Civil Procedure – Requirement for Reasoned Judgments – The Supreme Court quashed the impugned judgment of the Division Bench for failing to provide reasons or consider the Government Orders brought to its notice. Citing the importance of reasoned judgments, the Court emphasized that the absence of reasoning introduces uncertainty and prevents a proper understanding of the basis for a d...
Recovery of Earnest Money – Competence of SPA to Depose – The appellant’s suit for recovery of Rs. 12,00,000/- along with interest was dismissed by the Trial Court on the grounds that the earnest money was rightly forfeited due to non-payment of the balance consideration – Appellant challenged the judgment arguing the inability of the respondent to produce title documents, ...
Property Law – Interpretation of Will – Declaration of Title – Plaintiff (appellant) claimed exclusive rights to the plaint B schedule property based on a will executed by Devarakonda Suramma. The trial court dismissed the suit, and the plaintiff appealed. The court held that the plaintiff, being the male progeny of the fourth defendant (another beneficiary under the will), could...
Civil Law – Property Law – Mandatory and Permanent Injunction – Common Passage – Plaintiffs sought injunction to prevent the defendant from obstructing a common passage used by multiple property owners – Defendant claimed the passage as private property – Both lower courts found that the defendant failed to prove the passage was private property and upheld the p...
Constitutional Law – Horizontal and Vertical Reservations – Rajasthan Judicial Service Examination – Appeal concerning the methodology of reservation applied in the recruitment process for Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate posts in Rajasthan – Appellants challenged non-disclosure of cut-off marks for persons with benchmark disabilities, claiming violation of Articles 14, ...
Civil Law – Property Law – Ancestral Property – Inheritance under Hindu Succession Act – Plaintiff claimed co-parcenary rights in the suit land, alleging it to be ancestral property inherited from her grandfather – Trial Court and First Appellate Court found the plaintiff failed to provide documentary evidence proving the ancestral nature of the property – Appel...
Ex Gratia Compensation – Interest on Delayed Payment – Appellant, a victim of the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, received ex gratia compensation after multiple litigations spanning decades – Appellant sought interest on the delayed payment of Rs. 1,00,000/- – High Court held that although ex gratia compensation traditionally does not attract interest, Constitutional Courts have the ...
Reservation Law – Horizontal Reservation and Unreserved Category – Misapplication of Reservation Rules for MBBS Admission – Challenge in Supreme Court – The appellants, who were meritorious reserved category students, challenged the allocation of MBBS seats in the Unreserved Category Government School (UR-GS) quota in Madhya Pradesh. The State had sub-classified the GS quot...
Custody of Minor Child – Habeas Corpus – Petitioner, mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old child, sought custody of her minor son who was in the custody of his grandparents – Court held that the mother, being the natural guardian under Section 6 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, is entitled to the custody of her minor son – The welfare of the minor child is pa...
Negotiable Instruments – Promissory Note – Incomplete Document Allegation – Defendants challenged the validity of a promissory note on the grounds that it was incomplete and thus unenforceable. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh rejected this contention, holding that once the defendants admitted to signing the promissory note, a presumption of its validity arises under Section 118 ...