Family Law - Custody and Visitation – Paramount Consideration – Welfare of Child – Visitation rights of father modified by Family Court reducing frequency of physical meetings and introducing regulated video calls – Held: In matters of custody and visitation, welfare of the minor child is the paramount consideration overriding rights and convenience of parents – Court...
Family Pension – Recovery of Excess Payment – Bank Error – Widow Pensioner – Demand Notice Challenged – Excess family pension paid for more than a decade due to mistake of pension disbursing bank – No misrepresentation, fraud or concealment by petitioner – Recovery sought from widow solely dependent on family pension – Held: Recovery impermissible as...
Rent Control – Provisional Assessment of Rent – Denial of Landlord-Tenant Relationship – Tenant admitting tenancy but disputing identity of landlord – Landlady relying on registered sale deed, mutation, electricity bills and income tax returns – Tenant failing to produce any documentary evidence of alleged alternative landlords – Held: Mere denial of relationshi...
Civil Law – Title to Immovable Property – Exchange Deed – Res Judicata – Respondents claimed ownership on the basis of exchange/partition deed dated 22.07.1970 – Same exchange deed was relied upon and adjudicated in earlier suit for permanent injunction between same parties – Issue of ownership framed, evidence led and claim rejected by competent court – J...
Election Law – Panchayat Elections – Bar under Article 243-O – Respondent's nomination for Zila Panchayat election was rejected – Writ Petition dismissed by Single Judge citing constitutional bar and availability of remedy under Section 131H of Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act – Division Bench stayed rejection and directed participation in elections – Held: Ar...
Medical termination of pregnancy - Reproductive Rights – Sexual Assault Survivor – Medical Termination of Pregnancy – Second Trimester – Right to Reproductive Autonomy, Privacy and Dignity – Petitioner, a victim of sexual assault and minor at the time of incident, approached the High Court seeking medical termination of pregnancy and allied reliefs – Contention ...
Election Law – Scope of Interference in Appeal – Tenure Lapsed – Merits Not Examined – High Court declared appellant’s 2012 election void on ground of improper rejection of 955 postal ballots – Supreme Court notes tenure (2012–2017) already lapsed and declines to go into merits of election dispute – Held: Appeal not to be adjudicated on merits in pre...
Civil Law – Rejection of Plaint – Order VII Rule 11 CPC – Cause of Action – Scope of Enquiry – Defendant sought rejection of plaint contending absence of cause of action and lack of pleadings regarding existence of HUF and ancestral property – Held: At the stage of Order VII Rule 11, Court must confine itself strictly to averments in the plaint and cannot examin...
Departmental Inquiry – Appointment of Inquiry Officer – Retired Public Servant – Inquiry conducted by retired Deputy Secretary appointed as Inquiry Authority – Challenge based on Rule 11(2) of EIA Rules contending that only serving public servant can be appointed – Held: Expression “public servant” in Rule 11(2) includes retired public servant – No e...
Mining Law – Dead Rent – Non-operational Quarry Lease – Petitioners challenged demand of dead rent for the period during which mining operations could not commence allegedly due to non-handover of possession and absence of environmental clearance – Held: Dead rent is payable irrespective of actual mining operations so long as lease subsists [Paras 4–5, 25–28].
...