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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.

Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 – Section 16 – Adoption Deed – Mere fact that a deed of adoption has been registered cannot be taken as evidence of proof of adoption, as an adoption deed never proves an adoption – Factum of adoption has to be proved by oral evidence of giving or taking of the child and that the necessary ceremonies, where they are necessary to be performed, were carried out in accordance with shastras.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MOTURU NALINI KANTH — Appellant Vs. GAINEDI KALIPRASAD (DEAD, THROUGH LRS.) — Respondent ( Before : C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar, JJ. ) Civil…

Insurance Claim – Replacement of Car – On account of damage caused to BMW Car due to accident – In case of total loss/constructive total loss, instead of paying the amount, the insurer has an option available to replace the vehicle with a new one – Thus, it is not the right of the insured under the policy conditions to always claim replacement of the car – It is at the option of the insurer

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH BAJAJ ALLIANZ GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. — Appellant Vs. MUKUL AGGARWAL AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Rajesh Bindal,…

Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 (as amended by Mineral (Auction) Amendment Rules, 2017) – Rule 9(10), Rule 9(11) and Rule 9(12) – The State Government is expected to be aware of the commercial worth of the natural resources being tendered or auctioned, as well as their potential future earning capacity – Consequently, the statutory regulations outline a bid cum e-auction process that involves not only shortlisting technically qualified bidders but also evaluating specific bids to ensure they meet eligibility criteria for participation in the e-auction – The rules incorporate various safeguards to guarantee transparency and objectivity throughout the bidding process.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH STATE OF JHARKHAND — Appellant Vs. SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL PVT. LTD. AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : S.V.N. Bhatti and Sanjiv Khanna,…

Civil Law – It is settled law that a vendor cannot transfer a title to the vendee better than he himself possesses, the principle arising from the maxim nemo dat quod non habet, i.e., “no one can confer a better title than what he himself has”. In the present case, the plaintiff’s vendor having been denied the right of title in the land by the Commissioner’s order, could not have conveyed the same to her vendee.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH P. KISHORE KUMAR — Appellant Vs. VITTAL K. PATKAR — Respondent ( Before : Bela M. Trivedi and Dipankar Datta, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

Criminal Law – Transit anticipatory bail – In situations where an accused is a resident in a state different from where the FIR is registered, full-fledged anticipatory bail cannot be sought in the resident state – However, the individual is entitled to apply for transit anticipatory bail from the Court of Session or High Court in their resident state

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PRIYA INDORIA — Appellant Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA AND OTHERS ETC. — Respondent ( Before : B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, JJ. ) Criminal…

Service Matters

Service Law – Appointment – “anticipated vacancies” – To sum up the position of law as it stands, once clear and anticipated vacancies have been advertised, appointments can only be made on these vacancies – Vacancies which could not be anticipated before the date of advertisement, or the vacancies which did not exist at the time of advertisement, are the vacancies for the future i.e., next selection process.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VIVEK KAISTH AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : C.T. Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia,…

Economic Offences – Economic offences are distinct and warrant a unique approach when considering bail – Due to their inherent complexity, deep-rooted conspiracies, and substantial loss of public funds, these offences should be treated seriously – They pose a significant threat to the country’s financial well-being and can have severe repercussions on its overall development – As a result, economic offences are deemed grave and necessitate special consideration in legal matters.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH TARUN KUMAR — Appellant Vs. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT — Respondent ( Before : Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ. ) Criminal…

Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 – Sections 25 and 26 – Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 – Section 21 – Grant of Consent to Establish (CTE) – An appeal could have been preferred by the appellant for challenging condition no. 4 by taking recourse to Section 28 of the Water Act and Section 31 of the Air Act – In fact, the judgment of the Appellate Authority shows that the attention of the Appellate Authority was invited to the aforesaid condition no.4 – After having acted upon the ex-post facto CTE dated 18th October 2017, the appellant cannot be allowed to approbate and reprobate.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S SWETA ESTATE PVT. LTD. GURGAON — Appellant Vs. HARYANA STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 302, 307, and 326 read with Section 120B – Abkari Act, 1077 – Section 55(a), 55 (h), 55 (i) and 57(A)(1)(ii) – Deadly conspiracy of liquor poisoning by mixing noxious substances likely to endanger human life -Conspiracy is when two or more persons agree to do or cause to be done an illegal act or legal act by illegal means – Offence of criminal conspiracy is an exception to the general law, where intent alone does not constitute crime – It is the intention to commit a crime and join hands with persons having the same intention –

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SAJEEV — Appellant Vs. STATE OF KERALA — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 1134…

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