May 2026 - Page 2 of 8 - Supreme Court of India Judgements

May 27, 2026 2:14 pm

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 41 Rule 31 — First Appellate Court’s judgment — Compliance with mandatory requirements of Order 41 Rule 31 of the CPC is substantial rather than technical, and the substance of the judgment and the manner of dealing with the controversy are more significant than the form of points framed. – -Power of Attorney Act, 1882 — General Power of Attorney (GPA) — Misuse of GPA for sale of property — Held, where GPA holder enters into sale deeds and subsequent transfers are within the family, and the original owner fails to prove loan transactions, repayment, or continued possession, the transactions are unlikely to be considered shams or fraudulent.

May 24, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 529 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MALLIKA Vs. R. NALLATHAMBI AND OTHERS ( Before : Ujjal Bhuyan and Vipul M. Pancholi, JJ. ) Civil Appeal No. 9837…

Acquittal Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) — Section 223(1) first proviso — Applicability of — Proceedings under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) filed before commencement of BNSS — Cognizance taken after commencement of BNSS — Accused not given opportunity of hearing at cognizance stage — Provision mandates hearing of accused before taking cognizance — Non-compliance is an illegality vitiating cognizance order — High Court judgment set aside.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 519 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PARVINDER SINGH Vs. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT ( Before : M. M. Sundresh and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No……..of…

Constitution

Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 142 — Extraordinary powers of Supreme Court — Directions issued by Supreme Court cannot supplant substantive law or disregard express statutory provisions unless necessary for complete justice, considering public policy and balancing equities. [Paras 50-54] – Stray Dog Management — Public Safety vs. Animal Welfare — Supreme Court must strike a balance between public safety under Article 21 and humane treatment of stray animals, prioritising human life and safety

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 506 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH IN RE: “CITY HOUNDED BY STRAYS, KIDS PAY PRICE” ( Before : Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria, JJ. )…

Acquittal

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 — Offences under Sections 10(a)(i), 10(a)(iv), and 38(1) — Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Section 120B — Poisons Act, 1919 — Section 6 — Foreigners Act, 1946 — Section 14(c) — Passport Act, 1967 — Section 3 read with Section 12(1)(a) — Conviction for charges including conspiracy to revive banned organization LTTE — Appeal against conviction and sentence — Supreme Court’s finding that appellant was falsely implicated due to mistaken identity — Reliance on oral testimony of two key witnesses who introduced crucial alias name “Ranjan” years after the alleged incident and only after appellant’s arrest — Inconsistencies and material improvements in their testimonies — Failure of prosecution to establish identity with reliable oral or documentary evidence — Absence of any contemporaneous description, documentary linkage, or independent corroboration connecting appellant to the alleged absconding accused “Sri” — Appellant residing openly and lawfully as a refugee, pursuing visa to Switzerland inconsistent with being an absconding accused — Conviction and sentence set aside — Appeal allowed; appellant acquitted.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 516 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SRI Vs. STATE REP. BY THE INSPECTOR OF POLICE, Q BRANCH, RAMANATHAPURAM, TAMIL NADU ( Before : Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta…

Land Acquisition Municipal Laws

Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act) — Section 126(1)(b) — Transferable Development Rights (TDR) — Compensation for land acquisition reserved for public purpose — Landowner entitled to TDR against land surrendered and ‘further’ TDR for development of amenity on the surrendered land — Corporation’s argument that agreements (LOI, Undertaking, Maintenance Agreement) waived landowner’s right to claim additional amenity TDR rejected — Held, statutory rights cannot be derogated from by executive circulars or agreements.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 517 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH BRIHANMUMBAI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND OTHERS Vs. VIJAY NAGAR APARTMENTS AND OTHERS ( Before : J.K. Maheshwari and Atul S. Chandurkar, JJ.…

Tenders & Contracts

Contract Law — Tender Documents — Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) — Interpretation of Tender Clauses — Mandatory vs — Optional Conditions — Clause 2.13(a)(xiii) and Clause 2.13(b) of the tender document specifying the form of EMD for out-of-state bidders used the word “may submit”, indicating an optional, not mandatory, requirement.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 514 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RR CONSTRUCTIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE INDIA PVT. LTD. Vs. GAYATRI VENTURES AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran,…

Electricity Act

Electricity Act, 2003 — Punjab State Grid Code, 2013 — Misdeclaration of Declared Capacity — Penalties — Section 32 and Regulation 11.3.13 — Strict Liability — Failure to demonstrate declared capacity upon request by SLDC leads to penalty, irrespective of mens rea or motive to make money — Appellants’ argument that mens rea is required for misdeclaration was considered and found to be incorrect for failure to demonstrate declared capacity — The Supreme Court’s reasoning for setting aside the APTEL’s order — Appeals allowed.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 515 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PUNJAB STATE POWER CORPORATION LIMITED Vs. TALWANDI SABO POWER LIMITED AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran,…

