Land Acquisition – Reference under Section 18 – Limitation – Knowledge of Award – Meaning and Relevance – Respondents, whose lands were acquired without notice under Section 12(2), applied for a reference under Section 18 after receiving compensation – Held: Limitation under Section 18(b) begins not from the date of award, but from the date of knowledge of essen...
Hindu Law – Adoption by Jain Widow – Customary Authority – Adoption made by Bhuribai, a Jain widow, without express authority from her husband Padamchand – Validity challenged – Held: Among Jains, except those domiciled in Madras and Punjab, a widow has customary right to adopt a son to her deceased husband without express authority or consent of sapindas – Cust...
Income Tax – Accrual of Income – Mercantile System – Reduction of Commission – Assessee-firm, acting as managing agents of two shipping companies, originally entitled to 10% commission on freight, agreed during the accounting year to reduce the rate to 2½% – Larger commission shown in books but reduced by agreement before close of year – Held: Mere book e...
Civil Law - Transfer of Property – Part Performance – Section 53-A TPA – Unregistered lease agreement – Defence upheld – A permanent lease was negotiated between the Talukdari Settlement Officer (with Government sanction) and the predecessor of the defendant; though no formal registered lease was executed, the offer and acceptance were in writings signed by the partie...
Civil Law - Agency – Scope of Authority – Commission Note – Authority to Conclude Sale – Construed broadly – The commission note authorised the broker to “negotiate the sale” and “secure a buyer” with stipulations of title being free of encumbrances and good title – Held: Such language implied authority to conclude a binding contract of s...
Contempt of Court – Failure to Comply with Release Order – Article 215 of the Constitution – Scope of Responsibility of District Magistrate – Negligence by Office Staff – Held Not Personally Guilty – The High Court found the District Magistrate of Bhagalpur guilty of contempt for delay in executing its order releasing a detenu and accepted his apology while disc...
Will — Construction — Intention of testator paramount — Entire will to be read as a whole — Court may consider surrounding circumstances only to aid construction and not to add to dispositions — Held: Intention gathered from language of the will read holistically — Court must loyally carry out the will as properly construed and not supply omissions [Paras 9-12]....
Contract Law - Agency – Duty to Insure – Negligence of Agent – Section 211 & 212 Contract Act – Agent Liable as Insurer – The appellants, acting as commission agents, undertook to insure 92 bales of piecegoods for the respondents but failed to do so – Goods were destroyed in the Bombay dock explosion of 14 April 1944 – Held: Where an agent agrees to in...
Taxation Law - Section 25(4) Income Tax Act - Relief – Date of “Succession in such capacity” – Executors carrying on business after death pending sale – Held: Succession occurs on death, not on later sale – The testator’s shipping agency business was directed by will to be continued by executors as a going concern for up to one year pending sale – He...
Specific Performance – Consent of Lessor – Whether Agreement Contingent – Agreement Not Contingent – Parties concluded a binding contract by correspondence; obligation to obtain lessor’s consent was a substantive term cast on defendant, not a condition precedent to formation of contract – Specific performance rightly decreed notwithstanding absence of prior cons...