Writ Law - Service Law - Bihar Reorganisation Act 2000 - Employees of defunct state-owned corporations - Dispute over identification of remaining workmen, payment of interest on delayed dues, and daily-wager compensation - Previous Supreme Court order dated 29/05/2026 accepted committee recommendations and mandated disbursements - States of Bihar and Jharkhand reported substantial compliance but 200 cases remained pending due to missing documentation - Court directed closure of identification process but granted liberty to claimants to approach Nodal Officers within 12 months - Court awarded one-time sum of Rs 1,00,000 to daily-wage employees to compensate for protracted delay and historical wage stagnation - Held - States directed to ensure payment of 12 percent interest on EPF dues under Section 7Q of the Act and 6 percent interest on salary arrears - [Paras 1-63].

Civil Law - Interest on delayed payments - Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 - Section 7Q - Statutory mandate for 12 percent interest - Employer liable for interest from due date until actual payment - Constitutional obligation of welfare states to ensure entitlements are not rendered illusory by corporate dissolution - Held - Employees cannot be deprived of statutory interest due to administrative delays or corporate entity status - [Paras 43-48].

Civil Law - Compensation for delayed salary - Principles of restitution - Extraordinary delay in disbursement of lawful wages - Court exercising equitable jurisdiction to grant recompense for deprivation of use of money - 6 percent per annum interest awarded on salary arrears as compensatory measure for financial prejudice - Held - Interest represents recompense for loss and is not a punitive levy - [Paras 50-57].

Decision: Writ petition disposed of – States directed to pay one-time compensation of Rs 1,00,000 to daily-wagers, 12 percent interest on EPF dues, and 6 percent interest on salary arrears within three months – Identification process closed with 12-month window for claimants to approach Nodal Officers.

Civil Law - Matrimonial Law - Constitution of India 1950 - Article 142 - Divorce by mutual consent - Parties married on 04.12.2016 and separated in 2022 - Numerous civil and criminal cases pending between parties and family members - Mediation failed - Husband moved application under Article 142 for dissolution of marriage and quashing of proceedings - Parties agreed to mutual consent divorce and settlement - Wife received permanent alimony enhanced to Rs.3500000 by Court suggestion - Held - Marriage is dead and reconciliation is impossible - Decree of divorce granted and all pending litigation quashed to do complete justice - [Paras 1-28].

Criminal Law - Quashing of Proceedings - Constitution of India 1950 - Article 142 - Exercise of inherent powers - Multiple criminal complaints including Section 498A IPC pending between parties - Court observed that settlements in matrimonial matters should end multiple legal proceedings - Held - In view of mutual consent divorce and settlement of all claims all pending criminal and civil cases between parties stand quashed - [Paras 19-26].

Evidence Law - Permanent Alimony - Hindu Marriage Act 1955 - Section 13-B - Quantum of maintenance - Petitioner suffering from ailments and dependent on father - Respondent agreed to pay Rs.3500000 as full and final settlement - Held - Amount is sufficient to meet requirements of petitioner and respondent is directed to pay in specified tranches - [Paras 10-14].

Decision: Application under Article 142 allowed – Marriage dissolved by decree of divorce – All pending cases between the parties stand quashed – Parties directed not to file fresh cases against each other.

Civil Law - Maritime Law - Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act 2017 - Section 5 - Sister-ship arrest - Appellant-owner challenged arrest of vessel based on default of demise charterer Nereides - High Court initially sustained arrest relying on foreign precedents holding that demise charter status continues until physical repossession - Supreme Court held that termination notice under Clause 31 of BIMCO BARECON 2017 charterparty validly ended the demise charter status and effectively altered the character of possession to that of a gratuitous bailee under Clause 32 - Held - Termination is effective upon service of notice and physical repossession is not a condition precedent to the termination of the demise charterer's status - Consequently the foundational premise for arrest under Section 5 of the Act was displaced - Appeal allowed and order of arrest vacated - [Paras 1-47].

Civil Law - Contract Law - Interpretation of commercial documents - BIMCO BARECON 2017 charterparty - Clause 31 and 32 - Termination and Repossession - Owner served termination notice due to non-payment of hire - Charterer acknowledged termination and status as bailee - Respondent sought arrest of vessel asserting that demise charterer status continues until physical repossession - Supreme Court held that to interpret the contract otherwise would hold the owner's right of termination hostage to the charterer's own default - Clauses must be interpreted to give effect to the commercial intent of the parties - Held - Termination under Clause 31 is effective upon notice and physical repossession is a subsequent consequence - [Paras 10-43].

Decision: Appeal allowed - Impugned judgment of the High Court set aside - Order of arrest vacated.

