Election Petition – Maintainability – Petitioners sought to invalidate election results alleging respondents' encroachment on government land – Held, writ petition not maintainable under Article 226 – Proper remedy is an election petition as per Sections 74 and 89(1)(c) of the Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994 – Writ petition dismissed due to the existenc...
Pension – Inclusion of Work Charge Service – Any employee who has rendered service on work charge/adhoc basis is entitled to count the period of such service towards the total length of qualifying service for pensionary benefits – Respondent's rejection of pension claim on grounds of not having 20 years of regular service set aside – Estoppel principle applied as petiti...
Transfer of Investigation – Judicial Review – Sections 173 and 465 Cr.P.C. – Petition for transferring investigation to CBI or any independent agency due to alleged bias and malice in current investigation – Court held no accused has right to choose investigating agency, but judicial review necessary to ensure fairness – Investigation quashed due to bias and malice, d...
Temporary Permits – Granting of Temporary Permits – The petitioners, existing stage carriage permit holders, challenged the granting of temporary permits to private respondents on the same routes – Contention that the temporary permits were issued without proper legal authority and in violation of the petitioners' rights under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution – Cour...
Seniority – Fixation by Promotion – Petitioners promoted retrospectively to the post of Food and Supplies Officers from dates of completion of 3 years of experience – Petitioners placed lower than direct recruits in seniority despite earlier retrospective dates – Held, appointments from any source subject to completion of probation – Probation period for direct recrui...
Reservation Policy – Vertical vs. Horizontal Reservation – Articles 14 and 16 – Petitioners challenged the conversion of Ex-Servicemen reservation from vertical to horizontal and its subdivision among reserved categories – Court held that horizontal reservation, whether overall or compartmentalized, is valid – Conversion aims at equitable distribution and is not arbit...
Medical Termination of Pregnancy – Beyond 24 Weeks – Genetic Defect – Section 3(2)(ii) of the MTP Act – Petitioner sought termination of pregnancy at 24 weeks and 5 days due to genetic defect in fetus – Previous child with similar disorder – Permanent Medical Board confirmed fetus likely affected by Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, a neurological disorder – C...
Pension Parity – Private Aided Colleges vs. Government Employees – Articles 14 and 311 – Petitioners, retired teachers from private aided colleges, claimed parity in pension calculation with government employees – Court held teachers of private aided colleges cannot claim parity due to different service conditions and recruitment methods – Non-transferable posts and d...
Regulation of Fee – Private Unaided Educational Institutions – Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 30(1) – Vires of Section 87 of the Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966 – Notification extending Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, 2016 to Chandigarh challenged – Requirement for schools to disclose income, expenditure, and balance sheet on website –...
Recovery of Excise Revenue – Arrears of Land Revenue – Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 – Section 98 – Petitioner contended that with the abolition of land revenue by the Punjab Land Revenue (Abolition) Act, 1997, recovery of excise revenue as arrears of land revenue is not permissible – Court held that under Section 98 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, arrears of la...