UGC Librarians – Pay Fixation and Seniority – Requirement of Qualifications – UGC Scheme Conditions – The Kerala Administrative Tribunal granted UGC pay scale and senior scale promotions to respondents who acquired UGC qualifications (NET) after 12-13 years of service as Librarian Grade I. Held: Tribunal erred in granting retrospective benefits contrary to Annexure A8 Gover...
Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 260A – Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 – Appeal against Tribunal's order dismissing appellant's plea due to non-payment under the Scheme – Tribunal and lower authorities erred in dismissing appeal as withdrawn without issuing a certificate under Section 90(2) of the 1998 Act – Appeal allowed, remanded to Commissioner (Appeal) for...
Civil Law - Injunction – Fraud Allegations – No Prima Facie Case by Respondent – Injunction Set Aside – Respondent claimed fraud in execution of supplementary LLP agreements and misuse of digital signatures to remove him as a designated partner – High Court held that the respondent failed to produce evidence to support allegations of fraud or misrepresentation –...
Service Law - Compassionate Appointment – Rule 9(7) of 1990 Rules – Delayed Application – Application Rejected – Respondent applied for compassionate appointment in 2013, seven years after her father’s death in 2006, citing her mother’s medical unfitness – Rule 9(7) mandates that minors at the time of death of a government servant must apply within three y...
Disciplinary Jurisdiction – Authority of Lending and Borrowing Entities – Rule 18A of Kerala Police Departmental Rules – The petitioner, a Kerala Police Inspector on deputation as an Immigration Officer, faced departmental proceedings by the borrowing authority (BOI) – Held: Rule 18A empowers both lending and borrowing authorities to conduct disciplinary proceedings for mis...
Service Law - Judicial Review in Departmental Inquiries – Limited Scope – Petition Dismissed – Petitioner sought quashing of termination and related orders, alleging non-consideration of evidence and bias – Court held that judicial review under Articles 226/227 does not permit reappreciation of evidence or interference unless proceedings are vitiated by perversity, procedur...
Civil Law - Execution of Will - Validity - Compliance with Sections 63 of the Indian Succession Act and 68 of the Evidence Act - Attestation duly proved - Whether discrepancies in dates and overwriting vitiate the Will - Held: No - Overwriting in date rectified by the scribe’s signature - Misdescription of date on one page immaterial when consistent with the rest of the Will - Will execution...
Civil Law - Order XI Rule 1(5) CPC – Leave to Produce Additional Documents in Commercial Suits – Plaintiff sought to introduce additional documents during the trial, citing their prior misplacement during an office relocation – Held: The rigour of establishing "reasonable cause" for non-disclosure does not arise where documents were not in possession or control at the t...
Minority at Time of Sale Deed – Proof of Identity – The primary issue in both appeals was whether the plaintiff, Rattan Kaur @ Paramjit Kaur, was a minor when she executed the sale deeds. The plaintiff argued that she was a minor based on her birth certificate showing her date of birth as 15.09.1968, which she claimed was issued under the name Rattan Kaur. The First Appellate Court, ho...
Specific Relief Act, 1963 – Section 9 – Civil suit for possession of agricultural land – Ejectment of tenant – Denial of landlord’s title – Jurisdiction of civil court – The Court held that if defendants deny the title of the plaintiffs in their written statement, it is sufficient to hold that they have denounced the title of the plaintiff, thereby giving ...