Writ Law - Fundamental Rights - Constitution of India - Article 21 - Right to Electricity - Petitioner residing in a property within Railway premises denied electricity connection by authorities based on administrative circulars regarding private land - Court held that electricity is a basic amenity and a fundamental right under Article 21 essential for human dignity and development - Right to shelter includes right to electricity - Denial of such facility by authorities is unsustainable in law - Impugned orders dated 26.07.2011 and 09.05.2012 quashed - Held - Respondents directed to provide electricity connection to the petitioner within 30 days - [Paras 7-13].

Civil Law - Basic Amenities - Electricity Connection - Petitioner residing in occupied premises entitled to electricity irrespective of disputes - Supreme Court precedents established that electricity cannot be declined on technical grounds or lack of NOC if the applicant is in occupation - Authorities duty-bound to ensure access to basic needs - Held - Writ allowed - [Paras 9-11].

Decision: Writ petition allowed – Impugned orders quashed – Respondents directed to provide electricity connection to the petitioner within 30 days subject to compliance with formalities.

Criminal Law - NDPS Act - Section 29 - Criminal Conspiracy and Abetment - Petitioner charged for abetment and conspiracy based on vague allegation of cooperation and statements of co-accused - Trial court failed to identify specific overt acts or evidence linking petitioner to illicit narcotic trade - Court held that mere association or relationship with principal offender does not satisfy requirements of Section 29 - Absence of factual foundation and legally cognizable material to connect petitioner with narcotic offence rendered framing of charge unsustainable - Held - Impugned order set aside and petitioner discharged - [Paras 1-23].

Criminal Law - NDPS Act - Section 67 - Evidentiary value of confessional statements - Prosecution relied exclusively on statements recorded under Section 67 by officers empowered under Section 53 of the NDPS Act to implicate the petitioner - Relying on Tofan Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu - Court held that such statements are inadmissible as substantive evidence for framing charges or conviction - Held - Statements cannot provide the foundational basis for criminal proceedings in the absence of independent incriminating material - [Paras 9-12].

Criminal Law - NDPS Act - Section 29 - Stage of framing charge - Prosecution claimed recovery of cash amounting to 68500 INR and petitioner's alleged statement as proof of conspiracy - Court held that possession of money without demonstrable nexus to proceeds of crime or specific narcotic enterprise cannot be transmuted into evidence of conspiracy - Mere suspicion or hypothetical construction of chain of events insufficient to warrant trial - Held - Framing of charge requires presence of foundational ingredients and not just suspicion - [Paras 13-21].

Decision: Revision petition allowed – Impugned order dated 06.12.2023 set aside – Petitioner discharged from the offence under Section 8/29 of the NDPS Act – Trial court record to be returned.

Labour Law - Employees Compensation - Employees Compensation Act 1923 - Section 30 - Death due to cardiac arrest during employment - Deceased driver died of cardiac arrest while returning from duty after unloading oil tanker - Claimants alleged death resulted from stress and strain of 24x7 driving - Insurer contested the claim stating death by heart attack did not arise out of employment and alleged policy violation - ALC awarded compensation after finding nexus between occupational stress and death - High Court upheld the award noting that evidence of stress and strain was sufficiently led by claimants and not rebutted by the insurer - Held - Death occurred out of and in the course of employment - Appeal dismissed - [Paras 1-19].

Evidence Law - Burden of proof - Employees Compensation Act 1923 - Section 30 - Alleged policy violation - Insurer failed to lead any evidence to prove breach of insurance policy - Held - The plea of policy violation remains unproved when the burden of proof is not discharged by the party raising the plea - [Para 13].

Labour Law - Accident arising out of and in the course of employment - Employees Compensation Act 1923 - Section 3 - Scope of accident - Deceased driver suffered cardiac arrest due to strain of long-distance driving - Applying the principles in Param Pal Singh and Dariyao Kanwar cases - Held - Long spells of driving constitute material contributory factor to cardiac death which constitutes an accident arising out of and in the course of employment - [Paras 16-18].

