State Can’t Block SARFAESI Sale by Late Revenue Entries: Secured Creditor’s Charge Prevails Over Tax Dues: Punjab & Haryana High Court Slams Sub-Registrar’s Refusal Providing SIM Card Without Knowledge of Its Criminal Use Does Not Imply Criminal Conspiracy: P&H High Court Grants Bail in UAPA & Murder Case Importer Who Accepts Enhanced Valuation Cannot Later Contest Confiscation and Penalty for Undervaluation: Madras High Court Upholds Strict Liability under Customs Act "Allegations Are Not Proof: Madras High Court Refuses Divorce Without Substantiated Cruelty or Desertion" When FIR Is Filed After Consulting Political Leaders, the Possibility of Coloured Version Cannot Be Ruled Out: Kerala High Court Mere Allegations of Antecedents Without Conviction Can't Defeat Right to Anticipatory Bail: Kerala High Court Section 106 Of Evidence Act Cannot Be Invoked In Vacuum – Prosecution Must First Lay Foundational Facts: Karnataka High Court Acquits Wife And Co-Accused In Husband’s Murder Case Parity Cannot Be Claimed When Roles Are Different: Karnataka High Court Refuses Bail to Youth Accused of Brutal Killing Injured Wife Would Not Falsely Implicate Her Husband: Gauhati High Court Upholds Conviction in Domestic Stabbing Case Disputed Bids, Missing Evidence and No Prejudice: Delhi High Court Refuses to Intervene in Tender Challenge under Article 226 License Fee on Hoardings is Regulatory, Not Tax; GST Does Not Bar Municipal Levy: Bombay High Court Filing Forged Bank Statement to Mislead Court in Maintenance Case Is Prima Facie Offence Under Section 466 IPC: Allahabad High Court Upholds Summoning Continued Cruelty and Concealment of Infertility Justify Divorce: Chhattisgarh High Court Upholds Divorce Disguising Punishment as Simplicity Is Abuse of Power: Delhi High Court Quashes Dismissals of Civil Defence Volunteers for Being Stigmatic, Not Simpliciter Marriage Cannot Be Perpetuated on Paper When Cohabitation Has Ceased for Decades: Supreme Court Invokes Article 142 to Grant Divorce Despite Wife’s Opposition Ownership of Trucks Does Not Mean Windfall Compensation: Supreme Court Slashes Inflated Motor Accident Award in Absence of Documentary Proof Concealment of Mortgage Is Fraud, Not a Technical Omission: Supreme Court Restores Refund Decree, Slams High Court’s Remand State Reorganization Does Not Automatically Convert Cooperative Societies into Multi-State Entities: Supreme Court Rejects Blanket Interpretation of Section 103 Indian Courts Cannot Invalidate Foreign Arbitral Awards Passed Under Foreign Law: Madhya Pradesh High Court Enforces Texas-Based Award Despite Commercial Court’s Contrary Decree Sudden Quarrel over Mound of Earth — Not Murder but Culpable Homicide: Allahabad High Court Eligibility Flows from Birth, Not a Certificate Date: Delhi High Court Strikes Down Rule Fixing Arbitrary Cut-Off for OBC-NCL Certificates in CAPF (AC) Recruitment Bar Under Order II Rule 2 CPC Cannot Be Invoked Where Specific Performance Was Legally Premature Due To Statutory Impediments: P&H High Court Once a Court Declares a Department an Industry Under Section 2(j), State Cannot Raise the Same Objection Again: Gujarat High Court Slams Repetitive Litigation by Irrigation Department “How Could Cheques Issued in 2020 Be Mentioned in a 2019 Contract?”: Delhi High Court Grants Injunction in Forged MOA Case, Slams Prima Facie Fabrication Calling Wife by Her Caste Name in Public Just Before Suicide is Immediate Cause of Self-Immolation: Madras High Court Upholds Husband’s Conviction Under Section 306 IPC Sole Testimony of Prosecutrix, If Credible, Is Enough to Convict: Delhi High Court Upholds Rape Conviction Cheque Issued as Security Still Attracts Section 138 NI Act If Liability Exists on Date of Presentation: Himachal Pradesh High Court After Admitting Lease, Defendant Cannot Turn Around and Call It Forged—Contradictory Stand at Advanced Trial Stage Impermissible: Punjab & Haryana High Court Dismisses Revision Against Rejection of Amendment Plea Dismissed Employee Has No Right to Leave Encashment Under Statutory Rules: Punjab and Haryana High Court Section 13 of Gambling Act Is Cognizable — Magistrate Can Take Cognizance on Police Report: Allahabad High Court Clarifies Surveyor’s Report Not Sacrosanct, Arbitral Tribunal Has Jurisdiction to Apply Mind Independently: Bombay High Court Dismisses Insurer’s Challenge to Award in Fire Damage Dispute Auction Purchaser Has No Vested Right Without Sale Confirmation: Calcutta HC Upholds Borrower’s Redemption Right Under Pre-Amendment SARFAESI Law Mere Breach of Promise to Marry Doesn’t Amount to Rape: Delhi High Court Acquits Man in False Rape Case Father Is the Natural Guardian After Mother’s Death, Mere Technicalities Cannot Override Welfare of Child: Orissa High Court Restores Custody to Biological Father Assets of Wife and Father-in-Law Can Be Considered in Disproportionate Assets Case Against Public Servant: Kerala High Court Refuses Discharge

