Civil Procedure – Rejection of Plaint – Order VII Rule 11 CPC – Trial Court dismissed application for rejection of plaint filed by defendants – Plaintiff’s husband had entered into a registered AGPA and was put in possession after paying full sale consideration – Suit filed for declaration, injunction and cancellation of gift deed allegedly executed fraudulently...
Appellate – Additional Evidence – Order 41 Rule 27 CPC – Improper Exercise of Discretion – The appellate court must itself “require” additional evidence due to an inherent lacuna preventing judgment; admission is not justified merely because a party later discovers documents – District Judge allowed extra evidence even before hearing the appeal and without...
Execution of Mortgage Decree – Scaling Down vis-à-vis Non-Agriculturist Co-Debtor – Section 47 & Order 21 Rule 2 CPC – Sections 7, 8, 14, 19 of the Madras Agriculturists’ Relief Act – Appeal Allowed – Decree validly split: scaled down only for agriculturist defendants (D2–D7); non-agriculturist D1 remained liable for full decretal amount –...
Execution—Scaling down—Order 21 Rule 2 CPC—Section 47 CPC—Sections 7, 8, 14, 19, Agriculturists’ Relief Act—Appeal Allowed—Decree against agriculturist co-debtors can be scaled down without benefiting non-agriculturist co-debtor—Executing court cannot, under guise of interpretation, rewrite decree or record full satisfaction on payments referable onl...
Labour Law - Industrial Tribunal – Constitution and Jurisdiction – Sections 7 and 8 of the Industrial Disputes Act – Award Held Without Jurisdiction – Where one member of the Tribunal was deputed elsewhere and became unavailable – Government failed to either reconstitute the Tribunal or issue a fresh notification under Section 7 – Held: Two remaining members cou...
Civil Law - Lease - Holding Over – Section 116 TPA – Acceptance of Rent Before Expiry Not Sufficient – No Assent to Continued Possession – Lease ended by efflux of time; rent for 1937–38 was paid and accepted nearly a year before expiry and both sides proceeded on footing of expiry on 23 February 1938 – Section 116 requires acceptance of rent or other assent aft...
Appeal against dismissal of suit to avoid compromise decree – O.32 R.7 CPC and O.6 R.4 CPC – Compromise decree in 1924 partition suit challenged for coercion/undue influence and want of proper sanction – Held: Trial court then had Order 32 Rule 7 in view and granted permission noting benefit to minors – subsequent “approval” need not precede negotiations; omissi...
Hindu Widow’s Surrender – Mesne Profits – Limitation – Appeal Dismissed – Deed styled “release” by widow in favour of daughter (next reversioner) and son-in-law (stranger) held not to amount to valid surrender accelerating inheritance – Plaintiffs, as nearest reversioners, entitled to possession; mesne profits award from date of widow’s death s...
Succession Law – Scheduled Tribes – Applicability of Hindu Succession Act – High Court's direction to extend inheritance rights under Hindu Succession Act, 1956 to daughters in tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh – Held: Impermissible in law in absence of Central Government notification under Section 2(2) of the Act – Tribes remain governed by customary law unless no...
Specific performance - Contract Formation – Negotiations and Counter-Offer – Mere Statement of Lowest Price – No Concluded Contract – Specific performance denied – Defendant’s cable “won’t accept less than Rs. 10,000” was not a counter-offer but a statement of minimum price – Plaintiff’s letter of 14th August confirming his “o...