Civil Law - Railways Act - Section 124-A - Untoward Incident - Claimants sought compensation for death of victim after falling from a train between Sabarmati and Ahmedabad Railway Stations - Railway Claims Tribunal granted compensation but High Court reversed the award citing lack of travel details and absence of a ticket - Supreme Court set aside the High Court order and restored the Tribunal's award holding that the initial burden of proving the victim was a bona fide passenger was discharged by the claimant's affidavit and that the Railways failed to rebut this evidence - Held - Principle of strict liability under Section 124-A of the Railways Act 1989 is clearly attracted - [Paras 1-13].

Civil Law - Railway Claims Tribunal Act 1987 - Section 16 - Burden of proof - Mere absence of a ticket does not negate the claim of being a bona fide passenger - Initial burden lies on the claimant to file an affidavit of relevant facts which then shifts to the Railways to prove the victim was an unauthorized passenger - High Court erred in giving undue importance to the absence of a ticket when the victim had been hospitalized for over a month - Held - On preponderance of probabilities the victim was a bona fide passenger - [Paras 9-11].

Civil Law - Railway Passengers (Manner of Investigation of Untoward Incidents) Rules 2003 - Rule 6, Rule 7 - Investigation report - Delay in conducting an investigation - Report prepared seven months after the incident is belated and cannot be relied upon to defeat a legitimate claim for compensation where the Railways failed to explain the delay - Held - Such a report cannot come in the way of the claimants - [Paras 3, 11-12].

Decision: Civil Appeal allowed - High Court order dated 15.07.2025 set aside - Tribunal award dated 17.06.2022 restored - Railways directed to satisfy the award within thirty days - Parties to bear their own costs.

Criminal Law - Rape - Indian Penal Code 1861 - Section 376 - Prosecution failed to establish charges under Section 366 IPC - Trial Court and High Court convicted appellant for rape based on partial acceptance of prosecutrix testimony - Supreme Court held that the same evidence cannot be rejected for one charge and accepted for another when the prosecution case is riddled with inconsistencies - Conduct of prosecutrix in travelling voluntarily with appellant through busy streets and intersections without raising alarm negates the claim of non-consent - Absence of injuries on the person of the prosecutrix further weakens the prosecution case - Held - Conviction unsustainable due to lack of credible evidence - Appeal allowed - [Paras 21-30].

Criminal Law - Evidence - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 114A - Presumption of absence of consent - Presumption under Section 114A applies when the prosecutrix denies consent - However - This presumption is rebuttable and cannot form the sole basis for conviction when the surrounding circumstances and the overall conduct of the victim prove that the relationship was consensual - Testimony must inspire the confidence of the court - Held - Prosecution version is a bundle of contradictions - [Paras 23-28].

Criminal Law - Credibility of Witness - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 3 - Appreciation of evidence - Partial acceptance of the statement of the prosecutrix for one charge while rejecting it for another is impermissible if the testimony is not of unimpeachable character - Conduct of parties and lack of external or internal injury consistent with forced intercourse renders the story of the prosecutrix unbelievable - Held - Immorality of an act sans credible evidence cannot justify a conviction - [Paras 28-29].

Decision: Appeal allowed - Judgment and order of the High Court and Sessions Court set aside - Appellant acquitted of the charge under Section 376 IPC.

Criminal Law - Rape and Murder - Indian Penal Code 1860 - Sections 302, 376(2)(f), 376(2)(n), 376AB and 201 - Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 - Sections 5 and 6 - Appellant step-father committed repeated sexual assault and murder of six-year-old victim by throttling - Trial Court sentenced appellant to death - High Court confirmed conviction and sentence - Supreme Court found ocular account of mother corroborated by medical evidence of fresh genital injury and homicidal death by throttling as well as phone call records - Held - conviction upheld as evidence established guilt beyond reasonable doubt through direct testimony and chain of incriminating circumstances - [Paras 1-146].

Criminal Law - Sentencing - Principles of sentencing - Sentence of death - Rarest of rare - Mitigation - Appellant had no criminal antecedents and satisfactory jail conduct - State led no evidence of incorrigibility - Psychological evaluation showed no psychopathology - Held - death sentence commuted to imprisonment for the remainder of natural life without remission because possibility of reformation was not excluded by the State - [Paras 147-205].

Evidence Law - Witness - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 134 - Solitary related witness - Mother of victim deposed against husband - Held - related witness is not synonymous with interested witness - testimony found to be reliable and corroborated in material particulars by independent medical and scientific evidence - [Paras 27-31].

Evidence Law - Dying Declaration - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 32(1) - Disclosure by victim - Victim made disclosure to mother after sexual assault and before being murdered - Held - admissible as statement relating to circumstances of transaction which resulted in death and forming part of res gestae under Section 6 of Evidence Act - [Paras 87-94].

