Insurance Law - Repudiation of Claim - Pre-existing Illness - Writ Petition for Certiorari and Mandamus – Insurance company repudiated claims for two life insurance policies on grounds of suppression of material facts, specifically chronic diseases (diabetes mellitus and hypertension) of the insured – Insurance Ombudsman upheld the repudiation – High Court found no independent in...
Land Acquisition Law - Limitation for Reference – Appeal against dismissal on Limitation Grounds – Appeal challenging the dismissal of reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act due to limitation – Reference Court found the application filed after three years from the date of knowledge of the award when compensation was received – High Court held that the Refere...
Civil Service Law - Regularization of Service - Seniority List vs. Log Book - Appeal challenging the de-regularization of service by relying on the seniority list over a log book. Appellant claimed an earlier date of appointment based on the log book. Held that the log book, being in the custody of the employee and used only for recording certain facts, cannot supersede the seniority list, which i...
Administrative Law - E-Auction - Cancellation and Refund of Earnest Money Deposit - Writ petition filed challenging the cancellation of e-auction and refund of the earnest money deposit without reason. The petitioner, being the highest bidder, claimed a vested right to be declared successful. Held, the reserve price was improperly fixed due to a software error, justifying the cancellation of the a...
Service Law - Recovery of Excess Payment – Regular Second Appeal against order of lower appellate court setting aside recovery of excess amount paid to employee – Employee’s salary wrongly fixed by the department in 1996, error discovered in 2011, recovery sought – Held that recovery from employee impermissible when no fraud or misrepresentation is involved and when benefit...
Administrative Law - Jurisdiction and Authority – Writ Petition against reduction of compensation by Principal Secretary, Department of Power – Compensation originally assessed by District Magistrate – Government’s revision order lacks jurisdiction under the Telegraph Act and the Electricity Act – District Magistrate is the competent authority for compensation assessm...
Contract Law - Enforcement of Employment Terms – Regular Second Appeal against the dismissal of suit for recovery of damages and salary – Appellant, employed as Program Instructor, claimed unpaid salary and damages after the closure of the center – Agreement lacked explicit clause for salary payment by the respondent – Civil suit dismissed for absence of enforceable contrac...
Contract Law - Stamp Duty on Agreements to Sell – Civil Revision against Arbitrator’s order dismissing application to impound agreement for insufficient stamp duty – Agreement to sell executed without delivery of possession does not attract stamp duty under Entry 5(cc) of Schedule 1-A of the Punjab Stamp Act – Arbitration Act provisions limiting judicial intervention in arb...
Equal Pay for Equal Work - Writ Petition - Article 226 of the Constitution of India - Claim for Parity in Pay Scale - Petitioners, teachers working in schools administered by the Punjab Wakf Board, sought parity in pay scales with teachers in other Islamia schools under the same board. The Court held that persons similarly situated are entitled to similar treatment, including similar pay if perfor...
Insurance Law - Breach of Terms and Conditions - Writ Petition under Article 226 - The petitioner, Oriental Insurance Company, challenged the Permanent Lok Adalat's award granting 50% of the insurance claim to the claimant despite the vehicle being used for commercial purposes, which was a breach of the insurance policy terms. The Court held that compensation on a non-standard basis is applica...