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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.

(IPC) – Ss 120B, 124A, 153A and 153B – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 – Ss 18 and 39 – Bail – (i) the investigation is over and (ii) the petitioner is not yet a convicted criminal – Not think that any purpose will be served in allowing the Special Court to remand him to custody and then enabling him to move an application for bail – Bail granted.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH AKHIL GOGOI — Appellant Vs. THE STATE (NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY) AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. )…

HELD when specific performance of the terms of the contract has not been done, the question of time being the essence of contract does not arise – time would not be of essence in a contract wherein the obligations of one party are dependent on the fulfillment of obligations of another party.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH GADDIPATI DIVIJA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. PATHURI SAMRAJYAM AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Krishna Murari and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Civil…

HELD the accused having secured the acquittal, the presumption of their innocence gets further reinforced and strengthened. Therefore, the appellate court ought not to lightly interfere with the order of acquittal recorded by the trial court unless there is gross perversity in the appreciation of the evidence and even if two views are possible, it should follow the view taken by the trial court rather than choosing the second possible version.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH FEDRICK CUTINHA — Appellant Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA — Respondent ( Before : V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 2251…

Power Purchase Agreement – the finding of the CERC and the learned APTEL is to the effect that Adani Power Mundra Limited would not be entitled to any benefit of Change in Law beyond 70% of the installed capacity i.e. 1386 MW – Findings cannot be said to not be based on the material on record, or based on extraneous considerations.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UTTAR HARYANA BIJLI VITRAN NIGAM LTD. AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. ADANI POWER (MUNDRA) LIMITED AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai…

HELD government employees cannot claim double overtime allowance as per the Factories Act, if the service rules do not provide for it – whether employees working as supervisors at the Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India (a company under the Ministry of Finance responsible for minting currency notes) are entitled to double overtime allowance as per the Factories Act 1948 – No

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SECURITY PRINTING AND MINTING CORPORATION OF INDIA LTD. AND OTHERS ETC. — Appellant Vs. VIJAY D. KASBE AND OTHERS ETC. — Respondent ( Before…

Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 – Sections 118 and 121 – Partition – When a decision is taken by the Revenue Officer under Section 118 on the question as to the property to be divided and the mode of partition, the rights and status of the parties stand decided and the partition is deemed to have completed – At this stage, such decision is required to be treated as the “decree”

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH JHABBAR SINGH (DECEASED) THROUGH LEGAL HEIRS AN OTHERS — Appellant Vs. JAGTAR SINGH S/O DARSHAN SINGH — Respondent ( Before : Ajay Rastogi and…

HELD allotment of an identified plot in favour of Shashi Bala did not crystallize by the date of the Full Bench judgment and was at the stage of the Governments approval- FB judgement held invalidating the actual allotments made under the discretionary quota and directing the Government to draw up a policy in relation to reservation for various categories – Appeal dismissed

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH IMPROVEMENT TRUST, ROPAR THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN, ROPAR, PUNJAB — Appellant Vs. SHASHI BALA AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sanjay…

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