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Criminal Procedure — Passport — Return/Surrender of Passport — Accused facing serious criminal charges — Right to travel abroad vis-à-vis right to speedy trial — Balance between individual liberty and societal interest — Accused charged with abetment of suicide and criminal conspiracy since 2014, trial still at stage of committal despite lapse of over ten years — Accused, a US citizen, had misused interim protection in prior proceedings to leave the country without Court’s leave — Whether High Court justified in permitting accused to travel abroad on grounds of medical treatment — Held, not justified — High Court indulgent rather than judicially restrained — Medical facilities in India comparable to those abroad — High Court’s revisional order set aside — Accused restrained from travelling abroad without express permission of Sessions Court — Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, S. 442 — Constitution of India, Art. 21 Service Law — Promotion — Entitlement to promotion to Chief Medical Director (Higher Administrative Grade) in Indian Railway Medical Service — Appellant was denied promotion despite being eligible, with a junior officer being promoted instead — Appellant’s case was rejected by the Tribunal and High Court based on her grading in Annual Confidential Reports Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 29A — Mandate of Arbitrator — Extension of mandate — In the absence of specific statutory provisions, party autonomy and minimal judicial intervention are guiding principles — If a party participates in proceedings and does not object to the extension of mandate, they may be estopped from challenging the award on that ground after it is passed. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act) — Section 33 and Section 34(3) — Limitation for filing application to set aside arbitral award — Exclusion of time spent in disposal of applications under Section 33 — Court held that period spent in disposal of Section 33 applications by Arbitral Tribunal must be excluded for computing limitation under Section 34(3) of the Act, regardless of whether the Section 33 applications were ultimately allowed or dismissed. Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 14, 15(1), 16, 39(a) & 39(c) — Uttar Pradesh Essential Commodities (Regulation of Sale and Distribution Control) Order, 2016 (2016 Order) — Clause 2(p) — Government Order (G.O.) No — 6 of 2019 — Paragraph IV(10) — Exclusion of married daughter from definition of ‘family’ for compassionate appointment as fair price shop dealer — Held, exclusion is based on gender stereotypes and lacks rational nexus with the object of the scheme, violating Articles 14 and 15(1) of the Constitution — Marital status cannot be the sole criterion for dependency — Dependency is a question of fact.

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) – Section 311 of course, does not intend to fill the lacunae in the prosecution’s case and cause any serious prejudice to the rights of an accused – If a witness turns hostile for extenuating reasons and is reluctant to depose the unvarnished truth, it will cause irreversible damage to the administration of justice and the faith of the society at large in the efficacy and credibility of the criminal justice system will stand eroded and shattered – Power to recall witnesses under Section 311 CrPC ought to be exercised sparingly and mere hostility by a witness, per se, would not be a sufficient ground to infer misuse of concession of bail.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MUNILAKSHMI — Appellant Vs. NARENDRA BABU AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 3297…

Cancellation of Bail – If it is found that an undertrial has attempted to misuse the concession of bail either by influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence or trying to flee from justice, such person can be committed to custody by withdrawing the concession of bail.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MUNILAKSHMI — Appellant Vs. NARENDRA BABU AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 3297…

Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 – Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 – Section 5 – Notification of District Officer – Direction to all the States/UTs to notify and appoint the District Officers – Treating Section 5 as directory, would leave a gaping hole in the otherwise clearly delineated workflow and redressal mechanism, and the efficacy of this legislation, as a result, falls flat – Directions by SCOI to ensure the effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and render it workable:

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH INITIATIVES FOR INCLUSION FOUNDATION AND ANOTHER — Appellant UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : S. Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta,…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 457, 380 and 506 – Lurking house trespass or house breaking at night, theft and criminal intimidation – FIR quashed by High Court – Appeal against – Assets and belongings inside the shop in question were in joint possession of the appellant as also the respondent and there was an injunction granted by the Competent Court that the assets and belongings of the shop in question would be preserved, removal of the same without consent or knowledge of the appellant would amount to theft – There was breaking open of the locks of the premises wherein the property was stored for the purposes of theft – All these offences are cognizable in nature and basic ingredients being there in the FIR, the High Court clearly erred in quashing the FIR – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RUCHIR RASTOGI — Appellant Vs. PANKAJ RASTOGI AND OTHERS ETC. @ RESPONDENT ( Before : Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – Sections 4 and 6 – Acquisition of land – Compensation – Court for awarding annual increase to determine the just compensation varies from case to case and the period to be applied is a major factor to be considered – In the present case would be best determined if apply 8% annual increase with cumulative effect – This is for the reason that the gap is huge i.e. 11 years. For shorter period of 3-5 years, it could have been 10% or 12% – But in no case 15% would be justified for a period of 11 years as awarded by the High Court in the impugned order – In the present case, given the 11 years gap, 8% would be considered just and proper.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE CENTRAL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION — Appellant Vs. THAKUR DWARA KALAN UL-MARUF BARAGLAN WALA (DEAD) AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Vikram Nath and…

Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 – Section 31A and 31D – Termination of tenancy – Landlord sought to recover possession for the purpose of personal cultivation – It was unnecessary for the revisional authority to remand the case for framing an issue on the applicability of Section 31A-31D – Applicability of those provisions was dependent on the question of whether the landlord’s holding exceeded one unit of economic holding – That question was merely one of law, the fact of the landlord’s holding having already come on record before the original authority – Revisional authority could have taken upon itself the task of deciding the question and disposing off the dispute before itself

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH KESHAV BHAURAO YEOLE (D) BY LRS. — Appellant Vs. MURALIDHAR (D) AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar,…

Medical negligence – Adopting an alternative medical course of action would not amount to medical negligence – After the difficulties faced during the ‘Tracheostomy Tube’ (TT) decannulation process and the discovery of a stridor, opting for the ‘Nasotracheal Intubation’ (NI) procedure as an alternative course of treatment to aid respiration could be medically justified as well

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M.A BIVIJI — Appellant Vs. SUNITA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Manoj Misra and Hrishikesh Roy, JJ. ) Civil Appeal No. 3975,…

Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 90 – A notification under Section 90(1) is necessary and a mandatory condition for a court, authority, or tribunal to give effect to a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), or any protocol changing its terms or conditions, which has the effect of altering the existing provisions of law – The interpretation of the expression “is” has present signification. Therefore, for a party to claim benefit of a “same treatment” clause, based on entry of DTAA between India and another state which is member of OECD, the relevant date is entering into treaty with India, and not a later date, when, after entering into DTAA with India, such country becomes an OECD member, in terms of India’s practice.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ASSESSING OFFICER CIRCLE (INTERNATIONAL TAXATION) 2(2)(2) NEW DELHI — Appellant Vs. M/S NESTLE SA — Respondent ( Before : S. Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar…

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