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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.
Service Matters

Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 – Rule 13 – the services rendered on a substantive post or services rendered as officiating or temporary service shall be treated as qualifying service – Service rendered as casual/contractual cannot be said to be officiating or temporary service HELD Service rendered as casual/contractual cannot be said to be service rendered on a substantive appointment.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DIRECTOR GENERAL, DOORDARSHAN PRASAR BHARTI CORPORATION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. SMT. MAGI H DESAI — Respondent ( Before : M.R. Shah…

Determination of correctness of a caste or tribe claim – Affinity test is not a litmus test – While referring the case to Vigilance Cell, the Scrutiny Committee must record brief reasons for coming to the conclusion that it is not satisfied with the material produced by the applicant – Only after a case is referred to the Vigilance Cell for making enquiry, an occasion for the conduct of affinity test will arise.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH MAH. ADIWASI THAKUR JAMAT SWARAKSHAN SAMITI — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay…

HELD on the principle of restitution to the facts of the case on hand, SCOI is of the opinion that this is a fit case to apply the principle of actus curiae neminem gravabit and the principle of restitution and to direct Shri Naresh Kempanna and Col. Mohinder Khaira to return the amount and deposit the same with this Court with 9% interest from the date on which the payment is received by them.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH BHUPINDER SINGH — Appellant Vs. UNITECH LIMITED — Respondent ( Before : Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, CJI. and M.R. Shah, JJ. ) I.A. Nos. 88960…

Service Matters

HELD Resignation can become effective either by stipulation of law or by acceptance thereof — examining in this judgment is legality of an order by which the respondents plea for withdrawal of resignation was rejected on grounds spelt out in the order itself. The Tribunal and the High Court found the reasoning of the appellant unsustainable.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. KAMLESH RANI BHATLA — Respondent ( Before : Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari,…

Indian Evidence Act, 1872 Section 113B – no eye-witness to the crime – Presumption – nothing specific has been stated by the complainant to bring home the guilt of the appellant for raising presumption as contained in Section 304B IPC read with Section 113B of the Evidence Act. In cross-examination, stated that he had seen his sister 4/5 months before her death – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MUNSHI — Appellant Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Rajesh Bindal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

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