Electricity Act - Tariff Determination – Section 26 A.P. Electricity Reforms Act – Brief of Judgment – Annual tariff for 01.04.2000–31.03.2001 upheld by the High Court; appeal became infructuous as period expired, yet issues on Section 26 addressed – Held: Annual tariff fixation is governed by Section 26(5) with notification under Section 26(6); Section 26(9) applies ...
Land Acquisition – Section 6(1) Limitation – Fresh Period After Quash – Not Available – Competing three-Judge views resolved by Constitution Bench – Held: The limitation in the first proviso to Section 6(1) runs only from the date of the original Section 4(1) notification; quashing a Section 6 declaration does not generate a fresh limitation period – Only the pe...
Tenancy Law - Great Eastern Hotel Eviction – Forcible Dispossession – Rule of Law – Sections 3 & 4, Great Eastern Hotel (Acquisition of Undertaking) Act, 1980 – Article 226 – Appeals Dismissed – The State of West Bengal forcibly evicted tenants from shops, offices, and godowns in the Great Eastern Hotel premises by using police force, claiming that tenancies...
Planning Control – Sections 46, 53, 54, 56 & 137, 1979 Act – Appeal Dismissed – The appellant constructed a second floor over an existing hotel building at Digha relying on an earlier Gram Panchayat sanction – After constitution of the Digha Planning Authority and interim guidelines under Section 56, notices under Sections 54 and 53(1) were issued to stop and demolish u...
Motor Vehicles Permits – Liberalised Policy – Section 80 & 80(2) – High Court Orders Set Aside; STAT Orders Restored – Appellants’ mini-bus permits were stalled by relying on a State Scheme ratio and by remitting matters despite Section 80’s mandate – Held: Section 80(2) obliges authorities to “ordinarily” grant permits; attempts ...
Constitution Bench reference - Binding Precedent – Larger Bench vs Smaller Bench – Article 141 – Two-Judge Bench cannot take a view contrary to a prior Three-Judge Bench – The Court traced earlier PMS doctors’ litigation: Allahabad High Court and a Three-Judge Bench (24.11.1992) upheld counting seniority of temporary doctors from initial appointment – Later Two-...
Article 30(1) – Minority Educational Institutions – Reference to Larger Bench – Eleven-Judge Bench – Questions Reframed – The Court, after hearing parties, reformulated comprehensive questions on (i) who are “minorities” and the unit for determination, (ii) scope of the right to establish and administer, including admissions/selection procedures in aided a...
Electricity Act - Tariff Determination – Section 26 A.P. Electricity Reforms Act – Brief of Judgment – Annual tariff for 01.04.2000–31.03.2001 upheld by High Court – Before the Supreme Court, appellants urged that Section 26(9) procedure must be followed for tariff fixation and that Section 26(7) forbids classification/undue preference – Held: Annual tariff is d...
Acquisition Law - BDA Acquisition – Applicability of L.A. Act Section 11A/Section 6 – Not Applicable – The appellant sought to quash BDA acquisition contending that the award passed beyond Section 11A’s period caused lapse – Held: BDA Act is a special, self-contained code for planned development (List II Entry 5); it provides its own scheme for declaration (Section 19...
Civil Law - Summary Suit – Leave to Defend – Order 37 CPC – Leave Granted – Respondent filed a summary suit under Order 37 CPC based on a document termed as an indemnity/guarantee signed by the appellant bank's manager – Trial Court and High Court denied leave to defend, holding the defence as sham – Supreme Court held that triable issues existed regarding t...