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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.

All factors taken together create a serious doubt about the correctness of the dying declaration. Therefore, the dying declaration will have to be kept out of consideration. In any case, the dying declaration is not of that sterling quality on which the conviction can be based in absence of any other evidence. Therefore, the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the appellant beyond a reasonable doubt. The appeal succeeds and the impugned orders are quashed and set aside. The appellant is acquitted.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHAMBHUBHAI KALABHAI RAVAL — Appellant Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Murder of wife – First Information Report and the dying declarations on record clearly contain the statement of the deceased that when she had poured kerosene upon herself to deter the appellant from fighting and assaulting, he lighted a matchstick and with the intention to kill her, threw it upon her by saying “You Die” – Conviction and Sentence upheld.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ANIL KUMAR — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF KERALA — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Transfer of Property Act, 1882 – Section 106 – Declaration of title – Permanent injunction – Quit notice – Validity of – Tamil Nadu City Tenants Protection Act, 1921 – After purchase of second schedule property from original owner, defendant rightly issued quit notice under Section 106 of Act 1882 to plaintiff

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MOHIDEEN ABDUL KHADAR (DEAD)THROUGH LRS. — Appellant Vs. RAHMATH BEEVI (D) THR. HER LRS. AND OTHER — Respondent ( Before : Aniruddha Bose and…

Service Matters

Service Law – Appointment – Post of Village Development Officers – A candidate/applicant has to comply with all the conditions/eligibility criteria as per the advertisement before the cut-off date mentioned therein unless extended by the recruiting authority – Advertisement clearly specified the essential qualification was a Course of Computer Concept Certificate – Appellants despite opportunity to appear to show such equivalence, having failed to do so, nothing survives on this count – Appeal dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SUDHIR SINGH AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF U.P. AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ. )…

Execution of decree – All questions between the parties can be decided by the executing court – But the important aspect to remember is that these questions are limited to the “execution of the decree” – Executing court can never go behind the decree – Under Section 47, CPC the executing court cannot examine the validity of the order of the court which had allowed the execution of the decree in 2013, unless the court’s order is itself without jurisdiction.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PRADEEP MEHRA — Appellant Vs. HARIJIVAN J. JETHWA (SINCE DECEASED THR. LRS.) AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu…

Service Matters

Kerala Irrigation Engineering Service Special Rules, 2010 – Challenge to antedating of a seniority list – Not find that any case has been made out for interference in appeal for the reason that appellant has not been able to demonstrate that for the purpose of promotion from the post of Assistant Engineer to that of Assistant Executive Engineer, he was likely to be affected by antedating the date of promotion of the private respondents as separate quotas had been prescribed for promotion to the next higher post for the categories of Graduate Engineers and Diploma Holders

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH C. ANIL CHANDRAN — Appellant Vs. M.K. RAGHAVAN AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Hima Kohli and Rajesh Bindal, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

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