quashes Criminal Proceedings For Noncompliance With GST Summons Under Section 70

Case Title: Satyendra Singh Kushwah vs The State of Jharkhand and Anr

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 6

Underscoring the importance of due process and compliance with statutory requirements, the Jharkhand High Court, in a significant ruling, quashed criminal proceedings for non-compliance with summons issued under Section 70 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 (CGST Act).

Notably, Section 70 of the CGST Act empowers concerned officers to issue summons to persons to give evidence and produce documents.

S.125 CrPC | 'Pious Duty Of Son To Maintain His Old Aged Father': Jharkhand High Court Upholds Family Court's Maintenance Order

Case Title: Manoj Kumar @ Manoj Sao vs The State of Jharkhand and Anr

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 7

The Jharkhand High Court has recently upheld the order of a Family Court directing the younger son of a man to provide him with a monthly maintenance of Rs. 3000.

Justice Subhash Chand observed, “Though from the evidence adduced by both the parties, it is found that the father is having some agricultural land yet is not able to cultivate the same. He also depends upon his elder son, with whom, he resides. The father has given the share in whole property to his younger son Manoj Sao equally but he has not been maintained by his younger son for more than 15 years. Even if for the sake of argument, the father earns something; it is pious duty of a son to maintain his old aged father.”

Local Body Elections Can Be Held Without Completing 'Triple Test Formalities' For Identifying OBC Seats: Jharkhand High Court

Case Title: Rina Kumari vs The State of Jharkhand and Ors

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 8

The Jharkhand High Court in a significant judgement has observed that non-completion of the 'triple test formalities' for identifying seats to be reserved for OBC category is not at all a ground to defer or delay election of local self-government

Justice Ananda Sen observed, “the Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that the Election should be notified even if the “triple test formalities” has not yet been completed. From the aforesaid judgment, the issue has been set at rest and now as per the judgment, it is not sine qua non to conclude the “triple test formalities” before holding elections for a local body.”