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Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Sections 5, 34, and 37 — Scope of Judicial Intervention — Minimum intervention of judicial authority in domestic arbitration matters is required under Section 5 — Challenge to an arbitral award under Section 34 is limited to specific grounds, including patent illegality or conflict with the public policy of India — Scope of interference by the Appellate Court under Section 37 is akin to and cannot travel beyond the restrictions laid down under Section 34 — Appellate Court cannot undertake an independent assessment of the merits of the award or re-interpret contractual clauses if the interpretation by the Arbitral Tribunal was a plausible view and upheld under Section 34 — Setting aside an arbitral award under Section 37, which was upheld under Section 34, based on providing a different interpretation of contractual clauses is unsustainable in law. (Paras 24, 25, 30, 31, 36, 37, 39, 50, 51) Limitation Act, 1963 — Article 54 — Suit for specific performance — Commencement of limitation period — Where the defendant subsequently executed an affidavit ratifying the agreement to sell and conveying no-objection to the transfer, the period of limitation commences from the date of the admitted affidavit, as this is the stage at which the executant finally refused to execute the sale deed to the extent of her share — Trial court and High Court erred in dismissing the suit on the ground of limitation calculated from an earlier disputed date. (Paras 13, 35, 36, 37) Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 9(2) read with Rule 9(4) of 2001 Rules — Setting aside High Court judgment — High Court erroneously treated the date of filing of the Section 11 petition (28.06.2024) as the commencement date, leading to the conclusion that proceedings commenced beyond the statutory period — Where the arbitration notice was served (on 11.04.2024) well within the 90-day period from the ad-interim injunction order (17.02.2024), proceedings commenced in time as per Section 21 — High Court’s finding unsustainable, resulting in the restoration of the Trial Court’s initial ad-interim injunction order. (Paras 28, 31, 32) E. Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 9 — Interim injunction — Dispute regarding existence Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 2(28) — Definition of “motor vehicle” — Components — Definition has two parts: an inclusive part (mechanically propelled vehicle adapted for use upon roads) and an exclusive part — The second part expressly excludes “a vehicle of a special type adapted for use only in a factory or in any other enclosed premises” — Although Dumpers, Loaders, etc., may fall under the first part of the definition, they are excluded if their nature of use is confined to factory or enclosed premises, being special type vehicles/Construction Equipment Vehicles. (Paras 36, 37, 38, 39) Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities of BootLeggers, Dacoits, Drug-Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders etc. Act, 1986 — Section 3(2) — Preventive Detention — Grounds for Detention — Requirement of finding ‘prejudicial to the maintenance of public order’ — Detenu, a ‘drug offender’, was detained based on three criminal cases involving Ganja, with an apprehension that if released on bail, she would engage in similar activities — Held, mere apprehension that the detenu, if released on bail, would be likely to indulge in similar crimes would not be a sufficient ground for ordering preventive detention — Order of detention failed to indicate how the detenu’s activities were prejudicial to ‘public order’ as opposed to ‘law and order’ and was therefore unsustainable. (Paras 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11)

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Sections 5, 34, and 37 — Scope of Judicial Intervention — Minimum intervention of judicial authority in domestic arbitration matters is required under Section 5 — Challenge to an arbitral award under Section 34 is limited to specific grounds, including patent illegality or conflict with the public policy of India — Scope of interference by the Appellate Court under Section 37 is akin to and cannot travel beyond the restrictions laid down under Section 34 — Appellate Court cannot undertake an independent assessment of the merits of the award or re-interpret contractual clauses if the interpretation by the Arbitral Tribunal was a plausible view and upheld under Section 34 — Setting aside an arbitral award under Section 37, which was upheld under Section 34, based on providing a different interpretation of contractual clauses is unsustainable in law. (Paras 24, 25, 30, 31, 36, 37, 39, 50, 51)

