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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.

Advance Tax Ruling System – Aim of any properly framed advance ruling system ought to be a dialogue between taxpayers and revenue authorities to fulfil the mutually beneficial purpose for taxpayers and revenue authorities HELD Swedish model and the New Zealand system may be a possible way forward.

  SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — Appellant Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, DELHI-V — Respondent ( Before : Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Indu Malhotra,…

Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 – IPC , 1860 – Evidence Act, 1872 – Ss 165 – Constitution of India, Art 14 – Corruption Charges – Punishment of dismissal was disproportionate to the allegation of corruption, is without merit – It is a settled legal proposition that the Disciplinary Authority has wide discretion in imposing punishment for a proved delinquency, subject to principles of proportionality and fair play

  SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH PRAVIN KUMAR — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : N.V. Ramana, S. Abdul Nazeer and Surya Kant,…

N D P S Act, 1985 – Ss 20(b)(ii)(B) & 50 – Possession 20 kg – Ganja from the motor cycle – NDPS Trial is not vitiated merely because ownership of Vehicle from which Contraband was seized is not established – It is enough to establish and prove that the contraband articles were found from the accused from the vehicle purchased by the accused

  SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH RIZWAN KHAN — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF CHHATTISGARH — Respondent ( Before : Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah, JJ.…

Service Matters

Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950 – S 45 – Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation Employees Corporation Pension Regulations, 1989 – Regulations 3, 3(1), 3(k) and 43 – Rejection of pension – HELD Merely because the respondent had withdrawn the entire CPF amount prior to his absorption would not make any difference because the CPF account was closed by the Board on the employee’s absorption – Appeal dismissed.

  SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAJASTHAN STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. GOVERDHAN LAL SONI AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Ashok Bhushan and…

Wealth-Tax Act, 1957 – Sections 21AA and 167A – Club Rules – Rule 35 – Liability to pay Wealth Tax – Section 21AA does not enlarge the field of tax payers but only plugs evasion -applying the ratio of CWT v. Trustees of H.E.H. Nizam’s Family 108 ITR 555 (1977), HELD club members fixed body as on the date of liquidation. Appeal allowed.

  SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH M/S BANGALORE CLUB — Appellant Vs. THE COMMISSIONER OF WEALTH TAX AND ANOTHER — RespondentS ( Before : R. F. Nariman, Navin Sinha…

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