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Environment Law — Environmental Clearance — Prior clearance — Mandatory character — Prior environmental clearance under EIA Notification, 2006 is mandatory, being founded on the precautionary principle and couched in imperative terms — Word “prior” and the graded four-stage screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal process render an anterior assessment the sine qua non of the clearance regime — Decriminalisation of contraventions under Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 does not alter this mandatory character. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 415 — Appeal — Maintainability — Conviction recorded for first time by appellate court reversing acquittal — An appeal under Section 374 CrPC (Section 415 BNSS) is not maintainable against a judgment of conviction recorded by a Sessions Court while exercising appellate jurisdiction and reversing an order of acquittal passed by the Trial Court — No such second appeal is contemplated under CrPC or BNSS — The only remedy available is revision under Section 397 r/w 401 CrPC (Section 438 r/w 442 BNSS) Income Tax Act, 1961 — Section 44B — “Carriage” of passengers — Meaning and scope of — Cruise operations by non-resident shipping entity — Held, the word “carriage” under Section 44B cannot be restrictively construed to mean movement only from Port A to Port B. A round-trip cruise voyage, where passengers have the option to disembark at intermediate ports without compulsion to return to the originating port, constitutes carriage of passengers within the meaning of Section 44B. Provision of incidental on-board entertainment and hospitality does not alter the essential character of the activity as carriage of passengers. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of FIR — Scope of inquiry — Mini-trial impermissible — At the stage of considering quashing of an FIR, the Court’s inquiry is confined to whether the allegations, taken at face value, prima facie disclose commission of a cognizable offence — Court cannot conduct a “mini-trial” by sifting evidence, assessing probabilities, or evaluating witness credibility — High Court exceeding these limits by examining trap proceedings, absence of personal recovery, and departmental enquiry findings, held impermissible. Succession Act, 1925 — Sections 33, 35 and 38 — Hindu/Christian Succession — Applicability of S. 33 confined to property owned by deceased male; erroneous application by High Court set aside — Where property was purchased and registered in the joint names of two wives, the same is owned by them and not by the husband, notwithstanding that he provided the consideration — Section 33, which governs devolution on intestacy of a male’s property between his widow and lineal descendants, is not attracted to property never vested in the husband’s name — High Court’s application of S. 33 to the entirety of the suit property held misconceived.

Consent decree – Estoppel – It is well settled that consent decrees are intended to create estoppels by judgment against the parties, thereby putting an end to further litigation between the parties – A consent decree would not serve as an estoppel, where the compromise was vitiated by fraud, misrepresentation, or mistake

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH COMPACK ENTERPRISES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED — Appellant Vs. BEANT SINGH — Respondent ( Before : Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran, JJ. ) SLP…

Presence of an arbitration clause within a contract between a state instrumentality and a private party has not acted as an absolute bar to availing remedies under Article 226 – If the state instrumentality violates its constitutional mandate under Article 14 to act fairly and reasonably, relief under the plenary powers of the Article 226 of the Constitution would lie.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNITECH LIMITED AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. TELANGANA STATE INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE CORPORATION (TSIIC) AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud…

(CPC) – Section 89 – Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suit Valuation Act, 1955 – Section 69A – Refund of Court fees – Settlement of disputes outside the Court – Parties who have agreed to settle their disputes without requiring judicial intervention under Section 89, CPC are even more deserving of this benefit.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS REP. BY ITS REGISTRAR GENERAL — Appellant Vs. M.C. SUBRAMANIAM AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before :…

Punishment of life imprisonment for remainder of natural life- It is true that the punishment of remainder of natural life could not have been imposed by the learned trial Judge but after looking into the entire case – It appropriate to confirm the sentence of imprisonment for life to mean the remainder of natural life while upholding the conviction under Section 302 IPC – Appeal dismissed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH GAURI SHANKAR — Appellant Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB — Respondent ( Before : Indu Malhotra and Ajay Rastogi, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 135…

Admission to MBBS Course – Equivalence certificate – substance of the eligibility requirement is the candidate should have qualified an intermediate level examination or first year of a graduate course, and studied the subjects of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at this level, along with practical testing and English – This subject matter requirement is at the heart of eligibility to be admitted into the medical course.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH KALOJI NARAYANA RAO UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES — Appellant Vs. SRIKEERTI REDDI PINGLE AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao and…

DRAT – Waiver of pre deposit – In all cases fifty per cent of the decretal amount i.e. the debt due is to be deposited before the DRAT as a mandatory requirement, but in appropriate cases for reasons to be recorded the deposit of at least twenty five per cent of the debt due would be permissible, but not entire waiver.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK PRIVATE LIMITED — Appellant Vs. AMBUJ A. KASLIWAL AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : S. A. Bobde, CJI, A. S.…

Permission for establishment of new Medical College – Gross deficiencies found -No action has been taken to improve the situation – State Government is directed to rectify all the deficiencies that have been pointed out by the MCI at the earliest and make an application for renewal of permission for admission of the second batch of MBBS students for the academic year 2021-2022.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DUMKA MEDICAL COLLEGE, DUMKA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. BOARD OF GOVERNORS IN SUPERSESSION OF MEDICAL COUNCIL OF INDIA AND ANOTHER — Respondent (…

Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 – Section 2 – Restriction on the dereservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose – Relief of diversion of small extents of forest land for the purpose of carrying out certain public welfare projects – Some of the reliefs sought by the State of Himachal Pradesh can be straight away granted and some other reliefs can be granted subject to certain clearances

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH IN RE: T.N. GODAVARMAN THIRUMULPAD — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : S.A. Bobde, CJI, A.S. Bopanna and…

Dacoity with murder – Reduction in sentence – – the accused shall undergo 22 years of compulsory imprisonment – Accused still young about 38 years of age – He may improve his conduct after coming from jail – Maintaining the conviction under Sections 396 and 307 read with Section 34 of the IPC – reduce the sentence to 22 years actual imprisonment .

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHIVALINGA @ SHIVALINGAYYA — Appellant Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA — Respondent ( Before : Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

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