Limitation Act, 1963 — Article 54 — Suit for specific performance — Commencement of limitation period — Where the defendant subsequently executed an affidavit ratifying the agreement to sell and conveying no-objection to the transfer, the period of limitation commences from the date of the admitted affidavit, as this is the stage at which the executant finally refused to execute the sale deed to the extent of her share — Trial court and High Court erred in dismissing the suit on the ground of limitation calculated from an earlier disputed date. (Paras 13, 35, 36, 37)

Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 127 – Power to transfer cases – Even if the case or cases of an assessee are transferred in exercise of power under Section 127 of the Act, the High Court within whose jurisdiction the Assessing Officer has passed the order, shall continue to exercise the jurisdiction of appeal

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH PR. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX – I, CHANDIGARH — Appellant Vs. M/S. ABC PAPERS LIMITED — Respondent ( Before : Uday Umesh Lalit, S.…

HELD by accepting the alternate relief claimed by the plaintiff of refund of the advance amount along with the interest @ 12% per annum. The High Court found suspicious circumstances and doubtful situations being raised by both the sides. The reasons given by the High Court as contained in paragraph 40, in our opinion, were sufficient to arrive at a conclusion of not awarding the relief of specific performance of contract

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH AYILLYATH YADUNATH NAMBIAR — Appellant Vs. P. SREEDHARAN — Respondent ( Before : Hemant Gupta and Vikram Nath, JJ. ) Civil Appeal No(s). 4943…

Service Matters

Prescription of pay scales and incentives are a matter of decision taken by the government which, when based upon the recommendation of an expert body like the Central Pay Commission, should carry weight and the courts should be reluctant to substitute the policy with their own views on what would be more equitable and just.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. EX. HC/GD VIRENDER SINGH — Respondent ( Before : Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ.…

Compensation – Lapse of acquisition proceedings – There is no lapse of acquisition proceedings under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, the land which has stood vested with continues to do – Also, there is no question of payment of any compensation in respect of the suit land as per the Act, 2013 –

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. SUBHASH CHANDER SEHGAL AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : M. R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna,…

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 145(3) – Matter Referred to 5-Judge Bench – Constitutional questions relating to interpretation of Schedule X of the Constitution pertaining to disqualification, as well as the powers of the Speaker and the Governor and the power of judicial review thereo

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SUBHASH DESAI — Appellant Vs. PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, GOVERNOR OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : N.V. Ramana, CJI., Krishna Murari and Hima…

Appeals from original decrees – A person who is affected by a judgment but is not a party to the suit, can prefer an appeal with the leave of the Court – Sine qua non for filing an appeal by a third party is that he must have been affected by reason of the judgment and decree which is sought to be impugned.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH MY PALACE MUTUALLY AIDED CO­OPERATIVE SOCIETY — Appellant Vs. B. MAHESH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : N. V. Ramana, CJI., Krishna Murari…

Prohibition of benami transactions – Section 3(2) of the unamended 1988 Act is declared as unconstitutional for being manifestly arbitrary – Accordingly, Section 3(2) of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 is also unconstitutional as it is violative of Article 20(1) of the Constitution – Section 3 (criminal provision) read with Section 2(a) and Section 5 (confiscation proceedings) of the 1988 Act are overly broad, disproportionately harsh, and operate without adequate safeguards in place. Such provisions were still-born law and never utilized in the first place – In this light, this Court finds that Sections 3 and 5 of the 1988 Act were unconstitutional from their inception

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. M/S. GANPATI DEALCOM PVT. LTD. — Respondent ( Before : N.V. Ramana, CJI., Krishna Murari and…

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 Section 6 – HELD under Rules, the Banks are required to preserve the record for five years and eight years respectively. On this ground also, permitting the show cause notices and the proceedings continued thereunder of the transactions which have taken place much prior to eight years would be unfair and unreasonable. No order in writting of RBI produced for maintaining record for longer time period

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISON BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. CITI BANK, N.A. — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, JJ. )…

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