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Constitution of India, 1950 — List II, Entry 34 — “Betting and gambling” — Whether confined to games of chance — The expression “betting and gambling” in Entry 34 cannot be split to mean that the staking angle alone constitutes “betting” and the chance element alone constitutes “gambling” — Both betting and gambling involve the aspect of staking money on an uncertain outcome — Merely because the risk element is commonly perceived as “taking a chance”, it cannot mean the expression covers only games of chance — The expression is a set composite expression and cannot be rewritten by Courts to read as “betting on gambling” — Such a judicial rewriting would constitute a clear constitutional aberration — State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala, AIR 1957 SC 699 (RMDC-I) and R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala v. Union of India, AIR 1957 SC 628 (RMDC-II), explained and distinguished. Constitution of India — Articles 246A, 366(12), 366(12A), 265 — Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) — Sections 2(1), 2(31), 2(52), 7, 9, 15 — Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 — Rules 31A, 31B, 31C — Schedule III, Entry 6 — Actionable claims arising from betting and gambling — Constitutional validity of levy of GST — Legislative competence of Parliament — Whether online gaming, fantasy sports and casino transactions involve betting and gambling — Whether actionable claims arise therefrom — Valuation of taxable supply. Betting and Gambling — Essential ingredients — The essential element of “betting and gambling” lies in staking money or money’s worth upon uncertain outcomes — The character of betting and gambling does not depend exclusively upon whether the underlying activity is a game of skill or a game of chance, but upon the existence of stakes placed upon uncertain future contingencies — Consequently, even where the underlying activity involves substantial elements of skill, once participation is conditioned upon staking money or money’s worth upon uncertain outcomes, the resulting transaction acquires the character of betting and gambling within the framework of the GST legislation — Accordingly, online gaming activities, including fantasy sports and other games played on digital platforms involving staking upon uncertain outcomes, constitute betting and gambling for purposes of the GST framework. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 438 — Grant of Anticipatory Bail — Abuse of Authority by Law Enforcers — Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s order granting anticipatory bail to police officers accused of misusing their authority, extorting money, and causing stress to a citizen and his minor daughter — The Court emphasized that in cases where there is a clear abuse of authority by law enforcement officials, the normal presumptions applicable to ordinary accused persons may not apply, and greater caution is warranted — Observations made by the Supreme Court were held to be prima facie and not to govern the trial SIR ::: Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 324 — Representation of the People Act, 1950 — Sections 21(3) — Electoral Rolls — Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — Election Commission of India (ECI) has power to conduct SIR — Commission’s authority under Article 324 operates in conformity with valid law made by Parliament, but parliamentary legislation cannot extinguish Commission’s constitutional function — ECI’s powers supplement law where necessary but cannot override express statutory prohibition — SIR exercise was not in direct conflict with RP Act and 1960 Rules — Exercise subserves constitutional goal of free and fair elections.

Constitution of India, 1950 — List II, Entry 34 — “Betting and gambling” — Whether confined to games of chance — The expression “betting and gambling” in Entry 34 cannot be split to mean that the staking angle alone constitutes “betting” and the chance element alone constitutes “gambling” — Both betting and gambling involve the aspect of staking money on an uncertain outcome — Merely because the risk element is commonly perceived as “taking a chance”, it cannot mean the expression covers only games of chance — The expression is a set composite expression and cannot be rewritten by Courts to read as “betting on gambling” — Such a judicial rewriting would constitute a clear constitutional aberration — State of Bombay v. R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala, AIR 1957 SC 699 (RMDC-I) and R.M.D. Chamarbaugwala v. Union of India, AIR 1957 SC 628 (RMDC-II), explained and distinguished.

Constitution of India — Articles 246A, 366(12), 366(12A), 265 — Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) — Sections 2(1), 2(31), 2(52), 7, 9, 15 — Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 — Rules 31A, 31B, 31C — Schedule III, Entry 6 — Actionable claims arising from betting and gambling — Constitutional validity of levy of GST — Legislative competence of Parliament — Whether online gaming, fantasy sports and casino transactions involve betting and gambling — Whether actionable claims arise therefrom — Valuation of taxable supply.

Corrigendum to Environment Clearance on additional conditions -An aggrieved person may always challenge the corrigendum to the EC, however, the appeal will be restricted to the corrigendum to the EC on additional conditions only, if the original EC is not under challenge and/or the original EC has been confirmed by the NGT earlier on certain conditions which have not been challenged

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S IL&FS TAMIL NADU POWER COMPANY LIMITED — Appellant Vs. T. MURUGANANDAM AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar,…

(IPC) – Ss 302 & 149 – (CrPC) – S 164 – Murder – Investigating Officer to have got the statement under section 164 CrPC recorded – If he did not think it necessary in his wisdom, it cannot have any bearing on the testimony of witness and the other material evidence led during trial – Conviction and sentence upheld

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH AJAI ALIAS AJJU ETC. ETC. — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Vikram Nath, JJ.…

Service Matters

Provision of review is not to scrutinize the correctness of the decision rendered rather to correct the error, if any, which is visible on the face of the order / record without going into as to whether there is a possibility of another opinion different from the one expressed HELD new stand for the payment of salary to teachers’ subject-wise, unsustainable in law and is accordingly set aside

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PANCHAM LAL PANDEY — Appellant Vs. NEERAJ KUMAR MISHRA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Civil…

Delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies – Article 170 will have no application as it forms a part of Chapter III of Part VI which deals with only the State Legislature – It has no application to the Legislatures of Union Territories HELD argument that certain provisions of the J&K Reorganisation Act and actions taken thereunder are in conflict with Article 170 and in particular Clause (3) thereof is clearly misconceived and deserves to be rejected.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH HAJI ABDUL GANI KHAN AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay…

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 14 and 300A – Development Control Rules – Rule 19 – Building bye Laws – Articles 14 and 300A of the Constitution are not violated by the requirement to reserve 10% of land for open space – It does not amount to compulsory acquisition – Areas covered by the Open Space Regulation area (OSR) cannot be diverted for any other purpose

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ASSOCIATION OF VASANTH APARTMENTS’ OWNERS — Appellant Vs. V. GOPINATH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : K.M. Joseph and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, JJ.…

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