Service Law - Constitutional Law – Pension Rights of High Court Judges – Suo motu writ petition initiated to address anomalies in pension, gratuity, and post-retirement benefits for High Court Judges including Additional Judges – Clubbed with multiple writ petitions involving retired Judges from district judiciary and bar – Held: All retired High Court Judges, irrespective ...
Electricity Act – Connection Agreement and Liability – Sole Responsibility of Applicant – Appeal Allowed - The Supreme Court held that under the Connection Agreement dated 02.07.2021, BHP Ltd., as the sole applicant, bore full liability to HPPTC Ltd. for Bay construction and O&M charges – Respondents No. 2 and 3, not being parties to the agreement, could not be held con...
Contract Law – Clause Requiring Minimum Service Period – Not Restraint of Trade – Appeal Allowed - The Supreme Court held that Clause 11(k) of the appointment letter, requiring an employee to serve a minimum of three years or pay ₹2 lakh as liquidated damages, was not violative of Section 27 of the Contract Act – Such negative covenants during the subsistence of an employ...
Civil Law - Land Allotment – Not a Sale – Statutory Scheme Governs – Appeal Allowed - The Supreme Court held that the alienation of land in favour of the respondent-charitable trust was not an outright sale but a conditional allotment under a statutory scheme governed by the Telangana Land Revenue Act and relevant rules – The District Collector’s 2001 order explicitly...
Accident Claim - Compensation for Motor Accident – Assessment of Income – Reasonable Estimate for Unskilled Worker – Compensation Enhanced - The claimant, a 25-year-old unskilled worker, became bedridden due to an accident while traveling in his employer’s truck – Tribunal assessed income at Rs. 4,500 per month and awarded Rs. 16 lakhs – High Court enhanced inco...
Civil Law - Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982 - Land Grabbing – Scope of 'Land Grabbing' and 'Land Grabber' – Interpretation of AP Land Grabbing Act – Criminal Intent Not Mandatory - Under the Act, both narrow and broad meanings of "grab" apply – While mens rea is not always required, unlawful and unauthorized possession or creat...
Civil Procedure – Closure of Evidence – Repeated Defaults by Plaintiff – Petition Dismissed – The petitioner-plaintiff failed to produce any evidence despite multiple adjournments and even defaulted in paying imposed costs – Trial Court closed evidence vide order dated 29.07.2024 – Held: The impugned order is justified and reflects due judicial discretion &ndash...
Civil Law - Execution of Decree – Successive Execution Petitions – Satisfaction Recorded in Prior EP Not a Bar – Fresh EP Maintainable on Subsequent Interference - Held: Recording of satisfaction in an earlier EP due to absence of decree-holder and written statement by judgment-debtor cannot bar future EP if fresh breach is alleged – Res judicata not attracted where new cau...
Environmental Law – Ex Post Facto Environmental Clearance – Legality of 2017 Notification and 2021 OM – Held Illegal - The 2017 Notification and 2021 Office Memorandum allowing retrospective environmental clearance were held contrary to statutory and constitutional mandates – The Supreme Court reaffirmed that ex post facto ECs are alien to environmental jurisprudence and vi...
Education Law - Medical Education – Power of Committee to Create Corpus Fund – Not Traceable to Law – GO Dated 06.06.2018 Struck Down - The Court held that neither the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee nor the State Government had legislative authority to mandate diversion of fees from NRI students towards a corpus fund for BPL/EWS scholarships – Such a measure, howeve...