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Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 302, 449, 376, 394 — Appeal against High Court’s upholding of conviction and sentence — Case based on circumstantial evidence — Absence of direct evidence connecting appellant to offense — Falsely implicated — Prosecution failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt — No scientific evidence linking appellant — Important witnesses not associated in investigation or produced in court — Appeal allowed, conviction and sentence set aside. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — Section 138 — Dishonour of cheque — Quashing of proceedings — Cheques issued as security and not for consideration — Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) clearly stated cheques were for security purposes to show banks and not for deposit — Complainant failed to read the complete terms of MOU in isolation and misinterpreted it to claim cheques were converted into debt — Court empowered to consider unimpeachable documents at pre-trial stage to prevent injustice — Complaints under Section 138 NI Act liable to be quashed. Insurance Law — Fire Insurance — Accidental Fire — Cause of fire is immaterial if the insured is not the instigator and there is no fraud. The objective of fire insurance is to indemnify the insured against loss by fire. Tender Conditions — Interpretation — Ambiguity — The terms of a tender must be clear and unambiguous — If a tendering authority intends for a specific document to be issued by a particular authority, it must be clearly stated in the tender conditions — Failure to do so may lead to rejection of the bid being deemed arbitrary and dehors the tender terms. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) — Environmental Protection — Monitoring Committee — Powers and Scope — A PIL was filed concerning environmental issues in Delhi, leading to the appointment of a Monitoring Committee. The Supreme Court clarified that the committee was appointed to prevent misuse of residential premises for commercial purposes and not to interfere with residential premises used as such. Their power was limited to making suggestions to a Special Task Force regarding encroachments on public land, not to summarily seal premises.

Criminal Law–Murder–Common intention–Prosecution case that appellant alongwith other accused murdered the deceased–Evidence of PWs 2 and 3 did not attribute any overt act to the appellant–Mere fact that he was in the company of accused who were armed would not be sufficient to attract Section 34 I.P.C.–It is undisputed that appellant was not armed and he has no animosity with the deceased

2009(1) LAW HERALD (SC) 518 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Arijit Pasayat The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly Criminal Appeal No. of…

Co-sharer–When a co-sharer sells his share in the joint holding or any portion thereof and puts the vendor into possession of land in his possession what he transfers is his right as a co-sharers in said land and right to remain in its exclusive possession till joint holding is partitioned amongst all co-sharers—Sale of subsequent portion of land out of joint holding by the co-owners is nothing but a sale of a share out of the joint holding and is pre-emptible under Section 15(1)(b) of Act

2009(1) LAW HERALD (SC) 514 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Arijit Pasayat The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dr. Mukundakam Sharma Civil Appeal No. 321…

Will can be proved by examining at least one witness–Alongwith it has to be shown that it was free from suspicious circumstances–Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Section 3–Evidence Act, 1872, Section 68–Succession Act, 1925, Section 63(c).–It may be true that deprivation of a due share by the natural heir by itself may not be held to be a suspicious circumstance but it is one of the factors which is taken into consideration by the courts

2009(1) LAW HERALD (SC) 502 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Civil Appeal No. 7434 of 2008…

Accident–Gratuitous passengers–About 30-40 persons were travelling in the tempo truck–All 30-40 persons by no stretch of imagination could have been the representatives of the owners of goods. Insurance company not liable Accident–Ordinarily an allegation made in FIR would not be admissible in evidence per se but tribunal would be entitled to look into same where allegations made in FIR had been made a part of the part of claim petition.

2009(1) LAW HERALD (SC) 498 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Civil Appeal No. 7399 of 2008…

Service Matters

Contention that prior to the amendment rules, the promotion to the cadre of District Judges was based on the principle of “Seniority-cum-merit” and now as per amended rules pursuant to the directions of Supreme Court, the principle has now been changed to “merit-cum-seniority” and this has seriously affected the rights of the members of the Civil Judges (Senior Division)–Contention rejected

  2009(1) LAW HERALD (SC) 495 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before The Hon’ble Mr. Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan The Hon’ble Mr. Justice P. Sathasivam The Hon’ble Mr. Justice…

Mortgage–Whether a document is mortgage by conditional sale or a sale with a condition of repurchase is a vexed question–One of the ingredients for determining the true nature of transaction, therefore, is that the condition of repurchase should be embodied in the document which effects or purports to effect the sale–Indisputably, the said condition is satisfied– Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Mortgage–In a case where deed of mortgage is executed with a condition of repurchase, the amount of consideration remains the same.

2009(1) LAW HERALD (SC) 489 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice  S.B. Sinha The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Cyriac Joseph Civil Appeal No. 7400 of 2008…

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