Latest Post

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. 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. 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. 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. Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 294(b) — Conviction for uttering obscene words — Held, mere use of the word “bastard” is not sufficient to constitute obscenity, especially in heated conversations during the modern era — Conviction under Section 294(b) IPC is not sustainable and is liable to be set aside.
Service Matters

Appellant was not entitled to claim benefit of military service for purpose of seniority for appointment to Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch) since the benefit of Rule 4(1) of 1972 Rules was not continued in 1982 Rules. His seniority was to be governed by statutory rules applicable after the enforcement of 1982 Rules – Appeal dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH JAGMOHAN SINGH DHILLON ETC.ETC. — Appellant Vs. SATWANT SINGH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Ashok Bhushan, S. Abdul Nazeer and Hemant Gupta,…

Facebook post read in its entirety pleads for equality of non-tribals in the State of Meghalaya – There was no intention on the part of the Appellant to promote class/community hatred – As there is no attempt made by the Appellant to incite people belonging to a community to indulge in any violence, the basic ingredients of the offence under Sections 153 A and 505 (1) (c) have not been made out – Appeal allowed

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PATRICIA MUKHIM — Appellant Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat, JJ. )…

Service Matters

In the present case, 440 vacancies were advertised; they were to be considered together; obviously, in respect of older vacancies which arose for previous years, the qualifications applicable for the vacancy years were applicable – None of the appellants disputed that they were ineligible in terms of the old rules, as they did not hold the requisite intermediate qualifications in the science stream – Appellants’ contention, in this regard too, consequently fails – Appeal dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SUMAN DEVI AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat,…

Construction of Road over Bridges – Felling of trees – As per the Report of the Expert Committee submitted, primarily, about 50 trees have already been felled and potentially another 306 trees are to be felled. As per the Report, many of the trees can be called ‘historical trees’ ,

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH ASSOCIATION FOR PROTECTION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : S.A.…

Appeal against acquittal – Dying declaration – the accused is able to create a doubt not only with regard to the dying declaration but also with regard to the nature and manner of death, the benefit of doubt shall have to be given to the accused – Therefore much shall depend on the facts of a case – There can be no rigid standard or yardstick for acceptance or rejection of a dying declaration.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NARESH KUMAR — Appellant Vs. KALAWATI AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Navin Sinha and Krishna Murari, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 35…

Permanent Commission for Women Officers (Army) – Evaluation criteria set by the Army constituted systemic discrimination against the petitioners – Pattern of evaluation deployed by the Army, to implement the decision in Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya, (2020) 7 SCC 469 disproportionately affects women – This disproportionate impact is attributable to the structural discrimination against women, by dint of which the facially neutral criteria of selective ACR evaluation and fulfilling the medical criteria to be in SHAPE-1 at a belated stage, to secure PC disproportionately impacts them vis-à-vis their male counterparts.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH LT. COL. NITISHA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud and M.…

IBC – Adjudicating Authority cannot interfere on merits with the commercial decision taken by the Committee of Creditors – Limited jurisdiction in matter of approval of resolution plan – Jurisdiction of the Appellate Authority is also circumscribed by the limited grounds of appeal provided in Section 61 of the Code

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH JAYPEE KENSINGTON BOULEVARD APARTMENTS WELFARE ASSOCIATION AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. NBCC (INDIA) LIMITED AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh…

You missed