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Environment Law — Environmental Clearance — Prior clearance — Mandatory character — Prior environmental clearance under EIA Notification, 2006 is mandatory, being founded on the precautionary principle and couched in imperative terms — Word “prior” and the graded four-stage screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal process render an anterior assessment the sine qua non of the clearance regime — Decriminalisation of contraventions under Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 does not alter this mandatory character. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 415 — Appeal — Maintainability — Conviction recorded for first time by appellate court reversing acquittal — An appeal under Section 374 CrPC (Section 415 BNSS) is not maintainable against a judgment of conviction recorded by a Sessions Court while exercising appellate jurisdiction and reversing an order of acquittal passed by the Trial Court — No such second appeal is contemplated under CrPC or BNSS — The only remedy available is revision under Section 397 r/w 401 CrPC (Section 438 r/w 442 BNSS) Income Tax Act, 1961 — Section 44B — “Carriage” of passengers — Meaning and scope of — Cruise operations by non-resident shipping entity — Held, the word “carriage” under Section 44B cannot be restrictively construed to mean movement only from Port A to Port B. A round-trip cruise voyage, where passengers have the option to disembark at intermediate ports without compulsion to return to the originating port, constitutes carriage of passengers within the meaning of Section 44B. Provision of incidental on-board entertainment and hospitality does not alter the essential character of the activity as carriage of passengers. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of FIR — Scope of inquiry — Mini-trial impermissible — At the stage of considering quashing of an FIR, the Court’s inquiry is confined to whether the allegations, taken at face value, prima facie disclose commission of a cognizable offence — Court cannot conduct a “mini-trial” by sifting evidence, assessing probabilities, or evaluating witness credibility — High Court exceeding these limits by examining trap proceedings, absence of personal recovery, and departmental enquiry findings, held impermissible. Succession Act, 1925 — Sections 33, 35 and 38 — Hindu/Christian Succession — Applicability of S. 33 confined to property owned by deceased male; erroneous application by High Court set aside — Where property was purchased and registered in the joint names of two wives, the same is owned by them and not by the husband, notwithstanding that he provided the consideration — Section 33, which governs devolution on intestacy of a male’s property between his widow and lineal descendants, is not attracted to property never vested in the husband’s name — High Court’s application of S. 33 to the entirety of the suit property held misconceived.

HELD as the responsibility of loading and unloading of foodgrains from railway wagons is absent in the present contract. For this reason, the Corporation in the present contract has chosen not to include the power to recover demurrages and as such the expression “charges” cannot be interpreted to include demurrages.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH FOOD CORPORATION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. ABHIJIT PAUL — Respondent ( Before : A.S. Bopanna and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, JJ. )…

HELD per Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act the seller was bound to disclose any buyer any material defect in the property of which the buyer is not aware and which the buyer could not ordinarily discover. Under the circumstances also the submission on behalf of the Bank that the property was put to auction on “as is where is” and “as is what is” condition, thereafter the plaintiff shall not be entitled to compensation of the less area cannot be accepted.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MRS. LEELAMMA MATHEW — Appellant Vs. M/S INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : M.R. Shah and Krishna Murari, JJ. )…

HELD thereby the original land owners/claimants shall not be entitled to any statutory benefits including the interest payable under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 on the enhanced amount of compensation for the period between 15.12.1993 till the respective first appeals after curing the defects were filed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NEW OKHLA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY — Appellant Vs. RAMESHWAR @ RAMESH CHANDRA SHARMA (DEAD) THROUGH LEGAL HEIR AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before :…

Cheque Dishonour – Company – By virtue of the office they hold as Managing Director or Joint Managing Director, these persons are in charge of and responsible for the conduct of business of the company. HELD Merely being a director of a company is not sufficient to make the person liable under Section 141 of the Act. A director in a company cannot be deemed to be in charge of and responsible to the company for conduct of its business

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PAWAN KUMAR GOEL — Appellant Vs. STATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Krishna Murari and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ. )…

Kathua Gang Rape and Murder Case – – Respondent accused was not a juvenile at the time of commission of the offence and should be tried the way other co-accused were tried – Impugned order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate and the High Court which held that one of the accused was a juvenile is set aside – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR (NOW U.T. OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR) AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. SHUBAM SANGRA — Respondent ( Before :…

Motor Accident – – Even in cases of permanent disablement incurred as a result of a motor-accident, the claimant can seek, apart from compensation for future loss of income, amounts for future prospects as well- From the world of the able bodied, the victim is thrust into the world of the disabled, itself most discomfiting and unsettling – If courts nit-pick and award niggardly amounts oblivious of these circumstances, there is resultant affront to the injured victim.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SIDRAM — Appellant Vs. THE DIVISIONAL MANAGER, UNITED INDIA INSURANCE CO. LTD. AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala,…

(SARFAESI) – Section 13(2) – Proceedings under Section 13(2) SARFAESI Act – mere typographical error due to inadvertence which has not caused any prejudice to the borrowers, that in itself could not be considered to be the ground to annul the process held by the secured creditor which is in due compliance with the requirement as contemplated under the provisions of Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VARIMADUGU OBI REDDY — Appellant Vs. B. SREENIVASULU AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Ajay Rastogi and C.T. Ravikumar, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

HELD there were several Inverters having numbers which were common/duplicate and interchangeably used in the same or other blocks. It was alleged that for about 186 Invertors serial numbers were commonly, duplicably and interchangeably used. Some of the inverter numbers were not legible. Therefore, it was alleged that there was lack of due diligence by the authorised personnel of the CEIG. Appeal dismissed

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M.P. POWER MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED, JABALPUR — Appellant Vs. M/S. SKY POWER SOUTHEAST SOLAR INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before :…

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