Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections 165, 166 — Death allegedly caused by murder inside a motor vehicle — Claim for compensation — Requirement of causal link between death and “use” of motor vehicle — Held, mere presence of a motor vehicle in the chain of circumstances leading to death does not attract liability under MVA — Some nexus between the vehicle and the death must be established.
2026 INSC 736 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DILIP AGARWAL Vs. RAJSHRI AGARWAL AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Augustine George Masih, JJ. ) Civil Appeal Nos….of…
Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976 — Section 2(25) — “Occupier” — Scope of definition — The MHAD Act defines only “occupier,” which includes any person liable to pay rent, an owner in occupation, a rent-free tenant, a licensee, or one liable to pay damages for use and occupation — Occupancy is not a statutory tenancy dependent on the owner’s will, and even a person in possession without formal rent liability may claim occupancy status for reallotment purposes.
2026 INSC 737 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MRS. MAHABANOO CONTRACTOR AND ANOTHER Vs. M/S. KALIKUND DEVELOPERS AND OTHERS ( Before : J. B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran,…
Stamp Act, 1899 — Section 26, proviso — Mining lease — Stamp duty on instrument with indeterminate value — Determinant of stamp duty — Where value of subject-matter is indeterminate at execution, proviso to S.26 specifically governs mining leases, directing that estimated royalty or value of share, as estimated by the Collector where State is lessor, suffices for stamp duty purposes — Proviso held not inconsistent with main provision — actual value of mining lease is ascertainable only once mining operations commence
2026 INSC 738 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S BIRLA CORPORATION LIMITED Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Augustine George Masih,…
Service Law — Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS) — Grade Pay convergence — Effect on promotions within cadre — Convergence of Grade Pay pursuant to Sixth Central Pay Commission does not obliterate separate identity of promotional posts within a cadre — Promotions carry promotional increments, enhanced running-duty allowances and post-specific benefits, remaining financially meaningful notwithstanding constancy of Grade Pay.
2026 INSC 739 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. HARBANS LAL VERMA ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Augustine George Masih, JJ. ) Civil…
Multiple FIRs across States cannot be quashed or clubbed under Article 32 where they relate to distinct transactions, victims, and offences despite similar modus operandi. A. Cyber Fraud — Multiple FIRs across States — Clubbing declined — Clubbing/consolidation of FIRs registered in different States was declined where each FIR was lodged by a different complainant induced to part with money on separate occasions, with distinct victims, amounts and transactions, notwithstanding a common bank account and similar modus operandi; clubbing at a nascent investigation stage involving complex cyber-forensic tracing would impede fair investigation and cause hardship to complainants.
2026 INSC 740 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RUTVIJ BHAGAT SINGH WAKHARE Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Augustine George Masih, JJ.…
Fixation of cut-off marks not provided under the 2014 Recruitment Rules, resulting in vacancies remaining unfilled despite eligible candidates, held arbitrary and unsustainable. – Uttar Pradesh Industrial Training Institutes (Instructors) Service Rules, 2014 — Rules 9(B), 16(3)(a)(iii) and 17(3) — Craft Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) certificate reduced from essential to preferential qualification — Challenge thereto — Appellants having participated in selection process without objection, held estopped from challenging validity of 2014 Rules or advertisements issued thereunder — Doctrine of approbation and reprobation applied.
2026 INSC 741 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ARVIND KUMAR AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF U.P. AND OTHERS ( Before : Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih, JJ. )…
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 — Section 11, 13, 14, 29, 34 & 36 — Adjudicatory jurisdiction — Distinction between regulatory/enforcement functions of TRAI and adjudicatory jurisdiction of TDSAT — Held, TRAI’s power under Ss. 11(1)(b) and 13 to issue directions for compliance with regulations is regulatory/administrative, not adjudicatory — Direction issued to MSO to restore signals pursuant to IC Regulations, and consequent show cause notice under S. 34 for non-compliance, do not amount to adjudication of dispute between MSO and LCOs — Adjudication of disputes between service providers is exclusive domain of TDSAT under S. 14 — TRAI’s role upon non-compliance confined to that of complainant under S. 34; it cannot itself determine guilt or levy fine under S. 29, which is exclusive province of competent criminal court — TDSAT erred in framing the issue as one of TRAI’s jurisdiction to adjudicate dispute between MSO and LCOs, when TRAI had not purported to adjudicate any such dispute
2026 INSC 742 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA Vs. M/S POLIMER CABLE NETWORK AND OTHERS ( Before : S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria, JJ.…
Constitution of India, 1950 — Articles 21, 32, 14, 142 — Prisoners, rights of — Elderly and terminally ill convicts — Continued incarceration despite advanced age (above 70 years) or terminal illness — Held, imprisonment does not suspend constitutional guarantees of dignity and humane treatment — Right to life under Art. 21 continues in custody and extends to protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment — NALSA’s nationwide Special Campaign identifying 5,393 vulnerable prisoners, including 11 terminally ill and 84 above 70 years across 17 States and 1 Union Territory, disclosed systemic gap between executive policy and ground-level implementation — Continued detention causing avoidable suffering held constitutionally impermissible — Supreme Court, invoking Arts. 32 and 142, directed States/UTs to formulate uniform compassionate-release policy.
2026 INSC 713 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Writ…
Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 294(b) — Obscenity — Distinction between “obscene” and “abusive”/”vulgar” language — Test of — Held, to attract S. 294(b) IPC, prosecution must prove: (i) an obscene act done, or obscene word/song/ballad uttered, in or near a public place; and (ii) such act/utterance caused annoyance to others — Word “obscene” undefined under IPC but judicially construed, in the context of S. 292 IPC, to mean material which, taken as a whole, is lascivious, appeals to prurient interest, and tends to deprave and corrupt persons likely to be exposed to it — “Community standard test” (Aveek Sarkar) applicable, not the Hicklin test — Mere vulgarity, abuse or profanity, however distasteful, uncivil or shocking, does not ipso facto constitute obscenity — Vulgarity may evoke disgust or revulsion but lacks the depraving/corrupting tendency essential to obscenity — Appellant’s utterance of abusive and expletive-laden words against complainant during a quarrel, though coarse and offensive, held neither lascivious nor appealing to prurient interest nor shown to have caused annoyance to others in the public place — Conviction under S. 294(b) IPC set aside.
2026 INSC 719 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MANI @ SUBRAMANIYAM Vs. STATE REP BY THE DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Vipul M. Pancholi,…
Railways Act, 1989 — Sections 123(c)(2) and 124A — Compensation on account of untoward incidents — ‘No-fault’ liability — Accidental falling of a passenger from a running train constitutes an “untoward incident” — Liability under S. 124A arises irrespective of wrongful act, neglect or default of the Railway Administration, subject only to statutory exceptions such as suicide, self-inflicted injury or the passenger’s own criminal act — Provision held to be beneficial and welfare-oriented in nature.
2026 INSC 715 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH LATA Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, JJ. ) Civil Appeal No……of…