Land Laws – Partition of Joint Holding – Ex Parte Proceedings – Allegation of Wrong Address – Petitioner challenged partition order dated 30.08.2018 and appellate order dated 09.08.2024 on ground that respondent No.3 mentioned wrong address to prevent his participation – Held: Petitioner failed to produce any material, including jamabandi or revenue record, to prove t...
Criminal Law – Communal Violence – Reinvestigation – SIT – Witness Protection – Victims’ Rights – Fair Trial – Appointment of Public Prosecutors – Judicial Oversight – Directions Issued – Supreme Court directed constitution of a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by former CBI Director R.K. Raghavan to undertake fur...
Public Interest Litigation – Appointment and Continuation of Police Officer – Challenge to appointment of Director General of Police, Gujarat, on the ground of alleged misconduct and failure during the 2002 communal riots – Allegation that his continuation would impede justice in riot-related prosecutions – State contended that review of all 2020 riot cases had been complet...
Civil Writ – PIL - Right to Education – Safe Learning Environment – Article 21A – Enforceability – In light of the Kumbakonam school fire tragedy which killed 93 children due to lack of fire safety and building code compliance, the Court emphasized that the right to education under Article 21A includes the right to study in a safe and secure environment – Held: ...
Public Interest Litigation – Road Safety – Pedestrian Protection – Directions Issued – Supreme Court takes cognizance of alarming rise in road accident deaths (1.72 lakh in 2023 including 35,000 pedestrians) – Court issues detailed directions on five key aspects: (i) pedestrian footpaths, (ii) pedestrian crossings, (iii) mandatory helmet use, (iv) prevention of wrong-...
Constitutional Law – Office of Profit – Articles 101 to 104 – Retrospective Exemption – Validity of Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Act, 2006 – Challenge to retrospective removal of disqualification under Article 102(1)(a) on ground that it sought to re-induct Members of Parliament whose seats had allegedly fallen vacant – Held: Parliament ...
Criminal Writ - Child Custody – Removal from Jurisdiction – Foreign Court Orders – Habeas Corpus – Appellant-father, a U.S. citizen, filed habeas corpus petition under Article 32 seeking custody of his minor son, an American national, removed by the respondent-mother to India in violation of U.S. custody orders – Child had been missing for over two years until traced ...
Constitutional Law – Scheduled Tribes – Land Restoration – Validity of Repealing Act – Kerala Act 12 of 1999 challenged for overriding Kerala Act 31 of 1975 which provided for restoration of alienated tribal land – High Court held 1999 Act to be colourable and struck it down – Supreme Court reversed – Held: 1999 Act enacted under Entry 18, List II; hence w...
Environmental Law – Aravalli Hills – Illegal Mining – Complete Ban – Despite multiple orders since 2002 prohibiting unregulated mining in the Aravalli hill range, mining continued in blatant disregard of statutory provisions – Mining conducted without environmental clearance, mining plan or rehabilitation efforts – Resulted in irreversible environmental degradat...
Taxation Law - CGST – Detention & Penalty under Section 129(3) – Rule 138 Violation via Loading-Point Mismatch – Petition Dismissed – Goods in transit intercepted on 09.03.2025; E-Invoice and E-Way Bill were generated but actual loading point (Rupnarayanpur, West Medinipur, West Bengal) differed from the declared dispatch point (Village-Sakui, Kharagpur) – GPS log...