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Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 168 — Notional income of skilled worker — Carpenter — Assessment — The appellant, a carpenter aged 38 years, suffered amputation of his right leg below the knee in a road accident in November 2004 — The Claims Tribunal assessed his monthly income at Rs. 3,000/- and the High Court enhanced it to Rs. 5,000/- relying on minimum wages. Held — A carpenter is a skilled artisan who works with precision and manual dexterity — His income cannot be equated with that of an unskilled worker — Where the appellant’s unrefuted evidence showed earnings of Rs. 8,000/- to Rs. 10,000/- per month, and a skilled job always has the potentiality to fetch higher income, the High Court erred in restricting the figure to Rs. 5,000/- — Considering the date of accident, decisions in comparable cases and the fact of the appellant being a skilled worker, his notional monthly income is assessed at Rs. 9,000/- per month. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 304 Part II — Culpable Homicide not Amounting to Murder — Conviction and sentence — Appeal against — Abatement of appeal due to death of co-accused — Death of two appellants during pendency of appeal — Appeal survives only for the third appellant. Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — Section 154 — Transfer of land in contravention of ceiling limit — Not void ipso facto — Capable of ratification — Legality of transfer to be judged by law on date of execution — Sale deed executed on 04.06.1957 — Ceiling limit then was 30 acres, subsequently amended to 12.5 acres retrospectively from 01.07.1952 — Transfer in contravention of Section 154 not void but voidable at instance of Gaon Sabha coupled with liability for ejectment of transferee under Section 163 — No suit filed for ejectment within limitation period. Specific Relief Act, 1963 — Section 16(c) — “Readiness and Willingness” — Relief of specific performance is equitable and discretionary — Plaintiff must specifically aver and prove continuous readiness and willingness to perform obligations — Failure to do so disentitles plaintiff to relief — “Readiness” refers to financial capacity, “Willingness” to conduct and intention — Both cumulatively must be seen — Conduct of plaintiff prior and subsequent to suit, along with attending circumstances, must be considered — Availability of funds must be proved with reference to relevant time, not by documents created much later. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 and 140 — Compensation for death in motor vehicular accident — Negligence — Truck stationed on road at night without warning lights or indicators — Wagon-R car collided from behind — Held, truck driver was negligent in leaving the vehicle unattended on the road without adequate precautionary measures, which was the proximate cause of the accident.

Bank guarantee – ICBC, which is a Scheduled Bank, carrying on business in India, with a Bank Guarantee of equivalent amount issued by a “Scheduled Indian Bank” – Hon’ble Justice Indira Banerjee allowed the appeal and Hon’ble Justice V. Ramasubramanian dismiss the Special Leave Petitions as not giving rise to any substantial question of law warranting interference under Article 136 of the Constitution – Appeal referred to Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for appropriate directions.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SEPCO ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION — Appellant Vs. POWER MECH PROJECTS LIMITED — Respondent ( Before : Indira Banerjee and V. Ramasubramanian, JJ. )…

Service Matters

‘ Creamy layer’ HELD Economic criterion cannot be the sole criterion for identifying ‘creamy layer’ – In spite of Section 5(2) of the 2016 Act making it mandatory for identification and exclusion of ‘creamy layer’ to be on the basis of social, economic and other relevant factors, the State of Haryana has sought to determine ‘creamy layer’ from backward classes solely on the basis of economic criterion and has committed a grave error in doing so

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PICHRA WARG KALYAN MAHASABHA HARYANA (REGD.) AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF HARYANA AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara…

Quashing of criminal proceedings – Stage of framing of charge – High Court has entered into the appreciation of the evidence and considered whether on the basis of the evidence, the accused is likely to be convicted or not, – HELD it is not a court conducting the trial and/or was not exercising the jurisdiction as an appellate court against the order of conviction or acquittal.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SARANYA — Appellant Vs. BHARATHI AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Summoning additional accused – HELD As per the settled preposition of law, the powers under Section 319 CrPC can be exercised at any stage before the final conclusion of the trial. – dismissing the application under Section 319 CrPC submitted on behalf of the complainant to summon the private respondents herein as additional accused are unsustainable and deserve to be quashed and set aside and are accordingly quashed and set aside – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MANJEET SINGH — Appellant Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah, JJ. )…

(IPC) – Sections 302, 120B, 147, 148 and 324 – Murder – HELD In the face of appellant’s such identification by name in the testimony of eye witnesses, it can be safely concluded that the failure to conduct the Test Identification Parade (TIP) for the appellant will not vitiate his conviction – Conviction of the appellant u/S 302, 120B, 147, 148 and Section 324 of the Indian Penal Code was upheld – Appeal dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH LALA @ ANURAG PRAKASH AASRE — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA — Respondent ( Before : Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy, JJ.…

Service Matters

Reservation – Employees who are members of the SC/ST/OBC – HELD Person is entitled to claim the benefit of reservation in either of the successor State of Bihar or State of Jharkhand but would not be entitled to claim the privileges and benefits of reservation simultaneously in both the States and if that is permitted, it will defeat the mandate of Articles 341(1) and 342(1) of the Constitution.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PANKAJ KUMAR — Appellant Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Uday Umesh Lalit and Ajay Rastogi, JJ. ) Civil…

(IPC) – S 302 r/with S 34 – Murder – Recovery of weapons – Prosecution has not established either through the report of FSL or otherwise, that the blood stains contained in the knife and lathis were that of the deceased – Conviction and sentence set aside – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MADHAV — Appellant Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH — Respondent ( Before : Indira Banerjee and V. Ramasubramanian, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 852…

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 – Section 24A – Insurance Act, 1938 – Section 64- UM(c) – Fire Insurance Claim – Surveyor report – HELD the reliance placed on the surveyor’s report by the NCDRC without giving credence to the investigation report in the facts and circumstances of the instant case cannot be faulted – Accordingly, the amount as ordered by the NCDRC shall be payable with interest at 9% per annum instead of 12% per annum – Appeal allowed in part.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. — Appellant Vs. M/S. HARESHWAR ENTERPRISES (P) LTD. AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Hemant Gupta and A.S. Bopanna,…

Rented land – Use of land as club for a pavilion is in interest of section of public – Eviction petition – Maintainability – – Therefore, use of land as club for a pavilion is in interest of section of the public – Thus, land let out to a club which for the purpose of construction and use of pavilion falls within the scope of Section 2(f) of the Act and thus eviction petition is maintainable under the Act – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAJINDER KUMAR BANSAL AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Hemant Gupta and A.S. Bopanna, JJ. )…

Redemption of Mortgage – Decree of foreclosure passed in the suit filed by the mortgagee will not extinguish the right of the mortgagor to redeem land in view of the fact that he was not impleaded as a party in the suit though he has purchased part of the mortgaged property by virtue of registered sale deed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NARAYAN DEORAO JAVLE (DECEASED) THROUGH LRS — Appellant Vs. KRISHNA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Hemant Gupta and A.S. Bopanna, JJ. )…

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