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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.

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 141 – Law of Precedents – Doctrine of Merger and Res judicata – Dismissal of appeal without any reasons being recorded would not attract Article 141 of the Constitution of India as no law was declared by the Supreme Court, which will have a binding effect on all courts and tribunals in India – The logic behind the doctrine of merger is that there cannot be more than one decree or operative orders governing the same subject matter at a given point of time

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH EXPERION DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LIMITED — Appellant Vs. HIMANSHU DEWAN AND SONALI DEWAN AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Sanjiv Khanna, Bela M. Trivedi…

Service Matters

A presumption ought to have been drawn in favour of the validity of the marriage between the deceased and the appellant-wife, more so, when during his life time, the deceased had approached the respondent authorities for seeking deletion of the name of his previous wife from his service record and for endorsement of the name of the appellant- wife, which was duly acted upon by the respondents – Pensionary benefits granted.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SMT. SHIRAMABAI W/O PUNDALIK BHAVE & OTHERS — Appellant Vs. THE CAPTAIN, RECORD OFFICER FOR O.I.C. RECORDS, SENA CORPS ABHILEKH, GAYA, BIHAR STATE AND…

Murder – Acquittal – Case of prosecution is entirely based on the extra-judicial confession – for the reasons recorded, it is not possible to accept the case of the prosecution which is entirely based on the extra-judicial confession made by the appellant – Thus, there was no legal evidence on record to convict the appellant.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MOORTHY — Appellant Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.975…

Percentage of deduction or the extent of area required to be set apart has to be assessed by the courts having regard to the size, shape, situation, user etc. of the lands acquired – It is essentially a kind of guess work the courts are expected to undertake – A cut of one third was required to be imposed on the amount of compensation awarded by it – Assessment of market value so determined does not warrant any interference – Appeal dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MALA ETC. ETC. AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Bela M. Trivedi and Dipankar Datta,…

Right to Information Act, 2005 – Section 4 – – the public authorities owe a duty to disseminate the information widely suo motu to the public so as to make it easily accessible to the public. In regard to information enumerated or required to be enumerated under Sections 4(1)(b) and (c) of the RTI Act, necessarily and naturally, the competent authorities under the RTI Act will have to act in a proactive manner so as to ensure accountability and ensure that the fight against corruption goes on relentlessly

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH KISHAN CHAND JAIN — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, CJI., Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha…

A plea of non est factum can be taken by an executor or signatory of the deed to plead that the said document is invalid as its executor/signatory was mistaken about its character at the time of executing/signing it. It is a latin maxim which literally means “it is not the deed.” A plea of non est factum is a defence available in Contract Law allowing a person to escape the effect of a document which she/he may have executed/signed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAMATHAL AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. K. RAJAMANI (DEAD) THROUGH LRS AND ANOTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, JJ.…

Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 – Ss 34 & 37 – The scope of jurisdiction under Section 34 and Section 37 of the Act is not akin to normal appellate jurisdiction.[3] It is well-settled that courts ought not to interfere with the arbitral award in a casual and cavalier manner. The mere possibility of an alternative view on facts or interpretation of the contract does not entitle courts to reverse the findings of the Arbitral Tribunal

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH KONKAN RAILWAY CORPORATION LIMITED — Appellant Vs. CHENAB BRIDGE PROJECT UNDERTAKING — Respondent ( Before : Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, CJI., Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha…

Service Matters

A writ of certiorari, being a high prerogative writ, should not be issued on mere asking – Supreme Court explained that a court which has jurisdiction over a subject matter has jurisdiction to decide wrong as well as right, and when the Legislature does not choose to confer a right of appeal against that decision, it would be defeating its purpose and policy if a superior court were to rehear the case on the evidence and substitute its own finding in certiorari

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH CENTRAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH IN AYURVEDIC SCIENCES & ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. BIKARTAN DAS AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y.…

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