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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.

Culpable Homicide–Asthmatic patient kept under unhygienic conditions by Police Officers–Cause of death has been shown to be asphyxia on account of detention of the deceased in unhygienic condition despite his respiratory problems–Accused can be proceeded against under Section 304 Part II and Section 330 I.P.C. and not under Section 302 I.P.C.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Altamas Kabir The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Markandey Katju Criminal Appeal No. 1683 of 2008 Indu Jain v. State of M.P. {Decided on 23/10/2008} For the…

Confession–Recovery of foreign exchange–Confession by accused later retracted–Burden to prove that confession was voluntary would be on Department. Burden of proof–Parliament did not make any provision placing the burden of proof on the accused/proceedee—The Act does not provide for a ‘reverse burden’–No presumption of commission of an offence is raised under the Act.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Civil Appeal No. 7407 Of 2008 Vinod Solanki v. Union of India {Decided on 18/11/2008} Important Point…

Property Tax–Sub-lessee whether liable to pay property tax–Deed placed number of restrictions on the sub-lessee which prevented the sub lessee from full enjoyment of the leasehold rights–As the deed did not operate as a conveyance and the industrial plot was let out to sub-lessee the primary liability to pay property tax cannot be fastened on sub-lessee.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.H. Kapadia The Hon’ble Mr. Justice B. Sudershan Reddy Civil Appeal Nos.6802-6806 Of 2003 Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Shashnak Steel Industries (P) Ltd {Decided…

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