Taxation – Classification – Article 14 – Validity of taxing only Virginia Tobacco – Andhra Act XIV of 1955 amended Section 5 of Madras General Sales Tax Act to impose tax on Virginia tobacco while exempting country tobacco (Nattu tobacco) – Held: Classification based on clear and intelligible differentia such as taste, texture, cultivation, usage, and marketability &n...
Constitutional Law – Article 14 – Discretionary Power – Section 19 of the Slum Areas Act – Validity of Legislative Guidance – Challenge to Section 19(3) of the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 on ground that it vests arbitrary power in competent authority to permit or refuse execution of eviction decrees – Held: Provision constitutionally valid &...
Service Law – Trade Tax Officers – Limited Departmental Examination, 1987 – 97 posts withdrawn from UPPSC due to delays – Cabinet approved departmental selection – Appointments in 1987 described as ad hoc owing to interim High Court orders – Held: Government intended substantive appointments – 1987 appointees deemed substantively appointed from date of ini...
Contempt of Court – Civil Contempt – Alleged violation of orders dated 07.03.2006 and 09.03.2007 – Petitioners alleged UPPSC suppressed facts, shifted stands and refused to disclose marks and cut-off – Respondents (Chairman and Secretary of UPPSC, and State) filed affidavits explaining compliance steps, production of merit lists and reasons for non-recommendation – Te...
Hindu Marriage Act – Divorce – Grounds of Cruelty and Desertion – Marriage solemnized in 1974, wife allegedly insisted husband live separately from parents, frequently quarrelled, and ultimately deserted matrimonial home in 1984 leaving minor daughter – Husband filed divorce petition in 1992 – Family Court, after detailed evaluation of oral and documentary evidence, g...
Civil Procedure Code, 1908 – Section 11 – Res Judicata – Four partition suits decided by common judgment in 1944 on issue whether sale deed of 1885 by widow Sirtaji in favour of Mata Badal was for legal necessity – In Suit No. 98 (Kurthuwa lands), sale held invalid; appeal dismissed as time-barred in 1945, decree attained finality – In other suits (Nos. 99, 100), appe...
Slum Rehabilitation – Competing Claims – Developer’s proposal rejected due to overlap with already approved scheme and lack of Annexure I for one of the plots – Held: SRA's rejection justified – Composite application without complete documentation for F.P. No. 569 (Part) was invalid – Developer had not annexed Annexure I with original proposal [Paras 29, 54&...
Service Law – Probation – Reversion from Higher Post – Appellant was appointed as Extra Assistant Commissioner on probation – Despite commendable service and no extension of probation period by the Governor, appellant was reverted to his former post of Tehsildar – Held: Mere lapse of probationary period does not confer a right to confirmation – However, absence ...
Tort Law – State Liability – Vicarious Liability – Government jeep driven negligently by temporary employee, resulting in death of a pedestrian – High Court held the State liable – Held: State liable for tortious acts of its servants committed during course of employment if not in exercise of sovereign functions – Use of vehicle by Collector’s office for o...
Rent Control – Bonafide Requirement – Non-Residential Premises – Interpretation of “Own Use” – Section 13(3)(a)(ii) – Landlord sought eviction on grounds of personal use by his son who had become owner via family partition – High Court reversed eviction on ground that personal need was pleaded only for son, not father (original landlord) – Held...