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Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 168 — Notional income of skilled worker — Carpenter — Assessment — The appellant, a carpenter aged 38 years, suffered amputation of his right leg below the knee in a road accident in November 2004 — The Claims Tribunal assessed his monthly income at Rs. 3,000/- and the High Court enhanced it to Rs. 5,000/- relying on minimum wages. Held — A carpenter is a skilled artisan who works with precision and manual dexterity — His income cannot be equated with that of an unskilled worker — Where the appellant’s unrefuted evidence showed earnings of Rs. 8,000/- to Rs. 10,000/- per month, and a skilled job always has the potentiality to fetch higher income, the High Court erred in restricting the figure to Rs. 5,000/- — Considering the date of accident, decisions in comparable cases and the fact of the appellant being a skilled worker, his notional monthly income is assessed at Rs. 9,000/- per month. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 304 Part II — Culpable Homicide not Amounting to Murder — Conviction and sentence — Appeal against — Abatement of appeal due to death of co-accused — Death of two appellants during pendency of appeal — Appeal survives only for the third appellant. Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — Section 154 — Transfer of land in contravention of ceiling limit — Not void ipso facto — Capable of ratification — Legality of transfer to be judged by law on date of execution — Sale deed executed on 04.06.1957 — Ceiling limit then was 30 acres, subsequently amended to 12.5 acres retrospectively from 01.07.1952 — Transfer in contravention of Section 154 not void but voidable at instance of Gaon Sabha coupled with liability for ejectment of transferee under Section 163 — No suit filed for ejectment within limitation period. Specific Relief Act, 1963 — Section 16(c) — “Readiness and Willingness” — Relief of specific performance is equitable and discretionary — Plaintiff must specifically aver and prove continuous readiness and willingness to perform obligations — Failure to do so disentitles plaintiff to relief — “Readiness” refers to financial capacity, “Willingness” to conduct and intention — Both cumulatively must be seen — Conduct of plaintiff prior and subsequent to suit, along with attending circumstances, must be considered — Availability of funds must be proved with reference to relevant time, not by documents created much later. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 and 140 — Compensation for death in motor vehicular accident — Negligence — Truck stationed on road at night without warning lights or indicators — Wagon-R car collided from behind — Held, truck driver was negligent in leaving the vehicle unattended on the road without adequate precautionary measures, which was the proximate cause of the accident.

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) – Order 16 Rule 21 – There is no difference between a party to a suit as a witness and a witness simpliciter – Production of documents for both a party to the suit and a witness as the case may be, at the stage of cross-examination, is permissible within law – Function performed by either a witness or a party to a suit when in the witness box is the same

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MOHAMMED ABDUL WAHID — Appellant Vs. NILOFER AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : B. R. Gavai and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) – Section 439 – Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 186, 204, 353, 384 and 120-B – Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 – Sections 3, 4 and 45 – Bail – Money Laundering – Merely because accused is a woman should not be granted the benefit of the first proviso to Section 45 of the PMLA and grant bail

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SAUMYA CHAURASIA — Appellant Vs. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT — Respondent ( Before : Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 and 149 – Murder – Acquittal – Appeal against – A sole eyewitness, happens to be the most interested witness being the father of the deceased and having long enmity with the group to which the accused persons belong, therefore, his testimony was to be examined with great caution and the High Court was justified in doing so and in doubting it so as to uphold the conviction on his solitary evidence

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH CHHOTE LAL — Appellant Vs. ROHTASH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Service Matters

Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 – Sections 14 and 31(1) – Formation of policy – Jurisdiction – A Tribunal functioning within the strict boundaries of the governing legislation, would not have the power to direct the formation of a policy – it cannot be questioned that disputes in respect of promotions and/or filling up of vacancies is within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, it cannot direct those responsible for making policy, to make a policy in a particular manner.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. AIR COMMODORE NK SHARMA (17038) ADM/LGL — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay…

Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 – Sections 52 and 89 – Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 – Section 16 – Penalty for misbranded food – Punishment under PFA and the penalty under the FSSA cannot be imposed on the violator for the same misbranding because it will amount to double jeopardy – in such a situation, in view of the overriding effect given to the provisions of the FSSA, the violator who indulges in misbranding cannot be punished under the PFA and he will be liable to pay penalty under the FSSA in accordance with Section 52 thereof.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MANIK HIRU JHANGIANI — Appellant Vs. STATE OF M.P. — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Service Matters

Service Law – Transfer Order – A person aggrieved by the order of transfer cannot sit at home and decide on his own that the order is illegal or erroneous and he will not comply with the same – If the workman had any grievance, he could have availed of his remedy available against the same; otherwise, he was duty-bound to comply with the same

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH U.P. SINGH — Appellant Vs. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK — Respondent ( Before : Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal, JJ. ) Civil Appeal No. 5494…

Stamp Act, 1899 – Section 35 – Contract Act 1872 – Section 2(g) – Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 – Sections 8 and 11 – Arbitration – Enforceability of Unstamped Agreements – Unstamped Arbitration Agreements Not Void – Agreements which are not stamped or are inadequately stamped are inadmissible in evidence under Section 35 of the Stamp Act – Such agreements are not rendered void or void ab initio or unenforceable

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA SEVEN JUDGE BENCH IN RE: INTERPLAY BETWEEN ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS UNDER THE ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION ACT 1996 AND THE INDIAN STAMP ACT 1899 ( Before : Dr…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 304-Part II – Culpable homicide not amounting to murder – The appellant is entitled to an acquittal as the prosecution cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accusation of culpable homicide is not murder – HELD If the evidence is inseparable and attempting to separate it would destroy the prosecution’s foundation, the court can discard the entire evidence – The court must assess the evidence on record, considering the legal limits of separating the evidence and determining if the evidence is sufficient to prove guilt.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SEKARAN — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai, Dipankar Datta and Aravind Kumar, JJ. ) Criminal…

Service Matters

Service Law – Merging of staff from one department to another – Order for merging Adult Education Department staff into Education Department, providing category-wise seniority – The High Court ruled that merging cadres is a policy decision and cannot be interfered with -The State’s actions have been delayed by promotions and retirements, resulting in a lack of service for many – The High Court’s judgment is upheld, and the appeals are dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PRAFFUL SHUKLA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. GOVERNMENT OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Rajesh Bindal,…

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