Decision: Appeal dismissed - The award dated 27 June 2022 passed by the Assistant Labour Commissioner is upheld in its entirety.

Contempt Law - Willful Disobedience - Contempt of Courts Act 1971 - Sections 11 and 12 - Petitioners alleged that the State failed to comply with the order in W.P. No. 5453/2022 to redraw the seniority list of Range Forest Officers strictly as per legal guidelines - Accused filed compliance affidavits demonstrating that a new seniority list was published after correcting previous anomalies and following due process - Held - Where an authority takes a decision in purported compliance with a Court's judgment that is alleged to be legally incorrect or inconsistent - the remedy is to challenge that decision in appropriate proceedings as it creates a fresh cause of action - Contempt proceedings cannot be used to sit in appeal or judicial review over the merits of the subsequent administrative decision - Contempt petition closed and notice discharged - [Paras 20-27].

Contempt Law - Scope of Jurisdiction - Contempt of Courts Act 1971 - Section 12 - Court examined the limits of contempt jurisdiction regarding the finality of administrative decisions - Held - The Court cannot add new obligations or modify substantive directions not contained in the original judgment - Contempt jurisdiction is not a substitute for an appeal or judicial review - Aggrieved parties must approach the Court which passed the original order for clarification or invoke appellate jurisdiction to challenge the legality of the new seniority list - [Paras 21-23].

Decision: Contempt petition closed - Contempt notice discharged - Petitioners granted liberty to challenge the revised seniority list in appropriate proceedings.

Writ Law - Administrative Law - Constitution of India - Article 226 - Judicial Review - Petitioner challenged Clause A(C) of the DSLSA empanelment notice restricting candidates to a single application per district and panel as arbitrary - Petitioner argued that Clause A(D) permitting relinquishment of existing panels rendered the restriction in Clause A(C) irrational - High Court held that the prescription of eligibility and procedural criteria lies within the employer domain and the court will not sit in appeal over selection procedures - Court noted that Clauses A(C) and A(D) operate at different stages and serve distinct purposes - Held - Petitioner failed to establish manifest arbitrariness or patent illegality - selection process already advanced and stage for interference closed - petition dismissed - [Paras 1-13].

Administrative Law - Service Law - Selection Process - Discretion of Authority - The Court emphasized that defining the eligibility conditions and the number of applications allowed per candidate is a matter of administrative policy devised by the employer - Held - judiciary will not interfere with administrative decisions regarding the structuring of selection processes unless they are demonstrably arbitrary - [Paras 4-10].

Decision: Writ petition dismissed - No relief granted – All pending applications disposed of.

Criminal Law - Murder and Attempt to Murder - Indian Penal Code 1860 - Sections 302 and 307 - Accused convicted for firing shots at deceased and injured eyewitness following altercation at public hand pump - Trial Court acquitted two co-accused on grounds of doubt but convicted appellant and another - Appellant challenged conviction on grounds of false implication due to enmity and partial acquittal of co-accused - High Court held that testimony of related witnesses is not inherently unreliable and that the maxim falsus in uno falsus in omnibus is a rule of caution not a rule of law - Conviction upheld based on consistent and cogent evidence corroborated by medical reports of firearm injuries - Held - Appeal dismissed - [Paras 1-43].

Evidence Law - Witness Credibility - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 3 - Interested Witness - Related witnesses being family members of the deceased do not per se invalidate their testimony - Relationship is not equivalent to being an interested witness unless the witness derives specific benefit from the outcome - Court required to exercise caution and deep scrutiny of such testimonies - Held - Testimony of related witnesses found reliable and trustworthy - [Paras 26-30].

Criminal Law - Principle of Falsus in uno falsus in omnibus - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 3 - Applicability - The maxim that a witness false in one particular is false in all is not a mandatory rule of evidence in India but merely a rule of caution - Acquittal of some co-accused on the same evidence does not preclude the court from acting upon the same evidence to convict other accused if their involvement is clearly proved - Held - Trial Court justified in separating the roles of the accused - [Paras 34-35].

