Civil Procedure – Award of Costs – Section 35 and 35A CPC – Appellant filed suit for specific performance – Both trial court and High Court found plaintiff and defendants guilty of falsehood and imposed exemplary costs of Rs. 1 lakh each to be deposited with Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee – Held: While costs are discretionary under Section 35 CPC, they are ...
Compromise Decree – Order 23 Rule 3 CPC – Mandatory Procedure Not Followed – First appellate court reversed trial court decree by relying on compromise (Exhibit D1) allegedly executed at police station – Held: Since compromise was made during pendency of suit, court could have acted on it only by following mandatory procedure under Order 23 Rule 3 CPC – No such compli...
Land Acquisition – Determination of Market Value – High Court Judgment Set Aside – High Court relied solely on DDA brochure and government circulars for fixing market value of acquired land while ignoring relevant sale deeds and judicial precedents – Held: Sale deeds, particularly relating to similar and adjacent lands, constitute best evidence for market value and cannot b...
Petroleum Dealership – Eligibility Criteria – Literal Interpretation Prevails – High Court disqualified appellant on ground that her father-in-law already held dealership, though such relationship was not included in disqualifying clause – Supreme Court held that eligibility conditions must be interpreted strictly – Held: Courts cannot expand or amend clear terms by i...
Criminal Law - Mass Murder – Conviction under Section 302 IPC – Death Sentence Upheld – Appellant convicted for murdering 13 close family members including children, along with co-accused Lakha Singh – Motive traced to alleged illicit relationship between appellant’s wife and co-accused – Trial court awarded death sentence – High Court confirmed the same b...
Land Acquisition - Karnataka LA Act—Section 18 Scheme—Article 137 Limitation—Section 5 Inapplicable—Power of Deputy Commissioner to Refer Ceases—Claimant’s Remedy Extinguished – Karnataka’s Section 18 enlarges time to seek reference (90 days from Section 12(2) notice) and mandates Deputy Commissioner to refer within 90 days; on his failure, claimant ...
Criminal Law – Conviction under Section 324 IPC – Voluntarily causing hurt by knife – Conviction Upheld – The appellant was convicted by the Trial Court for assaulting PW-1 with a knife, causing incised injury on the wrist – Conviction affirmed by High Court in revision – Defence of false implication due to animosity and non-recovery of knife rejected – He...
Service Law – Correction of Date of Birth – School Records Prevail Over Horoscope – Respondent challenged adverse entry in service record changing date of birth from 01.10.1934 to 25.11.1931 – Trial Court upheld disciplinary authority’s finding based on school records – Appellate Court wrongly gave primacy to horoscope and reversed the decision – Held: Sch...
Land Acquisition – Determination of Market Value – Comparable Sale Instances – Reliance on Stamp Duty Valuation Improper – Notifications under Sections 4 and 6 were issued in 1988 and award passed in 1990 – Land Acquisition Officer relied upon a sale deed within the acquired land fixing compensation at Rs. 15.37 per sq. yard – Reference Court enhanced to Rs. 150...
Service Law – ACR/APAR – Limited Scope of Judicial Review – Writ Court not Appellate Over Tribunal – Where the Competent Authority gives reasoned orders on each adverse entry after examining records and partially expunges where warranted, Tribunal’s refusal to re-appraise is not perverse – High Court affirms that grading and personality-assessment are matters of...