Freedom Fighters’ Pension – Date of Commencement – Grant Based on Secondary Evidence – Pension Not Payable From Application Date – The respondent’s claim for freedom fighter’s pension was allowed on the basis of secondary evidence, namely oral testimony from another detenue and not on a primary document like a jail certificate – Held: Following prece...
Contempt of Court – Disobedience of Injunction – Lottery Held in Violation of Interim Orders – Contempt Confirmed – The appellant challenged the holding of lotteries for selection of excise licenses despite subsisting court orders restraining finalisation of such licenses – Held: Respondents, including senior government officers, willfully and deliberately disobeyed t...
Civil Law - Issuance Of Non-Bailable Warrant - Jurisdiction of Matrimonial Court – Personal Appearance – Section 23(2) of Hindu Marriage Act – Validity of Direction – Upheld – The appellant challenged the High Court’s order directing his personal appearance and issuing non-bailable warrants after repeated failure to appear in matrimonial appeal proceedings &ndas...
Land Acquisition – Market Value Determination – Section 23 of the Land Acquisition Act – Reassessment of Compensation – High Court assessed market value at ₹1,20,000 per acre based on exemplars but reduced it by one-third due to small plot sizes – Supreme Court held that the deduction was excessive considering the land’s location, use, and industrial potential...
Judicial Discipline – Bail order by judicial officer – Complaint of corruption unsubstantiated – Enquiry Judge disbelieved allegation of illegal gratification but still held charges of granting bail on insufficient grounds proved – Held: Passing a bail order in exercise of judicial discretion cannot ipso facto lead to disciplinary proceedings unless actuated by malice, bias...
Disability Pension – Schizophrenia – Pension Regulations, 1961 – Regulation 173 and Appendix II – Medical Board opined illness not attributable to military service – Held: High Court erred in granting pension merely because no disease was recorded at time of enrolment – Clause 7(c) requires proof that conditions of military service determined or contributed to t...
Public Trusts – Shri Rikhabdevji Temple – Applicability of Rajasthan Public Trusts Act, 1959 – Once notification under Section 52 is issued, Section 53 becomes mandatory – Held: State Government is under statutory duty to constitute a Committee of Management; discretion does not exist – Use of "shall" in Section 53 is imperative, creating a power coupled wit...
Maintainability – Writ Petition under Article 32 – Not a Review or Curative Petition – Petitioners challenged ratio decidendi of Subhash Chandra Dixit case, not its final order – Held: A petition under Article 32 is maintainable to seek reconsideration of earlier ratio if violation of fundamental rights is alleged – Bar under Rupa Ashok Hurra inapplicable [Paras 8-10]...
Village Public Telephone – Government Policy – Article 14 – Policy not Arbitrary – High Court Order Unsustainable – Respondent sought permission to operate a VPT despite one already existing in the village – High Court, without reasons, held guidelines “arbitrary” and violative of Article 14 and directed allotment – Held: Guidelines under Natio...
Anti-Defection Law – Articles 191(2), 102(2) & Tenth Schedule – Voluntary Giving Up of Membership – Disqualification Confirmed – Thirteen BSP MLAs who met the Governor on 27.8.2003 to support formation of Samajwadi Party government held to have voluntarily given up their party membership – Their conduct fell within Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule – D...