Criminal Law - Injured Eyewitness - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 3 - Reliability - Evidence of an injured witness is given high evidentiary value as their presence at the spot is established by the injuries sustained - Such evidence cannot be rejected on minor discrepancies or trivial variations - Held - Medical report confirming firearm injuries on the witness lends definitive corroboration to the prosecution case - [Paras 21-24].

Decision: Appeal dismissed – Conviction and sentence under Sections 302 and 307 IPC affirmed – Appellant Man Singh directed to surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bareilly within one month to serve remaining sentence.

Civil Law - Public Premises Act - Eviction - Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971 - Section 5 - Subletting - Petitioner-tenant converted a proprietorship firm into a partnership and subsequently into a private limited company comprising exclusively of the same family members - Estate Officer and City Civil Court ordered eviction alleging unauthorized subletting - High Court applied doctrine of piercing the corporate veil and relied on the substantial identity between the tenant and the successor entities - Held - mere conversion of a business entity among family members without induction of third parties or evidence of profiteering does not constitute subletting - impugned orders quashed and set aside - [Paras 26-29].

Civil Law - Public Premises Act - Retrospective operation - Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971 - Section 5 - 2015 Amendment - Whether amendment substituting 'may' with 'shall' is retrospective - Held - Amendment of 2015 is prospective in nature as the Act lacks specific language providing for retrospective application - [Para 27].

Civil Law - Public Premises Act - Unauthorised Occupation - Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971 - Section 2(e) - Requirement of proof - Held - To establish unauthorised occupation on the ground of subletting under the Public Premises Act the landlord must prove that the tenant parted with exclusive possession in favour of a third party for compensation or rent - since no third party was inducted and the tenant remained in effective control the petitioners cannot be termed as unauthorised occupants - [Paras 26-28].

Decision: Petition allowed – Impugned orders of the Estate Officer and the Principal Judge of the Bombay City Civil Court are quashed and set aside – Interim application for return of bank guarantees allowed.

Criminal Law - Fair Trial - Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 313 - Petitioner challenged trial court order curtailing defense evidence and sought clubbing of trials - Court found that trial in FIR No. 207/2007 had reached final stages with petitioner already filing written submissions under Section 313(5) CrPC - Allegations of bias against Trial Court found bereft of evidence - Court held that petition was an attempt to delay proceedings pending for 19 years - Held - Petition dismissed - [Paras 1-10].

Criminal Law - Consolidation of Trials - Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 - Section 528 - Petitioner sought clubbing of FIR No. 207/2007 with FIR Nos. 180/2007 181/2007 and 182/2007 citing Amit Katyal v. State of Haryana - High Court observed that proceedings in the cited FIRs had already attained closure - Held - Ratio in Amit Katyal inapplicable to present facts where no live concurrent proceedings exist - [Paras 2-5].

Decision: Petition dismissed in limine – No orders as to costs.

Banking Law - Co-operative Societies - Kerala Cooperative Societies Act 1969 - Section 69 - Debt recovery proceedings - Petitioners defaulted on credit facilities leading to an award and subsequent execution sale of mortgaged property - Petitioners sought benefits under the Aswas 2026 OTS Scheme claiming eligibility for interest waivers under previous circulars - Court directed the respondent bank to consider the petitioners application strictly in terms of Circular No 19 of 2026 and to communicate the settlement amount immediately to facilitate payment before the scheme expiry - Held - Bank directed to consider the request for settlement and extend permissible benefits - [Paras 1-6].

Civil Law - One Time Settlement Scheme - Banking - Aswas 2026 - Circular No 19 of 2026 - Scope of discretion - Bank obligated to evaluate current financial position and repayment capacity of the borrower while considering OTS benefits - Court mandates strict adherence to the current circular framework while processing the request - Held - Bank must inform the petitioners of the exact liability to enable payment before the deadline - [Paras 4-6].

Decision: Writ petition disposed of – Bank directed to process the OTS application on 29/09/2026 and inform petitioners of the settlement amount to ensure payment by 30/09/2026.