Compassionate Appointment – Delay of nine years – SBI scheme withdrawn w.e.f. 04.08.2005 – Death in 2003 but application filed in 2012 – Financial crisis long tided over – No vested right to appointment – Prayer rejected – Bank directed to process ex-gratia claim on submission of documents and to release family pension arrears without life certificate [Par...
Land Law – Encroachment – Reliability of Demarcation Report – Plaintiff alleged encroachment by defendant over portion of Khasra No. 505 – Both parties relied on separate demarcation reports – Trial Court accepted defendant’s report (Ex. D-1) as more reliable based on plaintiff’s own earlier admission and proper use of Musabi during measurement – Pla...
Property Law – Communal Land – Order I Rule 8 CPC – Adverse Possession by State – Identity of Land – State estopped from claiming adverse possession – Suit partly maintainable – Declaration granted for Hal Plot No.1575; claim rejected for “Smasana” land [Paras 15–29].
Communal Land – “Smasana” – Necessity of Rep...
Succession Law – Hindu Succession – Self-acquired Property – Legal Heirship – Partition Suit – Property purchased in name of mother Ranganayaki held to be her absolute property – On intestate demise, devolved equally upon all four children – First defendant’s plea of benami purchase rejected as barred by Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Ac...
Service Law – Departmental Proceedings – Misappropriation – Judicial Review – Gramin Dak Sevak/Branch Postmaster found to have misappropriated public funds; admitted guilt and later deposited amounts – Inquiry conducted with full opportunity; no procedural violation – High Court set aside removal by reappreciating evidence and accepting new plea of coercion &nda...
Consumer Protection Act – Definition of Consumer – Commercial Purpose – Corporate purchase of business automation software held directly connected to profit-generation – Not covered by self-employment exception – Held: Appellant-company is not a “consumer” under Section 2(1)(d); complaint not maintainable; appeal dismissed [Paras 15–18, 21–28]....
Insurance Law – Boiler & Pressure Plant Policy – Repudiation of Claim – Explosion in registered boiler occurred during currency of fitness certificate – Insurer failed to prove suppression or pre-existing defects – Exclusion Clause 5 not attracted where defects surface only after explosion – NCDRC order set aside; claim restored for determination of quantum ...
Environment & Wildlife Protection – Saranda Forest – Mandamus directing Jharkhand to notify 31,468.25 ha (minus six mining-zone compartments) as Wildlife Sanctuary – State’s shifting stands deprecated – FRA rights fully protected – Mining prohibited within 1 km of boundary – Ancillary SAIL infrastructure unaffected [Paras 45–47, 72, 83–101,...
Civil Law – Counterclaim – Co-defendant – Specific performance – Plaintiff sued sole defendant for specific performance of oral agreement for 0.93 acres – Subsequent impleadment of defendant Nos. 2 & 3 claiming agreement to purchase same land and raising counterclaim for conveyance against defendant No. 1 – Trial Court and High Court permitted counterclaim t...
Family Law – Maintenance – Interim Maintenance – Standard of Living – Husband Part of Wealthy Family Business – Suppression of Means – Wife Entitled to Maintenance Reflective of Marital Lifestyle – Husband’s claim of earning only Rs. 6 lakhs annually held prima facie false – Business-family finances inextricably interlinked – Court must c...