Difference Lies In The Degree Of The Act: Supreme Court Explains Subtle Distinction Between Culpable Homicide U/s 304 IPC & Murder

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday (15 September 2021), the Supreme Court explained the difference between culpable homicide under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code and murder under Section 300 IPC.The court observed that, though it difficult to distinguish between culpable homicide and murder as both involve death, there is a subtle distinction of intention and knowledge involved in...

Commercial Suits & Requirement Of Establishing Reasonable Cause For Non Disclosure Of Documents Under Order XI Rule 1 (4) CPC: Supreme Court Explains

The Supreme Court observed that the requirement under Order XI Rule 1(4) of Code of Civil Procedure (as applicable to commercial suits) of establishing the reasonable cause for non disclosure of the documents along with the plaint under shall not be applicable if it is averred and it is the case of the plaintiff that those documents have been found subsequently and in fact were...

Criminal Trial- How To Prove Contradictions? Gauhati High Court Answers

The Gauhati High Court recently upheld the order of a trial court wherein it had rejected a plea on the ground that the defence side had failed to prove the contradictions of the witnesses in accordance with law. While examining the validity of such conclusion recorded by the learned trial court, the division bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Robin Phukan relied on Section 145 of...

Difference Between 'Royalty' & 'Tax' : Supreme Court Explains

The Supreme Court has explained the differences between the concepts of 'royalty' and 'tax' in a recent decision.A division bench comprising Justices UU Lalit and Vineet Saran observed that 'Royalty' has its basis in an agreement entered into between parties and has a nexus with the benefit or privilege conferred on a grantee. Tax is imposed under a statutory power without reference to...

Leading Cases For Supreme Court AOR Exams 2021 [Part 3- Constitutional Amendments and Reservations]

This part of the 'Leading Cases for AoR Exams' article series deals with two topics: Constitutional Amendments (1, 3, 6, 9, 33, 36) and Reservations (7,49).His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalavaru v. State of KeralaCase: WP(C) 135 of 1970; 24 April 1973; CJI Sikri, S.M., Justices Shelat, J.M., Hegde, K.S. & Grover, A.N., Ray, A.N. & Reddy, P.J. & Palekar, D.G., Khanna,...

Arbitration Court Reckoner : June & July 2021

By way of the present column, an attempt is made to briefly review the salutary judgments pronounced by the Courts in the months of June & July 2021 under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'). While as many judgments as possible are sought to be reviewed, owing to the limited column space, some judgments would invariably be left out. Further, while an attempt is made to include and review some judgments of various other High Courts, the...

Conditions To Attract Presumption As To Abetment Of Suicide By Married Woman U/s 113A Evidence Act: Supreme Court Explains

The Supreme Court observed that to attract the applicability of Section 113-A of the Evidence Act, three conditions are required to be fulfilled:The woman has committed suicideSuch suicide has been committed within a period of seven years from the date of her marriage The charged-accused had subjected her to crueltyIf all the three conditions stand fulfilled, presumption can be drawn against...

Applicability Of Res Judicata Between Co-Defendants: Supreme Court Explains

The Supreme Court, in a judgment passed last week, examined the applicability of res judicata between co-defendants.The court observed that the requisite conditions to apply the principle of res judicata as between co-defendants are that :(a) there must be conflict of interest between the defendants concerned; (b) it must be necessary to decide this conflict in order to give the plaintiff...

Scope And Ambit Of Powers Of Court Under Section 319 CrPC: Supreme Court Summarizes Principles

The Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered on Tuesday, summarized the scope and ambit of the powers of the Court under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.Even in a case where the stage of giving opportunity to the complainant to file a protest petition urging upon the trial Court to summon other persons as well as who were named in the FIR but not implicated in the charge-sheet...

Reservation Category Person Can't Claim Quota Benefits Simultaneously In Two Successor States : Supreme Court

The Court noted that the Presidential Order notifying SCs/STs operate "in relation to a State".

Leading Cases For Supreme Court AOR Exams 2021 [Part 2- Criminal Law]

The list of leading cases for AOR exams provided by the Supreme Court contains the following judgments that dealt with criminal laws [ Item nos: 4,5,11,13,17, 25, 26, 28 31, 35, 39, 46, 47, 50, 60]Sharad Birdhi Chand Sarda v. State of MaharashtraCase: CrA 745 of 1983; 17 July 1984; Justices Syed Murtaza Fazalali, A. Varadarajan , Sabhyasachi MukharjiCitation: AIR 1984 SC 1622, 1985 SCR (1) 88...

Does A High Court's Order Staying A Central Law Or Rule Apply Throughout The Country?

Will an order passed by a High Court staying the operation of a central legislation or rule operate across the country? Or is the operation of such an order confined only to the territorial jurisdiction of that High Court?Many readers asked this doubt in the wake of the Bombay High Court staying the operation of the enforcement of the Digital Media Code of Ethics under the IT...