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Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 100 — Second appeal — Scope of interference with concurrent findings on genuineness of a Will — Whether suspicious circumstances surrounding execution of a Will exist, and stand explained, is essentially a question of fact; a second appellate court cannot re-appreciate evidence and substitute its own view merely because another view is possible — Interference is permissible only where the finding is perverse, based on circumstances that are mere “figments of a doubting mind,” or is vitiated by an erroneous placement of onus — High Court exceeded its jurisdiction under S. 100 CPC in reversing well-reasoned concurrent findings of the Trial Court and First Appellate Court discarding the Will. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Sections 209, 244 — Commitment of case exclusively triable by Court of Session — Whether Magistrate is required to record prosecution evidence under Section 244 CrPC before committing such a case, where the complaint is one instituted otherwise than on a police report — Held, no — Section 244 CrPC, which mandates the Magistrate to hear the prosecution and take evidence, occurs in Chapter XIX (Part B — “Cases instituted otherwise than on a police report”) and governs warrant-case trials before a Magistrate; it has no application where the offence (here, under Section 302 IPC) is exclusively triable by the Court of Session, which is governed instead by Section 209 CrPC — Under the scheme of the 1973 Code (unlike the erstwhile 1898 Code, which mandated a full committal inquiry with recording of evidence under Section 207-A), the Magistrate’s role at the pre-commitment stage is confined to ascertaining whether the offence is exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, and no evidence need be taken or evaluated by the Magistrate at that stage — Requiring witnesses to depose twice, once before the Magistrate and again before the Sessions Court, would serve no purpose and is not the mandate of law — High Court’s contrary view, requiring compliance with Section 244 CrPC even in a Sessions-triable case, proceeds on an erroneous reading of law and is unsustainable. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections166, 168 — Compensation — Assessment of annual income of a self-employed deceased (wholesale grocery business) — Two ITRs filed after the death of the deceased excluded by the High Court altogether from the assessment of income — Held, following the principles in Rashmirekha Tripathy and Anr. v. The Branch Manager (Legal Claims), Sriram General Insurance Company Limited and Ors. [C.A. @ SLP(C) No.27220 of 2024, 2026 INSC 661], ITRs filed post-death call for closer scrutiny with reference to surrounding financial statements, since income may be inflated in such returns, but such returns are not to be excluded outright merely for being filed post-death — In the absence of the benefit of such surrounding financial statements on record, and it being inexpedient at this stage to remand the matter, annual income fixed with reference to the nature of the deceased’s wholesale grocery business at Rs.3,25,000 — Compensation recomputed applying 40% addition for future prospects (age 28 years), 1/4th deduction for personal expenses, and a multiplier of 17, together with conventional heads (loss of estate, funeral expenses, consortium) — Total compensation enhanced to Rs.60,79,550 (as against Rs.15,36,560 awarded by the Tribunal and Rs.38,40,850 awarded by the High Court), with interest as awarded by the Tribunal — Appeal allowed. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections 166, 168 — Compensation — Assessment of annual income of a self-employed deceased (Insurance Agent) from Income Tax Returns — High Court had averaged the last four ITRs on record — Held, erroneous — Following the principles laid down in Rashmirekha Tripathy and Anr. v. The Branch Manager (Legal Claims), Sriram General Insurance Company Limited and Ors. [C.A. @ SLP(C) No.27220 of 2024, 2026 INSC 661], for a self-employed person the average of up to the previous three years’ ITRs, not four, is the appropriate reference point — A performance-linked spike in the income of an Insurance Agent in a particular year does not justify reaching back to an additional, earlier ITR to dilute that spike — On the facts, taking the average of the income for AY 2015-16 (Rs.4,03,180), AY 2016-17 (Rs.9,59,665) and AY 2017-18 (Rs.7,00,559), annual income assessed at Rs.6,87,802 — Compensation recomputed applying 25% addition for future prospects (age 49 years), 1/4th deduction for personal expenses, and a multiplier of 13, together with conventional heads (loss of estate, funeral expenses, consortium) — Total compensation enhanced to Rs.87,09,282 (as against Rs.49,77,000 awarded by the Tribunal and Rs.76,09,500 awarded by the High Court), with interest as awarded by the Tribunal — Appeal allowed. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Sections 166, 168 — Compensation — Assessment of annual income of deceased/claimant on the basis of Income Tax Returns — Whether the ITR of the previous year alone, or the average of the previous two/three years, is to be taken — Held, no hard and fast formula governs computation of annual income; ITRs, being statutory documents, are an important reference point, but a bifurcation must be made between salaried and self-employed individuals — (i) For salaried individuals, the ITR of the previous year alone ordinarily suffices, since the financial impact of a promotion or salary revision is best reflected in that year’s return; where the deceased had not completed a year in a promoted position, or had not filed a return for that period, the Court may rely on the promotion letter and other corroborative financial statements; (ii) For self-employed persons/those running their own business, the average of the ITRs for up to the previous three years is to be taken as the reference point, having regard to the inherent income fluctuation in such professions — In assessing self-employed income, the surrounding circumstances to be additionally considered include: (a) the nature of the business (including geography and category); (b) its growth pattern and the impact of the death on the business; (c) its potential/future growth, including capital-intensive businesses profitable only at scale; (d) the possibility of negative income in initial years not reflecting the true financial standing; and (e) any other relevant factor — The date of filing of an ITR is also relevant, since income may be inflated after the death/injury; such returns call for closer scrutiny against surrounding financial statements, though they are not to be excluded outright merely for being filed post-death, if adequately supported.

