Legal Representatives Can Claim Motor Accident Compensation Even Without Financial Dependency On Deceased
The Supreme Court has reiterated that a legal representative of a person killed in a motor accident can maintain a claim for compensation even if the particular legal representative was…
Execution Of Unregistered Agreement To Sell Does Not Terminate Subsisting Landlord-Tenant Relationship Nor Entitle Tenant To Section 53A TP Act Protection A. Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — Section 111(e) & (f) — Landlord and Tenant — Determination of lease by express or implied surrender — Execution of agreement to sell by landlord in favour of tenant — Effect on jural relationship — Held, mere execution of an agreement to sell between landlord and tenant does not ipso facto determine the subsisting tenancy — Tenancy is determined only when terms of agreement or unequivocal conduct of parties disclose express or implied surrender — Where agreement to sell contained clause for cancellation and restoration of possession in case loan was not sanctioned, existing possession was referable to tenancy and not to agreement to sell — Landlord-tenant relationship continued to subsist.
2026 INSC 853 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NAZIM SHAIKH HASAN Vs. NASIR MUSHTAQ SHAIKH AND OTHERS ( Before : Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria, JJ. ) Special…
Appellate Courts Should Not Remand Cases Under Order 41 Rule 23 CPC As A Matter Of Course When Sufficient Evidence Is Available On Record. A. Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 41 Rules 23 and 24 — Power of Appellate Court to remand — Remand of case to Trial Court for framing of additional issues and fresh evidence — Permissibility — High Court remitted suit regarding one item of property for framing issues on whether sale deed was sham, limitation, and possession — Held, remand is not to be adopted as a matter of ordinary course and reflects incorrect exercise of discretion when sufficient evidence is available on record — Issues already framed by Trial Court were comprehensive enough to cover core disputes — Appellate Court is fully empowered to decide issues on merits or admit additional evidence if warranted, rather than remitting matter to cause unnecessary delay — Remand set aside and appeals restored to High Court for fresh disposal on merits.
2026 INSC 857 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHIVAPPA Vs. SHANTAVVA AND OTHERS ( Before : S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria, JJ. ) Civil Appeal Nos…..of 2026 (@ Special…
Extended Period Of Limitation Under Proviso To Section 11A, Central Excise Act Cannot Be Invoked When Facts Are Known To Department Without Wilful Suppression A. Central Excise Act, 1944 — Section 35L — Maintainability of appeal before Supreme Court — Preliminary objection raised by Department that appeal does not come under Section 35L as issue had no relation to rate of duty or valuation — Held, issue raised regarding extended period of limitation on ground of non-inclusion of certain costs in assessable value has an inextricable link with valuation of goods for purposes of assessment — Issue raised in show cause notice fundamentally dealt with valuation of goods — Supreme Court declined to relegate matter to High Court after almost a decade of pendency — Preliminary objection rejected.
2026 INSC 858 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH AUDI AUTOMOBILES AND OTHERS Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE AND SERVICE TAX, INDORE ( Before : J. B. Pardiwala and K.…
Environment Law — Environmental Clearance — Prior clearance — Mandatory character — Prior environmental clearance under EIA Notification, 2006 is mandatory, being founded on the precautionary principle and couched in imperative terms — Word “prior” and the graded four-stage screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal process render an anterior assessment the sine qua non of the clearance regime — Decriminalisation of contraventions under Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 does not alter this mandatory character.
2026 INSC 761 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH VANASHAKTI Vs. UNION OF INDIA ( Before : Surya Kant, CJI., Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, JJ. ) Writ Petition…
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 415 — Appeal — Maintainability — Conviction recorded for first time by appellate court reversing acquittal — An appeal under Section 374 CrPC (Section 415 BNSS) is not maintainable against a judgment of conviction recorded by a Sessions Court while exercising appellate jurisdiction and reversing an order of acquittal passed by the Trial Court — No such second appeal is contemplated under CrPC or BNSS — The only remedy available is revision under Section 397 r/w 401 CrPC (Section 438 r/w 442 BNSS)
2026 INSC 770 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VISHNU KUMAR GUPTA Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND ANOTHER ( Before : Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale, JJ. )…
Income Tax Act, 1961 — Section 44B — “Carriage” of passengers — Meaning and scope of — Cruise operations by non-resident shipping entity — Held, the word “carriage” under Section 44B cannot be restrictively construed to mean movement only from Port A to Port B. A round-trip cruise voyage, where passengers have the option to disembark at intermediate ports without compulsion to return to the originating port, constitutes carriage of passengers within the meaning of Section 44B. Provision of incidental on-board entertainment and hospitality does not alter the essential character of the activity as carriage of passengers.
2026 INSC 771 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE DIRECTOR OF INCOME TAX, (INTERNATIONAL TAXATION) Vs. M/S STAR CRUISES (INDIA) P. LTD. AND OTHERS ( Before : S.V.N. Bhatti…
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of FIR — Scope of inquiry — Mini-trial impermissible — At the stage of considering quashing of an FIR, the Court’s inquiry is confined to whether the allegations, taken at face value, prima facie disclose commission of a cognizable offence — Court cannot conduct a “mini-trial” by sifting evidence, assessing probabilities, or evaluating witness credibility — High Court exceeding these limits by examining trap proceedings, absence of personal recovery, and departmental enquiry findings, held impermissible.
2026 INSC 766 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH STATE OF KARNATAKA AND ANOTHER Vs. PRABHU SHANKAR AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, JJ. )…
Succession Act, 1925 — Sections 33, 35 and 38 — Hindu/Christian Succession — Applicability of S. 33 confined to property owned by deceased male; erroneous application by High Court set aside — Where property was purchased and registered in the joint names of two wives, the same is owned by them and not by the husband, notwithstanding that he provided the consideration — Section 33, which governs devolution on intestacy of a male’s property between his widow and lineal descendants, is not attracted to property never vested in the husband’s name — High Court’s application of S. 33 to the entirety of the suit property held misconceived.
2026 INSC 765 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHAKUNTALA AND OTHERS Vs. ROBERT ANTHONY AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…
Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 405 and 406 — Criminal Breach of Trust — Entrustment — Refundable security deposit paid under Joint Development Agreement (JDA) — Held, mere payment of refundable security deposit as consideration for GPA does not amount to “entrustment” of property — FIR and chargesheet silent on manner of misappropriation/conversion — Bald, omnibus allegation of dishonest retention, unsupported by cogent material, insufficient to sustain charge under S. 405 — Mere non-refund of money does not constitute criminal breach of trust.
2026 INSC 772 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH G. SAMINATHAN AND ANOTHER Vs. THE STATE, REPRESENTED BY THE SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE AND ANOTHER ( Before : B.V. Nagarathna and…