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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.

Election Laws – Declaration of results – State Government through learned counsel as well as the State Election Commission, Uttar Pradesh that necessary measures have been put in place in terms of the guidelines issued from time to time, including the recent Notifications dated 29.04.2021 and 30.04.2021 issued by the State Election Commission – No interference.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SACHIN YADAV — Appellant Vs. STATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : A.M. Khanwilkar and Hrishikesh Roy, JJ. ) Special Leave…

Contract load/sanctioned load – Reduction of – Fresh agreements may have been executed at the stage of enhancement of load of the same electricity connection, the same cannot be treated as anything but an extension/amendment or modification of the initial agreement granting the electricity connection

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH JHARKHAND STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. M/S RAMKRISHNA FORGING LIMITED — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran,…

Land Acquisition – Specific performance – Power to award compensation-Decree for compensation is passed as an alternate decree and in lieu of the decree for specific performance – High Court has rightly observed and held that the plaintiff shall be entitled to the entire amount of compensation awarded under the Land Acquisition Act together with interest and solatium.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SUKHBIR — Appellant Vs. AJIT SINGH — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah, JJ. ) Civil Appeal No. 1653…

Service Matters

Termination – Back wages -The High Court in fact set aside the direction of the Tribunal to reinstate by creating a supernumerary post – This is not challenged by Respondent No. 1 – It directed only that the appointment of the Respondent No. 1 be made in the vacancy – Therefore, the claim of Respondent No. 1 for back wages from the date of termination is at any rate clearly untenable.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH STATE OF ODISHA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. KAMALINI KHILAR AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Uday Umesh Lalit and K.M. Joseph, JJ.…

Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 80-IA(5) – is limited to determination of quantum of deduction under sub-section (1) of Section 80-IA of the Act by treating ‘eligible business’ as the ‘only source of income’ – Sub-section (5) cannot be pressed into service for reading a limitation of the deduction under sub-section (1) only to ‘business income’.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX-I — Appellant Vs. M/S. RELIANCE ENERGY LIMITED (FORMERLY BSES LIMITED) THROUGH ITS M.D — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara…

(IPC) – Section 302 read with 34 – Murder – Common intention – Evidence of injured witnesses cannot be brushed aside without assigning cogent reasons – Evidence of an injured witness must be given due weightage being a stamped witness, thus, his presence cannot be doubted – His statement is generally considered to be very reliable and it is unlikely that he has spared the actual assailant in order to falsely implicate someone else

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH KALABHAI HAMIRBHAI KACHHOT — Appellant Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT — Respondent ( Before : Ashok Bhushan and R. Subhash Reddy, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Service Matters

Implementation of MACPS for civilian employees – Whether the Government of India is justified in implementing the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (‘MACPS’) – This Court find force in the submission made by the learned Additional Solicitor General that uniform implementation of MACPS for civilian employees w.e.f. 01.01.2006 would result in large scale recoveries of amounts paid in excess.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNION OF INDIA — Appellant Vs. R.K. SHARMA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran, JJ. ) Civil…

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