Civil Law - Devaswom Lands – Title and Possession – Recovery Decreed – Cochin Devaswom Board sought recovery of property associated with the Ashtamangalam Siva Temple – Defendants contested claiming adverse possession and lack of Devaswom title – Court upheld the plaintiff’s title based on the settlement register and decreed recovery of possession, rejecting cla...
Constitutional Law – Protection of Life and Liberty – Live-in Relationship – The petitioners, Harpreet Kaur and another, filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking protection of their life and liberty, as they feared harm from relatives unhappy with their live-in relationship. The court acknowledged the petitioners' right to protection irresp...
Partition Suit – Joint Ownership and Title under Sale Deed – Plaintiffs sought partition of property purchased jointly with the deceased defendant – Trial and appellate courts found no evidence supporting the defendant's claim of sole ownership or payment of the entire sale consideration – Decision: Plaintiffs declared entitled to 2/3 shares of the property [Paras 17-19...
Expulsion of a Partner – Good Faith Requirement – Section 33 of Indian Partnership Act, 1932 – Expulsion of Meraj Yusha from the partnership firm Serajuddin & Company due to allegations of misconduct and obstructing business operations – Show cause notice issued, subsequent expulsion ordered by majority partners – High Court found procedural lapses in expulsion pr...
Land Acquisition – Suppression of Material Facts – Writ Dismissed - Petitioners alleged non-service of requisition notice and sought release of land acquired under the West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1948 – Court found that the petitioners suppressed material facts, including prior writ petitions and orders passed in compliance – Held: Petitioners, havin...
Ancestral vs. Self-Acquired Property – Suit by sons challenging the self-acquired nature of property decreed in favor of grandsons – Trial Court held land in village Salala as self-acquired based on a sale deed and land in village Pattar Kalan as ancestral – Appeals filed by both parties – First Appellate Court dismissed all appeals without considering application for addit...
Taxation Law - Faceless Scheme of Assessment – Legislative Intent and Evolution – With the advent of technological advancements, the Revenue aimed to modernize the tax assessment process by reducing direct taxpayer-officer interaction to prevent undesirable practices – Budget Speech 2019 underscored these issues, advocating for the faceless scheme to enhance transparency and effi...
Arbitration – Appointment of Arbitrator – The applicants sought the appointment of a neutral arbitrator, challenging the named arbitrator's eligibility on the grounds of a professional relationship with the respondent. The court held that an arbitrator's ineligibility under Section 12(5) of the Act, read with the Seventh Schedule, terminates the mandate of the arbitrator, and t...
Specific Performance – Rejection of Plaint – Limitation and Forgery Allegations - The appellants sought specific performance of a sale agreement regarding property sold by the first respondent to the deceased K.S.N. Manoharan. The trial court dismissed the suit under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC, based on allegations of forgery and limitation. The High Court reversed this decision, hol...
Income Tax – Reassessment Proceedings – Revenue's appeal against ITAT's invalidation of reassessment – Original assessment completed under Section 143(3) – Reassessment notice issued under Section 148 after more than four years – Allegations based on audit report claiming non-disclosure of material facts by the respondent-assessee – ITAT found no new tan...