"WRIT LAW" Digest

Services Law - Judicial Services - LDCE Quota for District Judge Promotions – Quota Restored from 10% to 25% – Meritorious Officers Incentivized – Original 25% quota (Third AIJA) was reduced to 10% in 2010 due to low participation – Court held changed conditions warranted restoration – Directed unfilled LDCE seats to revert to regular promotion – Held: 25% LDCE ...

Writ Jurisdiction – Section 154, 156(3), 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Refusal to Direct FIR Registration – Alternate Remedies Available – Mandamus Declined – Petitioner sought mandamus for registration of FIR against her husband for allegedly disseminating personal photographs taken before marriage – Despite remedies under Sections 154(3), 156(3) CrPC...

Criminal Law - Quashing of Criminal Proceedings – Section 482, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Allegations under IPC and SC/ST Act – Quashing Partially Allowed – The applicants sought to quash the FIR and proceedings initiated under sections of IPC and the SC/ST Act arising out of alleged cruelty and caste-based abuse following an inter-caste marriage – The Court observe...

Civil Procedure – Closure of Evidence – Repeated Defaults by Plaintiff – Petition Dismissed – The petitioner-plaintiff failed to produce any evidence despite multiple adjournments and even defaulted in paying imposed costs – Trial Court closed evidence vide order dated 29.07.2024 – Held: The impugned order is justified and reflects due judicial discretion &ndash...

Environmental Law – Ex Post Facto Environmental Clearance – Legality of 2017 Notification and 2021 OM – Held Illegal - The 2017 Notification and 2021 Office Memorandum allowing retrospective environmental clearance were held contrary to statutory and constitutional mandates – The Supreme Court reaffirmed that ex post facto ECs are alien to environmental jurisprudence and vi...

Education Law - Medical Education – Power of Committee to Create Corpus Fund – Not Traceable to Law – GO Dated 06.06.2018 Struck Down - The Court held that neither the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee nor the State Government had legislative authority to mandate diversion of fees from NRI students towards a corpus fund for BPL/EWS scholarships – Such a measure, howeve...

Service Law - Departmental Inquiry – Absence Without Leave – Major Penalty – Dismissal Justified – Petitioner was absent for 1220 days between 2004 and 2009 without leave – Contended that no inquiry report or oral evidence was provided and cross-examination opportunity was denied – Respondents argued procedural compliance and lack of sanctioned leave records &nd...

Writ - Service Law – Long-Term Ad Hoc Engagement Against Sanctioned Post – Abolition Order Held Arbitrary – Appeal Allowed - Appellant worked as Process Server on ad hoc basis since 1997 against a sanctioned post with pay scale, DA, and Grade Pay – Disengagement via abolition of post on basis of Office Memorandum dated 31.08.2019 was held arbitrary and a non-application of ...

PIL - Environmental Protection – Illegal Tree Felling in TTZ – Court-Mandated Penalties – Enforced - The Court exercised powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to impose graded penalties for illegal felling of trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone – Directed recovery of fines ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹25,000 per tree, seizure of timber, and mandatory compensatory plantati...

Suo motu - Sedition and Endangering National Unity – Public Remarks by Elected Official – Section 152 BNS – Prima Facie Offence Made Out – Minister Vijay Shah’s comments equating a Muslim Army officer with terrorists were held as promoting separatist sentiments – Such statements were found to endanger the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India – FIR un...