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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.

COVID-19 pandemic – Distribution of surgical /n95 masks and also the sale and distribution of hand sanitizers and liquid soap and to make such items available to the public at large at reasonable prices – Helpline to be provided at the control rooms responding to complaints by persons who are not able to secure surgical/n95 masks and the hand sanitizers and liquid soaps at the prices fixed by the Government of India.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS DIVISION BENCH JUSTICE FOR RIGHTS FOUNDATION AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara…

Electricity Act, 2003 – Levy of wheeling charges – Transmission licence – It was contended on behalf of HPCL that 110 kV HPCL line is a transmission line – The metering for HPCL is done at TPC-D sub-station which is admittedly a transmission asset – The CEA Regulations 2010, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Transmission Open Access) Regulations, 2016 and the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Distribution Open Access) Regulations, 2016 provide for demarcation between the transmission and distribution boundaries on the basis of voltage – The Tribunal erred in ignoring the said Regulations while holding that 2×110 kV lines are part of the distribution system HELD Tribunal judgement set aside, remitted for fresh adjudication.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SAI WARDHA POWER GENERATION LIMITED — Appellant Vs. THE TATA POWER COMPANY LIMITED DISTRIBUTION AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao…

Service Matters

Service Law – Disaster Management Act, 2005 – Section 44 – Disaster Management (National Disaster Response Force) Rules, 2008 – Rule – 75 – Deputation Allowance – Jurisdiction of High Court – Till 11.09.2009 the respondent continued to be under the control of his parent organisation i.e. CISF and was also getting his pay and allowances from the said authority. Therefore, though he as a member of his Battalion may have been serving the NDRF, it cannot be said that he was on deputation to the NDRF

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. R. THIYAGARAJAN — Respondent ( Before : Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

NDTV TAX CASE : Income Tax Act, 1961 – Sections 147 proviso 2 and 148 – Scrutiny Notice – If the revenue is to rely upon the second proviso and wanted to urge that the limitation of 16 years would apply, then in opinion in the notice or at least in the reasons in support of the notice, the assessee should have been put to notice that the revenue relies upon the second proviso HELD We accordingly allow the appeal by holding that the notice issued to the assessee shows sufficient reasons to believe on the part of the assessing officer to reopen the assessment but since the revenue has failed to show non-disclosure of facts the notice having been issued after a period of 4 years is required to be quashed.Therefore, the revenue may issue fresh notice taking benefit of the second proviso if otherwise permissible under law.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NEW DELHI TELEVISION LIMITED — Appellant Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX — Respondent ( Before : L. Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta, JJ.…

Landlord and Tenant — Eviction — Denial of relationship — Original owner inducted tenant — Owner made family settlement in favour of his son with regard to demised premises, thus son of landlord acquired title — Such confernment/settlement to title cannot be questioned by tenant — Eviction petition by son of original landlord on  his  personal necessity upheld.

2020(1) Indian Civil Cases 761 (S.C.) SUPREME  COURT  OF INDIA Before :– R. BANUMATHI, A.S. BOPANNA & HRISHIKESH ROY, JJ. Civil Appeal No. 6572 of 2010 / Decided on 15/11/2019…

Environmental Clearances – Circular – Grant of ex post facto environmental clearances – HELD This Court must take a balanced approach which holds the industries to account for having operated without environmental clearances in the past without ordering a closure of operations – The directions of the NGT for the revocation of the ECs and for closure of the units do not accord with the principle of proportionality – Penalties must be imposed for the disobedience with a binding legal regime – The breach by the industries cannot be left unattended by legal consequences –

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ALEMBIC PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED — Appellant Vs. ROHIT PRAJAPATI AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi, JJ. )…

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