Supreme Court Weekly Round Up

100% ST Reservations For Teacher Posts In Scheduled Areas Unconstitutional: SC [Chebrolu Leela Prasad Rao & Ors. V. State of A.P. & Ors.]A Constitution bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose held that 100 per cent reservation of teachers belonging to the Scheduled Tribe category at schools situated in "Scheduled Ares" is constitutionally invalid. The Bench also quashed the Government order issued under the hand of Governor of State of Andhra Pradesh which had affirmed absolute reservation for ST teachers and imposed costs on both Andhra Pradesh & Telangana Government's, seeking reasons from the Government's for breaching the 50% ceiling in reservations.Also Read: [100% Reservation Unreasonable] Questions Referred And Answers Given By Constitution BenchAlso Read: Affluent & Advanced Within SC/ST Not Permitting Reservation Benefits Trickle Down To Needy : SC Calls For List RevisionState & Centre Have Concurrent Power To Fix Sugarcane Prices; No Conflict If State's Price Is Higher Than Centre's 'Minimum Price': SC [West U.P. Sugar Mills Association & Ors. v. The State of Uttar Prades & Ors.]A Constitution bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and S Ravindra Bhat held that both Centre and State have concurrent powers to fix the prices of sugarcane and that the price' fixed by the State Government for sugarcane cannot be lower than the 'minimum price' fixed by the centre. The Bench also put the conflict between two judgements of the same strength to rest, i.e. Ch. Tika Ramji & Others, Etc. vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Others [AIR 1956 SC 676] and U.P. Cooperative Cane Unions Federations vs. West U.P. Sugar Mills Association and Others [(2004)5 SCC 430], concluding thereby that there existed no conflict between these two decisions and that there was no need for reference to a 7-judge bench.SC Rejects Challenge Against Regularization Of Teachers In HP After 15 Years Of Service [Chander Mohan Negi and others v. State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors.]Supreme Court rejected the challenge against a decision of Himachal Pradesh Government, to regularize teachers who were appointed under Primary Assistant Teachers (PAT) scheme, Para Teachers Policy and other schemes. In this case, an appeal had been filed against the division bench order of the High Court which had directed the state to regularize those teachers who were appointed for filling up of vacancies of Junior Basic Training (JBT) Teachers as per Recruitment and Promotion Rules. A bench comprising Justices Mohan M Shantangoudar & R. Subhash Reddy held that as and when the appointees under the scheme completed 15 years of service and had acquired professional qualifications, they could not be denied regularization.SC Upholds The Constitutional Validity Of Rule Empowering RAW To Compulsorily Retire Officers [Nisha Priya Bhatia v. Union of India & Anr.]Upholding the constitutional validity of Rule 135 of the RAW (Recruitment, Cadre and Services) Rules, 1975, which gave power to the Central government to voluntarily retire RAW Officers, whose identity has been exposed or compromised, a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by an ex-female employee of RAW, who had been compulsorily retired after she made allegations of sexual harassment against two senior officials of RAW.Arbitration Award Fixing Price Of Land Can't Be Executed Like A Decree For Specific Performance Of Sale Agreement : SC [Firm Rajasthan Udyog & Ors. V. Hindustan Engineering Industries Ltd.]Applying the principle that an "executing Court cannot travel beyond the relief granted in a decree", the Supreme Court held that an arbitration award fixing the price of the land cannot be executed like a decree for specific performance of sale agreement, when the reference to arbitrator was only for determining the compensation under the sale agreement. A bench of Justices Uday Umesh Lalit and Vineet Saran further observed that for an award or instrument creating any right, title or interest in immovable property, it would be required to be compulsorily registered under the Registration Act for succesful execution.NDPS - Quantity Of Neutral Substances In Mixture Must Be Taken Into Account With Actual Drug Weight To Determine 'Small Or Commercial Quantity' : SC [Hira Singh & Another V. Union of India & Another]While overruling an earlier 2008 decision titled E. Micheal Raj v. Intelligence Officer, Narcotic Control Bureau, bench of Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee and M R Shah held that the quantity of neutral substances in a mixture containing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances must be taken into account along with the actual weight of the offending drug while determining 'small or commercial quantity' under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.SC Upholds The Constitutional Validity of Clause(f) of Section 43B of Income...

Supreme Court Weekly Round Up

Sanya Talwar

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