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Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 – Sections 34 and 37 – Curative petition – The Court found that the arbitral tribunal’s decision was not perverse or irrational and that the CMRS certificate did not conclusively prove that defects were cured within the cure period – The Court emphasized the tribunal’s domain to interpret the contract and the limited scope of judicial interference in arbitral awards – The Supreme Court concluded that the curative petition was maintainable and that there was no miscarriage of justice in restoring the arbitral award. Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302, read with 34 – Murder – The Supreme Court found that the High Court did not properly address whether the Trial Court’s acquittal was a plausible conclusion from the evidence – The Supreme Court emphasized that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution and that the accused do not have to prove their innocence unless there is a statutory reverse onus – The Supreme Court concluded that the evidence did not warrant overturning the acquittal, as the Trial Court’s view was possible and not perverse. Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 – Murder – Dispute over a blocked pathway – The Court found no evidence of provocation by the deceased that would justify the appellants’ brutal attack, nor any exercise of the right to private defence – The Court applied principles from previous judgments to determine the lack of private defence and the presence of intention to cause harm – The Supreme Court concluded that the appellants’ actions were not in self-defence and that their intention was to inflict harm, affirming the lower courts’ decisions. Consumer Law – Insurance Act, 1938 – Section 45 – Policy not to be called in question on ground of mis-statement after two years – The Court found no suppression of material facts and criticized the NCDRC for not requiring proper evidence from the respondent – The judgment discusses the principles of ‘uberrimae fidei’ (utmost good faith) and the burden of proof in insurance contracts – The Court concluded that the insurance company failed to prove the alleged suppression of facts, thus the repudiation was unjustified. Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 read with 34 and 120B – Murder – The Court found that the prosecution failed to establish that the discovery of the body was solely based on the appellants’ statements and that the chain of evidence was incomplete – The Court applied the principles for circumstantial evidence, emphasizing that the circumstances must fully establish the guilt and exclude all other hypotheses – The Supreme Court concluded that the prosecution did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the acquittal of the appellants.
Service Matters

Prescription of pay scales and incentives are a matter of decision taken by the government which, when based upon the recommendation of an expert body like the Central Pay Commission, should carry weight and the courts should be reluctant to substitute the policy with their own views on what would be more equitable and just.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. EX. HC/GD VIRENDER SINGH — Respondent ( Before : Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ.…

Compensation – Lapse of acquisition proceedings – There is no lapse of acquisition proceedings under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, the land which has stood vested with continues to do – Also, there is no question of payment of any compensation in respect of the suit land as per the Act, 2013 –

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. SUBHASH CHANDER SEHGAL AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : M. R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna,…

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 145(3) – Matter Referred to 5-Judge Bench – Constitutional questions relating to interpretation of Schedule X of the Constitution pertaining to disqualification, as well as the powers of the Speaker and the Governor and the power of judicial review thereo

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SUBHASH DESAI — Appellant Vs. PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, GOVERNOR OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : N.V. Ramana, CJI., Krishna Murari and Hima…

Appeals from original decrees – A person who is affected by a judgment but is not a party to the suit, can prefer an appeal with the leave of the Court – Sine qua non for filing an appeal by a third party is that he must have been affected by reason of the judgment and decree which is sought to be impugned.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH MY PALACE MUTUALLY AIDED CO­OPERATIVE SOCIETY — Appellant Vs. B. MAHESH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : N. V. Ramana, CJI., Krishna Murari…

Prohibition of benami transactions – Section 3(2) of the unamended 1988 Act is declared as unconstitutional for being manifestly arbitrary – Accordingly, Section 3(2) of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 is also unconstitutional as it is violative of Article 20(1) of the Constitution – Section 3 (criminal provision) read with Section 2(a) and Section 5 (confiscation proceedings) of the 1988 Act are overly broad, disproportionately harsh, and operate without adequate safeguards in place. Such provisions were still-born law and never utilized in the first place – In this light, this Court finds that Sections 3 and 5 of the 1988 Act were unconstitutional from their inception

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. M/S. GANPATI DEALCOM PVT. LTD. — Respondent ( Before : N.V. Ramana, CJI., Krishna Murari and…

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 Section 6 – HELD under Rules, the Banks are required to preserve the record for five years and eight years respectively. On this ground also, permitting the show cause notices and the proceedings continued thereunder of the transactions which have taken place much prior to eight years would be unfair and unreasonable. No order in writting of RBI produced for maintaining record for longer time period

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. CITI BANK, N.A. — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, JJ. )…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 – Murder by giving poisoning – Reports of Chemical Examiner – Samples were not handed over to the Assistant Chemical Examiner who had to conduct the analysis in a sealed form – Cutting, and a fresh note regarding parcels being open also creates a doubt – Chances of tampering with the samples could not be ruled out – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH RAJBIR SINGH — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF PUNJAB — Respondent ( Before : Hemant Gupta and Vikram Nath, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Service Matters

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 226 – Power of High Courts to issue certain writs the actions or decisions taken solely within the confines of an ordinary contract of service, having no statutory force or – backing, cannot be recognised as being amenable to challenge under Article 226 of the Constitution

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH ST. MARY’S EDUCATION SOCIETY AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. RAJENDRA PRASAD BHARGAVA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Aniruddha Bose and J.B. Pardiwala,…

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