Labour Law - Industrial Disputes – Trainee / Apprentice terminated on closure of scheme – Section 6N, U.P. Industrial Disputes Act – Award upholding retrenchment restored – Respondent appointed as trainee under State-sponsored scheme; scheme withdrawn; notice pay and retrenchment compensation tendered and received – Held: Even assuming respondent was a ‘workman&...
Penalty – Sections 10(3), 5, 9, 12, 18 of the U.P. Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1997 – Articles 14 & 19 of the Constitution – High Court struck down Section 10(3) as arbitrary and unreasonable – Held: Section 10(3) is constitutionally valid – Penalty is a deterrent and compensatory measure to protect public revenue – Statutory scheme provides recovery, refun...
Service Law - Premature Retirement – Validity – Rule 244, Rajasthan Service Rules – Appellant, manager of Co-operative Society, compulsorily retired at age 56 after 27 years of service – Held: Service Rules had been adopted by society – Rule 244 confers absolute right on appointing authority to compulsorily retire employee in public interest after completion of 25 yea...
Railway Accident – Untoward Incident – Compensation – Death of passenger due to robbery and fall from train – Tribunal awarded maximum compensation under Section 124A of the Railways Act but denied interest except on default after 45 days – Supreme Court held that right to compensation accrues from date of incident, and in absence of specific statutory bar, interest c...
Arbitration – Limitation for Setting Aside Award – Sections 31(5) & 34(3) of Arbitration and Conciliation Act – Effective Delivery to “Party” – Limitation Runs from Chief Engineer’s Receipt – The arbitral award was delivered in the inward office of the General Manager, Southern Railway on 12.03.2001, but the Chief Engineer, who had signed the con...
PIL – Constitutional Validity of IMDT Act & Rules – Articles 14 & 355; Foreigners Act, 1946, Section 9 – IMDT Act Struck Down – Petitioner challenged IMDT Act, 1983 and Rules, 1984 as ultra vires; sought application of Foreigners Act, 1946/Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 in Assam – Held: IMDT Act/Rules unconstitutional; negate Union’s duty under Artic...
Civil Procedure Code Amendments – Operative directions – Section 89 CPC, ADR & Mediation, Case Flow Management – Writs disposed with comprehensive directions – Supreme Court approves Committee Reports (ADR/Mediation Rules and Case Flow Management) and issues binding guidance on amended CPC provisions to secure speedy justice – High Courts to frame rules within fou...
Civil Writ - PIL - Service — Appointment to Key/Sensitive Post — Transparency and Propriety — Article 32 — Challenge to appointment of officer facing CBI charge-sheets and Commission inquiry as Chief Secretary — Held: Chief Secretary is a key post — the State should have awaited Commission report and avoided controversy — justice must appear to be done &md...
Land Acquisition – Market Value – Comparable Sales – Exclusion of DDA Brochure – Inclusion of Contemporaneous Sale Deeds – High Court wrongly relied on DDA brochure rates and excluded registered sale deeds for want of examination of parties – Supreme Court held: Allotment rates of small leasehold developed plots by DDA not reliable for determining market value o...
Civil – Writ - NHRC Membership – Eligibility – Section 3(2)(d), Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 – Police Officer as Member – Appointment Upheld – Challenge to appointment of former CBI Director as NHRC Member contending police officers are impliedly excluded and appointment violates Articles 14/21 and Paris Principles – Held: Section 3(2)(d) uses clea...