I P C

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 302, 201 read with Section 34 — Conviction for murder and causing disappearance of evidence — Circumstantial evidence — Concurrent findings of fact by trial court and High Court — Supreme Court’s power of interference under Article 136 of Constitution of India — Such power to be exercised sparingly and only in furtherance of justice, where there is manifest illegality or grave miscarriage of justice due to misreading or ignoring material evidence — Standard for conviction on circumstantial evidence — Circumstances must be fully established, consistent with hypothesis of guilt, of a conclusive nature, exclude every possible hypothesis except that of guilt, and form a complete chain leaving no reasonable doubt of innocence — Failure to prove motive is not fatal to the prosecution case when facts are clear.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 522 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH CHETAN DASHRATH GADE Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ( Before : Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B. Varale, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Will & Succession

Succession Act, 1925 — Section 63 — Evidence Act, 1872 — Section 68 — Will — Validity and execution — Requirements — Attesting witnesses — Proof of execution — Suspicious circumstances — The court must consider if the Will was executed by the testator and if it was his last Will — It is not required to be proved with mathematical accuracy but requires satisfaction of a prudent mind — Section 63 of the Succession Act mandates signing or affixing a mark, attestation by two or more witnesses, with each witness seeing the testator’s signature or acknowledgment and signing in the testator’s presence — Section 68 of the Indian Evidence Act requires calling at least one attesting witness alive and capable of giving evidence to prove execution — If there are suspicious circumstances, the propounder must remove them — The test of judicial conscience requires considering the testator’s awareness of the Will’s contents and consequences, his sound state of mind, and that he acted of his own free will.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 521 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PARVATHI NAIRTHI (DEAD) AND OTHERS Vs. LAXMI NAIRTHY (DEAD) THROUGH LRS. AND OTHERS ( Before : Ujjal Bhuyan and Vijay Bishnoi,…

Service

Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Act, 2013 — Section 46(b) — Appointment of First Registrar — Appointment of the first Registrar was made by the Visitor [President of India] on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor for a term of three years — The power to appoint necessarily includes the power to dismiss or terminate the services of the appointee — Therefore, the Visitor, who was the appointing authority, was competent to take disciplinary action against the First Registrar.

May 23, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 520 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VICE CHANCELLOR, RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL AVIATION UNIVERSITY Vs. JITENDRA SINGH AND OTHERS ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe,…

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Constitution

Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 32 — Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Sections 154, 173 — Clubbing/Transfer of FIRs — Multiple FIRs registered against petitioners in different jurisdictions arising from same set of transactions relating to a real estate project — Held, multiplicity of FIRs and parallel investigations on same facts leads to avoidable multiplicity of proceedings, conflicting findings and serious prejudice to the accused — Principle laid down in T.T — Antony v — State of Kerala, (2001) 6 SCC 181, that there cannot be multiple FIRs for the same occurrence or transaction, squarely applies — FIR No. 30/2019 (EOW, Delhi) directed to be transferred and clubbed with FIR No. 439/2024 (Gurugram, Haryana) for investigation — Blanket direction restraining coercive steps in future FIRs declined, but petitioners permitted to avail remedies in law if future FIRs are based on the same transaction.

May 24, 2026 sclaw

Cr P C

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Abuse of Process of Court — Discharge of Accused — Vague Allegations — Where allegations in FIR and charge sheet are general and do not specify the role of the accused, continuation of criminal proceedings amounts to abuse of process of court and may cause prejudice.

May 24, 2026 sclaw

C P C

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 2(2), Order 20 Rule 18 — Preliminary vs. Final Decree — A Preliminary Decree declares rights and liabilities, leaving actual results to be worked out in further proceedings — A Final Decree is passed after further inquiries, completely disposing of the suit — A Preliminary Decree cannot be executed directly unless it is partly final — Provisions of Order 20 Rule 18 allow a court to pass a Preliminary Decree declaring rights and giving further directions if partition cannot be conveniently made without further inquiry in suits for partition of immovable property — The Supreme Court noted that the High Court erred by focusing on the nomenclature of the decree rather than its executable portions, especially when the property was not divisible by metes and bounds.

May 24, 2026 sclaw

Constitution Narcotics Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 — Section 43-D(5) — Bail — Constitutional Courts’ power to grant bail — The Supreme Court reiterated that statutory restrictions on bail under the UAP Act do not oust the power of constitutional courts to grant bail on grounds of violation of fundamental rights, particularly the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution — The Court emphasized that the rigors of Section 43-D(5) can “melt down” when there is no likelihood of trial completion within a reasonable time and the period of incarceration is substantial.

May 24, 2026 sclaw

Month: May 2026

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