Decide Mercy Petitions Against Death Sentence At The Earliest So That Convicts Won't Take Advantage Of Delay : Supreme Court To All Authorities

The Supreme Court directed all State Governments to ensure that mercy petitions in death penalty cases are decided and disposed of at the earliest. The bench comprising Justice MR Shah passed the direction in a plea by State of Maharashtra challenging a judgment of the Bombay High Court in which the High Court commuted the death sentences imposed on the accused to life imprisonment.In the...

Supreme Court Sets Aside Punishment Imposed On BSF Commandant For Allegedly Allowing Trans-Border Drugs Smuggling

The Supreme Court on Thursday(April 13) set aside the judgement and order of the Punjab & Haryana High Court which upheld the conviction of an Ex-Commandant of BSF under various provisions of BSF Act and NDPS Act, on the ground that there was no direct and cogent evidence against him.The division bench of Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah noted:“In the absence...

Registration Act | Unregistered Agreement To Sell Is Admissible As Evidence In Suit For Specific Performance : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that Section 17(1A) of the Registration Act, 1908 is the only exception to the Proviso of Section 49 of Registration Act. Thus, the Proviso to Section 49 shall apply to the documents other than the ones referred to in Section 17(1A).The Bench comprising of Justice M.R. Shah and Justice Krishna Murari has further held that an unregistered Agreement to Sell, which...

Supreme Court Asks All Courts & Tribunals To Number Paragraphs In Orders & Judgments

The Supreme Court has made a suggestion to all Courts and Tribunals to number paragraphs in all orders and judgments. A bench comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Ahsanuddin Amanullah made this observation in a judgment after noting that the impugned judgment of the High Court was not numbered paragraph-wise.In this context, the bench referred to the judgments in Shakuntala Shukla v State...

Supreme Court Directs Union Government To Fill Vacancy In 6th National Commission for Scheduled Castes Expeditiously

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Union of India to fill a pending vacancy in the National Commission for Scheduled Caste. The direction was passed in a plea which had sought for vacancies to be filled in the Commission in 2017. The matter was listed before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala. The court noted that the vacancies...

Land Acquisition | After Taking Possession, Land Vests With State; Any Person Retaining Possession After That Is A Trespasser : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court set aside an order passed by the Delhi High Court which held that since the compensation was not paid to the landowners, the acquisition of the land in question was lapsed in view of Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. While relying upon the judgment of Supreme Court in...

'Shocking' : Supreme Court On UP Govt Invoking National Security Act In Revenue Recovery Case; Quashes Detention Of SP Leader

It irked the Supreme Court that the Uttar Pradesh Government had exercised power under the National Security Act (NSA) to detain and thereafter extend the detention of SP leader Yusuf Malik accused in a land revenue recovery case.A Bench comprising Justice SK Kaul and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah quashed the proceedings initiated under the NSA. It noted that all the authorities involved...

S. 80-IB Of Income Tax Act - Assessee Not Entitled To Deduction Under On Profit Derived From DEPB And Duty Drawback Schemes: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that the assessee is not entitled to deduction under Section 80- IB of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the amount received / profit derived from the Duty Entitlement Pass Book Scheme (DEPB) and the Duty Drawback Schemes.The bench of Justices M.R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna held that the profit from DEPB and the Duty Drawback claims cannot be said to be an income...

Same Activity Can Be Taxed As ‘Goods’ & ‘Services’ : Supreme Court Upholds Levy Of Service Tax On “Engineering Design & Drawings”

The Supreme Court has held that the import of “Engineering Design & Drawings” falls under the category of “design services” under section 65(35b) read with Section 65(105) (zzzzd) of the Finance Act, 1994, and are subject to levy of service tax. On the sole ground that “Engineering Design & Drawings” prepared and supplied by sister company were shown as ‘goods’ under...

Accused Not Entitled To Default Bail When First Extension(Passed In Absence Of Accused) Wasn't Challenged & Second Extension Was Passed In His Presence : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court held that an accused cannot claim the benefit of default bail, when he did not challenge the first extension of time granted for investigation and the second extension was granted in his presence and when the chargesheet was subsequently filed within the period of extension.The division bench of Justice M. R. Shah and Justice C. T. Ravikumar noted:“Therefore, in the...

Govt Employees Can't Be Denied Annual Increment Merely Because They Retired The Next Day Of Earning It : Supreme Court

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has held that government employees cannot be denied the annual increment merely because they are to retire on the very next day of earning the increment.A bench comprising Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar was deciding the issue "whether an employee who has earned the annual increment is entitled to the same despite the fact that he has retired on...

Supreme Court Criminal Digest- March 2023

Bail - All prosecuting agencies / State Governments / UTs should issue directions to the Public Prosecutors so that neither in pleadings nor in arguments, is a stand taken contrary to the legal position enunciated by this Court. The circulation in this behalf should be made through the Director of Prosecution and training programmes be organized to keep on updating the Prosecutors in this...