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 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

"WRIT LAW" Digest

Professional Misconduct - Advocate-on-Record – Duty of Care – Misrepresentation in SLP – An advocate-on-record filed an SLP concealing crucial facts about the appellant’s sentence, leading to wrongful interim relief – Held: An advocate-on-record is wholly responsible for verifying the correctness of petitions filed before the Supreme Court – Mere name lending wi...

Attachment of Retirement Benefits – Jurisdiction under Section 78 of the KCS Act – The Kerala High Court addressed whether retiral benefits can be attached under Section 78 of the KCS Act. It held that while retirement benefits such as provident fund, gratuity, and pension are generally immune from attachment, the attached amounts in this case need careful examination to determine if t...

Environmental Law - Polluters Pay Principle – Continuing Liability – Section 24, 25 of the Water Act – Environmental Protection – Industrial Pollution – Government Responsibility – Compensation Directed – The court reiterated the absolute liability of polluting industries to compensate affected individuals until environmental damage is fully reversed &ndas...

Civil Writ - Maternity Leave – Third Pregnancy – Second Wedlock – Interpretation of Rule 101(a) of Fundamental Rules – Petitioner, a staff nurse in Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, was denied maternity leave for her third pregnancy on the ground that she already had two surviving children from her first marriage—Held: Petitioner had not availed maternity leave for...

Advocates Act – Disciplinary Proceedings – Formation of "Reason to Believe" is Mandatory – Proceedings Quashed – Under Section 35(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961, a State Bar Council must form a "reason to believe" that an advocate is guilty of professional misconduct before referring a complaint to its Disciplinary Committee – Mere receipt of a comp...

Suo Motu - Digital Arrest Scams – Modus Operandi – Psychological Manipulation and Technology Exploitation – Scammers posing as law enforcement officials deceive victims into believing they are under "digital arrest" for alleged crimes – Fraudsters employ psychological tactics like fear, urgency, and isolation while exploiting tools such as AI to mimic voices and c...

Land Acquisition – Urgency Clause – Justification for invocation – Compliance with conditions – The petitioners challenged the acquisition proceedings on the ground that urgency was invoked without justification and without fulfilling the requirement of paying 80% compensation before taking possession – Held: Invocation of urgency clause was justified as the project a...

Civil Writ - Reservation in Advocates’ Association Elections – No Legal Mandate – High Court Lacks Power Under Article 226 – Petitioners sought 50% reservation for SC/ST and backward communities in the Bengaluru Advocates Association elections, citing Article 14 – Supreme Court in Fozia Rahman v. Bar Council of Delhi and SCBA v. B.D. Kaushik had invoked Article 142 to...

Preventive Detention – Procedural Safeguards – Compliance with KAAPA – The petitioner, wife of the detenu, challenged the detention order issued under Section 3(1) of KAAPA on the ground that legible copies of relied-upon documents were not furnished to the detenu – The detaining authority argued that all documents were duly provided – The Court, upon verifying the or...

Taxation Law - Entry Tax – Constitutional validity of the West Bengal Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 2012– Single Judge’s Judgment Set Aside – The Single Judge, relying on overruled precedents, declared the Entry Tax Act, 2012 unconstitutional—The Supreme Court in Jindal Stainless Ltd. v. State of Haryana held that the compensatory tax theory was not a va...