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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.

Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – Sections 3(2)(v) and 14A(1) – – Acquittal -There must be an allegation that the accused not being a member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe committed an offence under the IPC punishable for a term of 10 years or more against a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe knowing that such person belongs to such ‘community’

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHASHIKANT SHARMA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta,…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 306 – Abetment of Suicide – Acquittal – The said incident allegedly happened more than two weeks before the date of suicide. There is no allegation that any act was done by the appellants in the close proximity to the date of suicide – By no stretch of the imagination, the alleged acts of the appellants can amount to instigation to commit suicide

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MOHIT SINGHAL AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal,…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 302 and 34 – Murder – Applicability of Section 34 of the IPC – For applying Section 34 IPC there should be a common intention of all the co-accused persons which means community of purpose and common design – Common intention does not mean that the co-accused persons should have engaged in any discussion or agreement so as to prepare a plan or hatch a conspiracy for committing the offence

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAM NARESH — Appellant Vs. STATE OF U.P. — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Kannur University Act, 1996 – Section 10(9) and Section 10(10) – Re-appointment of Vice-Chancellor – It is the Chancellor who has been conferred with the competence under the Act 1996 to appoint or reappoint a Vice-Chancellor – No other person even the Pro-Chancellor or any superior authority can interfere with the functioning of the statutory authority and if any decision is taken by a statutory authority

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH DR. PREMACHANDRAN KEEZHOTH AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. THE CHANCELLOR KANNUR UNIVERSITY AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, CJI.,…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 120B – Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 – Section 3 – Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) not be applicable to criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) unless the conspiracy is specifically related to money laundering – PMLA to be invoked, the conspiracy must have a direct connection to money laundering activities

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PAVANA DIBBUR — Appellant Vs. THE DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Stamp Act 1899 – Section 35 – Evidence Act, 1872 – Section 65 – Unstamped document – Secondary evidence – If a document that is required to be stamped is not sufficiently stamped, then the position of law is well settled that a copy of such document as secondary evidence cannot be adduced

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VIJAY — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

(CrPC) – Sections 482, 378 and 407 – Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 448, 454 and 380 – Theft – Discharge application – When coupled with the fact that the police did not find any offences having been made out against the appellants under Sections 454 and 380, IPC, the case against the appellants under Section 448, IPC finds itself on shaky ground – There is no suspicion, much less strong or grave suspicion that the appellants are guilty of the offence alleged

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VISHNU KUMAR SHUKLA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin…

Service Matters

Promotion by selection through LDCE vis-à-vis competitive examination is a facility or a chance given for out of their promotion without waiting for the normal course of promotion – It in effect is selection through competitive examination within the limited category of candidates and cannot be equated with normal promotion – This being the position, the argument that regular promotion criteria had to be applied with regard to medical fitness even in the matter of selection through LDCE is not acceptable

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PAVNESH KUMAR — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Civil…

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 – Section 23(1) – Appointment of teachers for Class I to VIII – Government cannot amend or supersede statutory rules by administrative instructions, but if the rules are silent on any particular point, it can fill up the gaps and supplement the rules and issue instructions not inconsistent with the rules already framed – An authority cannot issue orders/office memorandum/executive instructions in contravention of the statutory rules

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH JAIVEER SINGH AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND OTHERS RESPONDENT ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra, JJ.…

(IPC) – Sections 307, 323 and 324 – Attempt to murder – Intention of the accused can be ascertained from the actual injury, if any, as well as from surrounding circumstances – the injuries on complainant and his mother have been found to be simple in nature, which is an additional point in the appellants’ favour – Only offences under Sections 323 and 324 of the IPC can be made out – Conviction under Section 307, IPC is unsustainable

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SIVAMANI AND DINESH KUMAR — Appellant Vs. STATE REPRESENTED BY INSPECTOR OF POLICE — Respondent ( Before : Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ.…

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