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 100 — Second appeal — Scope of interference with concurrent findings on genuineness of a Will — Whether suspicious circumstances surrounding execution of a Will exist, and stand explained, is essentially a question of fact; a second appellate court cannot re-appreciate evidence and substitute its own view merely because another view is possible — Interference is permissible only where the finding is perverse, based on circumstances that are mere “figments of a doubting mind,” or is vitiated by an erroneous placement of onus — High Court exceeded its jurisdiction under S. 100 CPC in reversing well-reasoned concurrent findings of the Trial Court and First Appellate Court discarding the Will.

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Sections 209, 244 — Commitment of case exclusively triable by Court of Session — Whether Magistrate is required to record prosecution evidence under Section 244 CrPC before committing such a case, where the complaint is one instituted otherwise than on a police report — Held, no — Section 244 CrPC, which mandates the Magistrate to hear the prosecution and take evidence, occurs in Chapter XIX (Part B — “Cases instituted otherwise than on a police report”) and governs warrant-case trials before a Magistrate; it has no application where the offence (here, under Section 302 IPC) is exclusively triable by the Court of Session, which is governed instead by Section 209 CrPC — Under the scheme of the 1973 Code (unlike the erstwhile 1898 Code, which mandated a full committal inquiry with recording of evidence under Section 207-A), the Magistrate’s role at the pre-commitment stage is confined to ascertaining whether the offence is exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, and no evidence need be taken or evaluated by the Magistrate at that stage — Requiring witnesses to depose twice, once before the Magistrate and again before the Sessions Court, would serve no purpose and is not the mandate of law — High Court’s contrary view, requiring compliance with Section 244 CrPC even in a Sessions-triable case, proceeds on an erroneous reading of law and is unsustainable.

Registration—Admissibility of unregistered documents—Any document which is not registered as required under law, would be inadmissible in evidence and therefore, cannot be produced and proved. Succession—Joint family property—After partition, the property in the hands of the son will continue to be the ancestral property and the natural or adopted son of that son will take interest in it and is entitled to it by survivorship.

2018(3) Law Herald (SC) 1741 :2018 LawHeraldLOrg 1249 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre Hon’ble Mr. Justice S. Abdul Nazeer Civil Appeal No.…

Indian Penal Code, 1860, S.302, S.326 & S.34—Murder—Common Intention—Overt Act—Grievous Hurt—Acquittal – Except specifying that one assaulted the informant no other allegations are found against him—Ingredients of common intention on the part of the accused to do away with life of other two deceased are not forth coming from evidence on record—Appellant acquitted u/s 302 IPC but convicted w/s 326 IPC—Sentence reduced to already undergone.

2018(3) Law Herald |SC) 1736 :2018 LawHerald.Org 1123 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before Hon’ble Mr. Justice L. Nageswara Rao Hon’ble Mr. Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar Criminal Appeal No.…

Injunction—Question of Title—Findings of title can be recorded in a suit for injunction if there are necessary and appropriate issues regarding question of title Second Appeal—Question of Title—High Court while dismissing the second appeal being devoid of merit was not justified in making an observation which has the potential of reopening the already settled issue of title in respect of the suit property—Such findings set aside

2018(3) Law Herald (SC) 2337 : 2017 LawHerald.Org 1522 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNION OF INDIA — Appellant  Vs.  VIJAY KRISHNA UNIYAL (D) THROUGH L.RS. — Respondent ( Before : Kurian…

Adverse Possession—Permissive possession over the property howsoever long never becomes adverse to the interest of real owner at any point of time Adverse Possession—The limitation of 12 years begins when the possession of the defendants would become adverse to that of the plaintiffs -Adverse Possession—Proof of—Tax receipt, Chaukidari receipt and Khatian extract—These documents at the most depict the possession of the defendants and not their adverse possession.                                

2018(3) Law Herald (SC) 2316 : 2018 LawHerald.Org 1520 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA                                                                            Before Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.V. Ramana Hon’ble Mr. Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar Civil Appeal…

Civil Procedure Code, 1908, S, 100-Second Appeal-Substantial Question of law-High Court also failed to see that the issue of resjudicata and the issue of ownership were independent issues and the decision on one would not have answered the other one—In other words, both the issues had to be examined independent of each other on their respective merits—It was, however, possible only after framing of substantial questions on both the issues as provided under Section 100(4) and (5) of the Code—This was, however, not done in this case-Case remanded back

2018(3) Law Herald (SC) 2311 : 2018 LawHerald.Org 1519     SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NARAYANA GRAMANI — Appellant Vs. MARIAMMAL — Respondent ( Before : Abhay Manohar Sapre and…

Land Acquisition Act, 1894, S.18—Development Charges—Exemplar sale deed was only for 99 sq. yds., whereas the total acquired land is 05 acres- -Acquired land is abutting residential area, which is a Mandal Headquarter where bank, high school, bus stand, telephone exchange, police station, primary health centre, cinema hall, petrol pumps are located—Deduction of 30% towards development charges held to be justified.

2O18(3) Law Herald (SC) 2307 : 2018 LawHerald.Org 1493 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Before Honble Mr. Justice Kurian Joseph Hon~ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Kishan Haul Kalluri Veakata Narasimha…

Accident–Disability @ 25%–Injured was unmarried boy of 25 years—He suffered fracture of both pelvic bones-­ He suffered partial but permanent disability in his body which reduced his movement capacity to a larger extent—He was earning Rs 4000/- p.m.–He had spent substantial amount on treatment and has also lost his job—Tribunal had awarded Rs. 3.43 lakhs—Keeping in view, circumstances of cases further enhancement of Rs. 5 lakhs without interest awarded.                                                                      

2018(3) Law Herald (SC) 2302 : 2018 LawHerald.Org 1453 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA                                                      Before      Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre Hon’ble Mr. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit…

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