Reservation Law – Interchangeability of Vacancies – High Court dismissed writ petition challenging non-interchangeability of unfilled SC/ST vacancies to OBC – Petitioners argued based on Policy letter No. 17246 allowing such interchangeability – High Court dismissed the petition based on government's decision to re-advertise unfilled posts – Supreme Court upheld t...
SARFAESI - Writ Petition – Refund of Amount Paid in E-Auction – Petitioner sought refund for amount paid in e-auction under SARFAESI Act for property with undisclosed litigations and encumbrances – Relief granted for refund of sale consideration, stamp duty, house property tax, and interest. [Para 1, 33, 49, 50]
SARFAESI Act, 2002 – Sale/Auction of Secured Asse...
Service Law - Increment Entitlement after Retirement – Government servants retiring on June 30th entitled to increment due on July 1st – Petitioners, retired government servants, seeking increment and consequential benefits – Reliance on judgments of various High Courts and the Supreme Court affirming this entitlement. [Para 3, 5.1, 5.2]
Legal Position on Grant of In...
Criminal Law – Remission of Sentence – Judicial Review – The Court has the power to review the government's decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of an application for remission under Section 432 of the CrPC to determine whether the decision is arbitrary in nature. While the government has discretion to suspend or remit sentences, it cannot exercise this power arbitr...
Promotion Process - Principle of 'Merit-cum-Seniority' - Petitioners challenged the promotions made by the High Court of Gujarat under Rule 5(1) of the Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules, 2005 - Alleged misapplication of 'Merit-cum-Seniority' - High Court's promotion process involved a Suitability Test comprising Written Test, Evaluation of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs),...
Criminal Law – Malicious Prosecution – Quashing of FIR – The Supreme Court addressed the challenge against the High Court's dismissal of a petition for quashing FIR No. 248 of 2022. The FIR involved allegations of financial impropriety and deceit related to a job offer. The court scrutinized the circumstances under which the FIR was lodged, considering the delay in filing, la...
Judicial Power and Authority – Judicial power to cancel a registered instrument, specifically a sale deed, rests with the civil courts, not the Registrar – The impugned circular by the State Government of Jharkhand, vesting the power of cancellation on the Registrar, is legally unsustainable and is set aside – Registration of an instrument entails legal consequences affecting leg...
Passport Issuance and Criminal Proceedings – The Court examined whether the pendency of a criminal case bars the issuance or renewal of a passport – Analyzed Sections 2(e), 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 22 of the Passports Act, 1967 and relevant rules – Recognized that Section 6(2)(f) mandates denial of passport if proceedings for an offense are pending in a criminal court in India [Paras ...
Service Law - Writ of Certiorari – Quashing Endorsement Dated 05.08.2017 – Petitioner's claim for interest on delayed payment of salary and difference of salary during suspension period – Respondent's refusal based on lack of provisions in service regulations – Issue addressed under Articles 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India. [Para 1]
Protracte...
Interpretation of Statutes - Rules of interpretation - Application to Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 - The statute must be read as a whole and each word used by the legislature is required to be assigned a meaning to give a meaningful definition - Words in a statute are used precisely and not loosely - Intention of the legislation predominates while interpreting the statute...