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Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 226 — Writ jurisdiction — Maintainability — Inclusion of advocate’s name in IBA “Caution List” — High Court dismissing writ petition on ground that Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) is not “State” under Art. 12 — Held, focus of maintainability has shifted from formal character of respondent body to nature of function performed and effect of impugned action on legally protected rights — Caution List operates as sector-wide adverse accreditation mechanism with public law element, having direct bearing on advocate’s right to practise profession under Art. 19(1)(g) — Writ petition against IBA held maintainable notwithstanding IBA not being “State” — Kishor S. Bhat v. Indian Banks’ Association, 2018 SCC OnLine Bom 2857, distinguished — Andi Mukta Sadguru Shree Muktajee Vandas Swami Suvarna Jayanti Mahotsav Smarak Trust v. V.R. Rudani, (1989) 2 SCC 691; Zee Telefilms Ltd. v. Union of India, (2005) 4 SCC 649; S. Shobha v. Muthoot Finance Ltd., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 177, relied on. Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 100 — Second appeal — Scope of interference with concurrent findings on genuineness of a Will — Whether suspicious circumstances surrounding execution of a Will exist, and stand explained, is essentially a question of fact; a second appellate court cannot re-appreciate evidence and substitute its own view merely because another view is possible — Interference is permissible only where the finding is perverse, based on circumstances that are mere “figments of a doubting mind,” or is vitiated by an erroneous placement of onus — High Court exceeded its jurisdiction under S. 100 CPC in reversing well-reasoned concurrent findings of the Trial Court and First Appellate Court discarding the Will. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Sections 209, 244 — Commitment of case exclusively triable by Court of Session — Whether Magistrate is required to record prosecution evidence under Section 244 CrPC before committing such a case, where the complaint is one instituted otherwise than on a police report — Held, no — Section 244 CrPC, which mandates the Magistrate to hear the prosecution and take evidence, occurs in Chapter XIX (Part B — “Cases instituted otherwise than on a police report”) and governs warrant-case trials before a Magistrate; it has no application where the offence (here, under Section 302 IPC) is exclusively triable by the Court of Session, which is governed instead by Section 209 CrPC — Under the scheme of the 1973 Code (unlike the erstwhile 1898 Code, which mandated a full committal inquiry with recording of evidence under Section 207-A), the Magistrate’s role at the pre-commitment stage is confined to ascertaining whether the offence is exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, and no evidence need be taken or evaluated by the Magistrate at that stage — Requiring witnesses to depose twice, once before the Magistrate and again before the Sessions Court, would serve no purpose and is not the mandate of law — High Court’s contrary view, requiring compliance with Section 244 CrPC even in a Sessions-triable case, proceeds on an erroneous reading of law and is unsustainable. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections166, 168 — Compensation — Assessment of annual income of a self-employed deceased (wholesale grocery business) — Two ITRs filed after the death of the deceased excluded by the High Court altogether from the assessment of income — Held, following the principles in Rashmirekha Tripathy and Anr. v. The Branch Manager (Legal Claims), Sriram General Insurance Company Limited and Ors. [C.A. @ SLP(C) No.27220 of 2024, 2026 INSC 661], ITRs filed post-death call for closer scrutiny with reference to surrounding financial statements, since income may be inflated in such returns, but such returns are not to be excluded outright merely for being filed post-death — In the absence of the benefit of such surrounding financial statements on record, and it being inexpedient at this stage to remand the matter, annual income fixed with reference to the nature of the deceased’s wholesale grocery business at Rs.3,25,000 — Compensation recomputed applying 40% addition for future prospects (age 28 years), 1/4th deduction for personal expenses, and a multiplier of 17, together with conventional heads (loss of estate, funeral expenses, consortium) — Total compensation enhanced to Rs.60,79,550 (as against Rs.15,36,560 awarded by the Tribunal and Rs.38,40,850 awarded by the High Court), with interest as awarded by the Tribunal — Appeal allowed. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections 166, 168 — Compensation — Assessment of annual income of a self-employed deceased (Insurance Agent) from Income Tax Returns — High Court had averaged the last four ITRs on record — Held, erroneous — Following the principles laid down in Rashmirekha Tripathy and Anr. v. The Branch Manager (Legal Claims), Sriram General Insurance Company Limited and Ors. [C.A. @ SLP(C) No.27220 of 2024, 2026 INSC 661], for a self-employed person the average of up to the previous three years’ ITRs, not four, is the appropriate reference point — A performance-linked spike in the income of an Insurance Agent in a particular year does not justify reaching back to an additional, earlier ITR to dilute that spike — On the facts, taking the average of the income for AY 2015-16 (Rs.4,03,180), AY 2016-17 (Rs.9,59,665) and AY 2017-18 (Rs.7,00,559), annual income assessed at Rs.6,87,802 — Compensation recomputed applying 25% addition for future prospects (age 49 years), 1/4th deduction for personal expenses, and a multiplier of 13, together with conventional heads (loss of estate, funeral expenses, consortium) — Total compensation enhanced to Rs.87,09,282 (as against Rs.49,77,000 awarded by the Tribunal and Rs.76,09,500 awarded by the High Court), with interest as awarded by the Tribunal — Appeal allowed.

Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 226 — Writ jurisdiction — Maintainability — Inclusion of advocate’s name in IBA “Caution List” — High Court dismissing writ petition on ground that Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) is not “State” under Art. 12 — Held, focus of maintainability has shifted from formal character of respondent body to nature of function performed and effect of impugned action on legally protected rights — Caution List operates as sector-wide adverse accreditation mechanism with public law element, having direct bearing on advocate’s right to practise profession under Art. 19(1)(g) — Writ petition against IBA held maintainable notwithstanding IBA not being “State” — Kishor S. Bhat v. Indian Banks’ Association, 2018 SCC OnLine Bom 2857, distinguished — Andi Mukta Sadguru Shree Muktajee Vandas Swami Suvarna Jayanti Mahotsav Smarak Trust v. V.R. Rudani, (1989) 2 SCC 691; Zee Telefilms Ltd. v. Union of India, (2005) 4 SCC 649; S. Shobha v. Muthoot Finance Ltd., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 177, relied on.

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 100 — Second appeal — Scope of interference with concurrent findings on genuineness of a Will — Whether suspicious circumstances surrounding execution of a Will exist, and stand explained, is essentially a question of fact; a second appellate court cannot re-appreciate evidence and substitute its own view merely because another view is possible — Interference is permissible only where the finding is perverse, based on circumstances that are mere “figments of a doubting mind,” or is vitiated by an erroneous placement of onus — High Court exceeded its jurisdiction under S. 100 CPC in reversing well-reasoned concurrent findings of the Trial Court and First Appellate Court discarding the Will.

Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 — Section 98 — Recovery Certificate — Sale under Section 98 — Mandatory Deposit — Rule 107(11)(h) of Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961 — Deposit of entire auction amount within 15 days of auction date is a mandatory condition — Failure amounts to void sale — Bank did not raise objection and accepted deposit after 15 days — Such acceptance does not waive the mandatory condition — Sale was void as the entire amount was not deposited within the stipulated period.

2026 INSC 197 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S. ADISHAKTI DEVELOPERS AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASTRA AND OTHERS ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Manoj Misra,…

Prisoner Rights — Human Dignity and Rights — The strength of a constitutional democracy is tested not merely by the liberties it guarantees abstractly, but by the manner in which it treats those at its margins — Prisons, though instruments of lawful confinement, are not spaces where constitutional values cease to operate — The guarantee of life and personal dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India extends beyond prison gates, obliging the State to ensure that incarceration does not degenerate into inhumanity — Overcrowded prisons, bereft of humane living conditions and rehabilitative avenues, strike at the very core of this constitutional promise and call for sustained institutional response rather than sporadic remedial measures.

2026 INSC 198 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SUHAS CHAKMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Writ Petition (C)…

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 — Sections 7 and 60(2) — Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) — Initiation against principal debtor and guarantor — Co-extensive liability — Creditor can initiate CIRP against both the principal debtor and guarantor simultaneously, and also file claims in the CIRP of both.

2026 INSC 201 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ICICI BANK LIMITED AND OTHERS Vs. ERA INFRASTRUCTURE (INDIA) LIMITED AND OTHERS ( Before : Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih,…

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 468, 469, 473 — Limitation bars taking cognizance — Offence punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding one year (Section 27(d) of Act) falls under Section 468(2)(c) of Cr.P.C. with limitation expiring after 3 years from the date the identity of the offender becomes known to the aggrieved party or police officer.

2026 INSC 200 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE STATE OF KERALA AND ANOTHER Vs. M/S. PANACEA BIOTEC LTD. AND ANOTHER ( Before : Ahsanuddin Amanullah and S.V.N. Bhatti,…

Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — Section 105 — Lease vs. License — Determining the nature of a document is based on the substance and intention of the parties, not just its wording — A lease transfers an interest in land, while a license merely permits use without transferring ownership or interest.

2026 INSC 199 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE GENERAL SECRETARY, VIVEKANANDA KENDRA Vs. PRADEEP KUMAR AGARWALLA AND OTHERS ( Before : Pankaj Mithal and S.V.N. Bhatti, JJ. )…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 — Criminal Breach of Trust, Cheating, Forgery, Using Forged Document — Joint Venture Agreement — Dispute arising from JVA — FIR quashed — Allegations primarily civil in nature, with a criminal cloak — Dishonest intention not evident from the inception — Delay in lodging FIR indicates civil dispute — Security deposit not refundable, adjustable against share in sale proceeds — No false representation regarding title or litigation in JVA — Allegation of forgery of a tracing document unsubstantiated — Recourse to civil remedies should be taken for contractual disputes.

2026 INSC 192 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VANDANA JAIN AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND OTHERS ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Manoj Misra,…

Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — Section 123 — Regularisation of unauthorised occupation — Legal fiction created by Section 123(2) deems land settled with house owners in possession by a specific cut-off date, overriding Section 143 declaration — Regularisation is a socio-economic measure and is applicable even if houses were built forcefully or without consent.

2026 INSC 193 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAM NARAIN (D) BY LRS. AND OTHERS Vs. THE SUB DIVISIONAL OFFICER AND OTHERS ( Before : S.V.N. Bhatti and R.…

“Sharbat Rooh Afza” — Classification — Contains declared fruit juice and derives essential beverage identity from fruit-based constituents — Invert sugar syrup acts as carrier, sweetener, and preservative, not determinative of commercial identity — Fruit juice and allied distillates impart flavour and beverage character — Held to be classifiable as “fruit drink” under Entry 103.

2026 INSC 195 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S HAMDARD (WAKF) LABORATORIES Vs. COMMISSIONER, COMMERCIAL TAX, U.P. COMMERCIAL ( Before : B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan, JJ. ) Civil…

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