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Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 — Claim Petition for death of bachelor — Selection of Multiplier — Multiplier to be determined based on age of deceased and not age of dependents/parents — Deceased was 33 years old at the time of accident — Correct multiplier applicable according to standardized matrix in Sarla Verma and Pranay Sethi is 16 — Argument of insurer that multiplier should correspond to age of parents rejected — MACT and High Court rightly applied multiplier of 16. Legal Representatives Can Claim Motor Accident Compensation Even Without Financial Dependency On Deceased Execution Of Unregistered Agreement To Sell Does Not Terminate Subsisting Landlord-Tenant Relationship Nor Entitle Tenant To Section 53A TP Act Protection A. Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — Section 111(e) & (f) — Landlord and Tenant — Determination of lease by express or implied surrender — Execution of agreement to sell by landlord in favour of tenant — Effect on jural relationship — Held, mere execution of an agreement to sell between landlord and tenant does not ipso facto determine the subsisting tenancy — Tenancy is determined only when terms of agreement or unequivocal conduct of parties disclose express or implied surrender — Where agreement to sell contained clause for cancellation and restoration of possession in case loan was not sanctioned, existing possession was referable to tenancy and not to agreement to sell — Landlord-tenant relationship continued to subsist. Appellate Courts Should Not Remand Cases Under Order 41 Rule 23 CPC As A Matter Of Course When Sufficient Evidence Is Available On Record. A. Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 41 Rules 23 and 24 — Power of Appellate Court to remand — Remand of case to Trial Court for framing of additional issues and fresh evidence — Permissibility — High Court remitted suit regarding one item of property for framing issues on whether sale deed was sham, limitation, and possession — Held, remand is not to be adopted as a matter of ordinary course and reflects incorrect exercise of discretion when sufficient evidence is available on record — Issues already framed by Trial Court were comprehensive enough to cover core disputes — Appellate Court is fully empowered to decide issues on merits or admit additional evidence if warranted, rather than remitting matter to cause unnecessary delay — Remand set aside and appeals restored to High Court for fresh disposal on merits. Extended Period Of Limitation Under Proviso To Section 11A, Central Excise Act Cannot Be Invoked When Facts Are Known To Department Without Wilful Suppression A. Central Excise Act, 1944 — Section 35L — Maintainability of appeal before Supreme Court — Preliminary objection raised by Department that appeal does not come under Section 35L as issue had no relation to rate of duty or valuation — Held, issue raised regarding extended period of limitation on ground of non-inclusion of certain costs in assessable value has an inextricable link with valuation of goods for purposes of assessment — Issue raised in show cause notice fundamentally dealt with valuation of goods — Supreme Court declined to relegate matter to High Court after almost a decade of pendency — Preliminary objection rejected.
Service Matters

Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Reservation for Economically Weaker Sections) Act, 2020 — Advertisement dated 15.12.2021 for 9212 posts of Health Worker (Female) — Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation — Clause 8.3 of advertisement requiring candidates to submit EWS certificate issued till the last date of application or advertisement — Prescribed proforma requires certificate to be for the financial year preceding the year of application — Certificates submitted by appellants were not in respect of the correct financial year or were issued before the closure of the relevant financial year — Certificates thus invalid for claiming EWS reservation — High Court rightly dismissed the claim — Appeals dismissed.

2026 INSC 351 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH POONAM DWIVEDI AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF U.P. AND OTHERS ( Before : Manoj Misra and Prasanna B. Varale, JJ. )…

Contitution of India — Articles 14 & 16 — Equality in employment — Denial of promotion on discriminatory grounds — Appellant denied promotion despite long service, experience, and possessing a qualification that was accepted for similarly situated employees — High Court Division Bench erroneously set aside Single Judge’s order granting relief, creating contradiction in reasoning by first stating discretion lies with Board of Directors and then upholding Registrar’s refusal — Supreme Court allowed appeal, finding non-acceptance of promotion unsustainable and a violation of equality principles.

2026 INSC 353 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH KAMAL PRASAD DUBEY Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS ( Before : Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria, JJ.…

Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 14 — Equality before law — Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) — Sanctioning different rates of enhancement for DA for serving employees and DR for pensioners, when both are intended to mitigate inflation, is discriminatory and violates Article 14.

2026 INSC 352 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE STATE OF KERALA Vs. M. VIJAYAKUMAR AND OTHERS ( Before : Manoj Misra and Prasanna B. Varale, JJ. ) Civil…

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 389 — Suspension of sentence pending appeal — Suspension of sentence in serious offences should not be granted routinely — Appellate court must apply its mind to the nature of the offence, manner of commission, and gravity of trial court’s findings — Reasons must be recorded in writing, reflecting due consideration of relevant factors — Order granting suspension of sentence should not be passed mechanically — This principle applies even at the stage of considering interlocutory orders.

2026 INSC 349 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DHAN JEE PANDEY Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR AND ANOTHER ( Before : Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan, JJ. ) Criminal…

Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 — Section 88 — Khatedari rights — Claim for declaration of Khatedari rights and recovery of land unlawfully encroached upon — Trial Court decreed suit based on plaintiff’s inherited Khatedari rights from his father — Defendant contested case, later declared ex-parte — Appeal filed after significant delay rejected — Second appeal remanded by Board of Revenue, affirmed by High Court — Supreme Court held that original authority provided no opportunity to adduce evidence after specific date — Trial court proceeded ex-parte without proper service of summons, denying reasonable opportunity to defend — Sale deed not summoned, mutation ignored — Defendant’s unawareness of decree due to non-execution and delayed mutation change — High Court favoured defendant noticing her status as widow and illiterate.

2026 INSC 350 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH HARI RAM Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN AND OTHERS ( Before : Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) — Sections 20(b)(ii)(C), 25 and 29 — Conviction and Sentence — Separate punishments for offences under Section 20 as well as offences under Sections 25 and 29 are permissible, as these are distinct and independent offences, even if they arise from the same transaction.

2026 INSC 332 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH HEM RAJ Vs. THE STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH ( Before : Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 — Section 33C(2) — Maintainability of claim petition — Labour Court and High Court dismissed the appellant’s case on the technical ground of non-maintainability of the petition under Section 33C(2) of the ID Act, primarily because proceedings under this section are in the nature of execution proceedings — The issue of grant of pension was disputed by the respondent-Bank and therefore could not be held to be a pre-existing right — Dismissal of the case at the threshold by both the Labour Court and High Court was upheld.

2026 INSC 333 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH K.G. SESHADRI Vs. THE TRUSTEES OF STATE BANK OF INDIA AND ANOTHER ( Before : Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria,…

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 1 Rule 10 — Impleadment of parties — Principles for impleadment — A necessary party is essential for effective order, while a proper party aids complete adjudication — In writ proceedings, a person directly affected by an interim order can be joined even if not an original party.

2026 INSC 335 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S CHOPRA HOTELS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. HARBINDER SINGH SEKHON AND OTHERS ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. )…

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 374 — Appeal against dismissal of criminal appeal by High Court — Conviction under Section 302 IPC and Section 27 Arms Act — Prosecution case based entirely on circumstantial evidence — No eyewitnesses — Reliability of prosecution witnesses critically examined — Admission by key witness regarding darkness and identification by voice only, materially undermining credibility — Evidence found insufficient to meet standard of proof in criminal law and exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence — Conviction set aside and appellant acquitted.

2026 INSC 317 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH JAY PRAKASH YADAV Vs. THE STATE OF JHARKHAND ( Before : Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

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