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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.
Service Matters

If an appointment is made illegally or irregularly, the same cannot be made the basis of further appointment and erroneous decision cannot be permitted to perpetuate further error to the detriment of the general welfare of the public or a considerable section. (See : Union of India and Another vs. Kartick Chandra Mondal and Others, (2010) 2 SCC 422)

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH PANKJESHWAR SHARMA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta…

Service Matters

Time bound promotional scale – Claim of the appellants of discrimination and arbitrariness on the basis of time bound promotional scale granted to juniors is not found to be sustainable – Appellants are not entitled to time bound promotional scale on the basis of parity in the other cases

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH INDERJIT SINGH SODHI AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. THE CHAIRMAN, PUNJAB STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao,…

(CrPC) – Section 438 – Anticipatory bail – Delay in lodging of FIR – Many a time, delay may not be fatal to the criminal proceedings. However, it always depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case – However, at the same time, a long delay like 29 years as in the present case can certainly be a valid consideration for grant of anticipatory bail.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SUMEDH SINGH SAINI — Appellant Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah,…

(CrPC) – Section 161 and 161(3) – Installation of CCTV cameras in police stations – State Level Oversight Committee (SLOC) and the Central Oversight Body (COB) (where applicable) shall give directions to all Police Stations, investigative/enforcement agencies to prominently display at the entrance and inside the police stations/offices of investigative/enforcement agencies about the coverage of the concerned premises by CCTV.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH PARAMVIR SINGH SAINI — Appellant Vs. BALJIT SINGH AND OTHERS — RespondentS ( Before : R. F. Nariman, K.M. Joseph and Aniruddha Bose, JJ.…

E P F M P Act, 1952 – Ss 1(3)(B) and 7A – Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005 – Section 2(g) – Provisions of the EPF Act are applicable to a private security agency engaged in the expert service of providing personnel to its client, if it meets the requirement of the EPF Act – Merely because the client pays money does not become employer of guard

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S. PANTHER SECURITY SERVICE PRIVATE LIMITED — Appellant Vs. THE EMPLOYEES’ PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Navin Sinha and…

Acquittal – Dowry death – Presumption – Ingredients of the offence are well-settled – A marriage performed within seven years before the death of the wife – Death must be unnatural – Soon before the death, the deceased wife must have been at the receiving end of cruelty or harassment, on account of demand for dowry – It is described as dowry death – Relatives concerned, including husband, become liable – Section 113B of the Evidence Act comes to the rescue of the prosecutor by providing for a presumption that a person has caused dowry death

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SANDEEP KUMAR AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Rohinton Fali Nariman, K.M. Joseph and Aniruddha…

Unjust enrichment of a person occurs when he has and retains money or benefits which in justice and equity belong to another – Doctrine of unjust enrichment could have been attracted if the respondent had passed on the electricity duty to its customers and then retained the refund occasioned by the 50 per cent rebate in its own pocket – This is not demonstrated to be the factual position and hence, the respondent cannot be denied relief on the application of the doctrine.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE STATE OF JHARKHAND AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. BRAHMPUTRA METALLICS LTD., RANCHI AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud…

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