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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.

Extra judicial confession–Confession before PW3 after a week of occurrence–PW3 is the former President of the Village Panchayat–He had not chosen to reduce into writing the extra judicial confession of the accused or produce him at the police station–Confession not reliable.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Arijit Pasayat The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Mukundakam Sharma Criminal Appeal No. 177 of 2003 Inspector Of Police, T.N. v. Palanisamy @ Selvan {Decided…

Mischief–Accused forcibly entered sugarcane fields of complainant and destroyed the crop–Accused used derogatory words against him–Complainant belongs to Scheduled Tribe–Accused rightly convicted under Section 427 I.P.C. under Section 3(1)(iv) and (v) of Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Arijit Pasayat The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Mukundakam Sharma Criminal Appeal No. 1967 of 2008 Kashiben Chhaganbhai Koli v. State of Gujarat {Decided on…

Service Matters

Pension–Husband of appellant died in 1978–Pension claimed after 14 years under Rule 22-A–Rule 22-A made effective from September 1, 1982 with prospective effect–A right or a liability which was created for the first time, cannot be given a retrospective effect.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Civil Appeal Nos.7556-7557 of 2008 Panchi Devi v. State of Rajasthan {Decided on 18/12/2008} Important Point Pension–Husband…

Easement right–A right of easement can be declared only when the servient owner is a party to the suit–If the High Court was of the view that defendants were not the owners of the suit property, it could not have granted declaration of easementary right as no such relief could be granted unless the servient owner is impleaded as a defendant.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice R. V. Raveendran The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta Civil Appeal Nos.5798-5799 Of 2008 Bachhaj Nahar v. Nilima Mandal {Decided on 23/09/2008} Important Point…

Accident Law–Multiplier–Deceased was aged 31 years at the time of the accident–Claim petition filed under Section 166 of Motor Vehicles Act–In the case of the deceased whose age was above 30 years but not exceeding 35 years, the multiplier of 17 in terms of the Second Schedule is required to be applied

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Civil Appeal No. 105 of 2009 [Arising out of SLP (Civil) No. 6227 of 2006] Mohan Singh…

Summoning order–Petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. against summoning order–Petition dismissed by High Court stating that remedy of revision under Section 397 Cr.P.C. also available–Held; it is difficult to conceive that jurisdiction of High Court would be held to be barred only because the revisional jurisdiction could also be availed of.

Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Criminal Appeal No. 2055 of 2008 Dharimal Tobaco Products Ltd. v. Sate of Maharashtra {Decided on 17/12/2008}…

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