Evidence Law - Burden of proof - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 106 - Offences within privacy of home - Appellant was only adult inmate present - Held - burden to offer plausible explanation for death in exclusive possession of accused rests upon him - failure to provide explanation adds as a link in chain of circumstances - [Paras 38-39].

Evidence Law - Expert opinion - Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 293 - Scientific reports - Admissibility of DNA report without examining author - Held - report of Government scientific expert is admissible without examination unless court thinks fit to summon expert - appellant failed to exercise right to summon at trial - [Paras 104-105].

Decision: Appeals disposed of – Conviction for all offences affirmed – Sentence of death commuted to imprisonment for the remainder of natural life without remission – Substantive sentences to run concurrently.

Criminal Law - Sentencing - Indian Penal Code 1860 - Section 302 read with Section 34 - Trial Court convicted appellants for the murder of three persons and sentenced them to life imprisonment with a specific direction to remain in prison till the rest of their life - High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence - Appellants challenged the sentencing direction before the Supreme Court - Supreme Court held that while the Trial Court is competent to award life imprisonment it lacks the authority to impose a special category sentence excluding statutory remission or commutation - Such power vests only in Constitutional Courts - Supreme Court modified the sentence to 25 years rigorous imprisonment without remission - Held - Appeal allowed in part - [Paras 1-36].

Criminal Law - Sentencing Power - Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Sections 432, 433, 434 and 435 - Trial Court cannot curtail or exclude the statutory power of remission and commutation vested in the appropriate Government - A direction by the Sessions Court that imprisonment for life shall continue till the end of the natural life of the convict is in conflict with the statutory scheme and exceeds its jurisdiction - Held - Only Constitutional Courts have the power to create a special category of sentence to bridge the gap between 14 years and death - [Paras 15-25].

Criminal Law - Legislative Intent - Indian Penal Code 1860 - Section 302 - Parliament has specifically introduced "imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life" in other provisions such as Section 376AB 376DA and 376DB but has retained Section 302 in its existing form - Courts cannot supplement the punishment prescribed by the legislature by reading such conditions into Section 302 - Held - Sessions Courts must operate within the specific punishment prescribed by the statute - [Paras 22-23].

Decision: Appeal allowed in part – Conviction under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC affirmed – Sentence of life imprisonment with the direction to remain in prison for the rest of their lives set aside and substituted with rigorous imprisonment for 25 years without the benefit of any statutory remission.

Criminal Law - Quashing of FIR - Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 - Section 10 - Allegations of sexual assault against father in the midst of custody battle - CBI investigation found the testimony of the minor victim unreliable - contradictory testimonies and lack of corroborative evidence including CCTV footage - held that FIR No 76/2024 was registered to gain advantage in custody proceedings - proceedings quashed as gross abuse of process - [Paras 33-34].

Civil Law - Guardianship and Custody - Guardians and Wards Act 1890 - Section 25 - Welfare of child - Custody granted to father after exhaustive litigation - allegation of sexual abuse against father used as a weapon to obtain custody - Court upheld father's guardianship based on best interest of child and findings of CBI report - [Paras 35-36].

Criminal Law - Misuse of process - POCSO Act 2012 - Section 22 - Growing trend of filing false and frivolous complaints under POCSO Act to settle matrimonial scores - Court took judicial notice of the 'matrimonial bouquet' of false allegations - Courts must be circumspect when POCSO allegations arise in matrimonial disputes - [Paras 37-45].

Criminal Law - Arrest - Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 - Section 35 - Guidelines for arrest in POCSO cases where matrimonial disputes exist - Mandatory engagement of expert in child and adolescent psychiatry or clinical psychology by investigating officer to aid decision on arrest - Expert report is a tool for investigation and not binding on the police - [Paras 46-63].

Decision: Civil Appeal disposed of – FIR No 76/2024 quashed – Legal custody of minor 'M' to rest with father 'R' – Matter remitted to Family Court for reintegration of child with father – Contempt Petition closed – Directions issued to police and courts regarding handling of POCSO complaints in matrimonial context.

Constitutional Law - Article 311(1) of the Constitution - Protection against removal by subordinate authority - Identification of appointing authority - Respondent appointed as Rakshak by Assistant Commandant vide Battalion Order - Removal order passed by Adjutant who held same rank as Assistant Commandant - High Court and First Appellate Court erroneously treated Call Letter issued by Commandant as appointment order - Supreme Court held that Battalion Order issued by Assistant Commandant constituted actual appointment - Removal by authority of equal rank does not violate Article 311(1) - Held - Order of removal valid - Appeal allowed - [Paras 1-26].

Service Law - Disciplinary proceedings - Principles of Natural Justice - Ex-parte enquiry - Respondent acknowledged receipt of charge-sheet and submitted response - Respondent failed to appear on date of enquiry despite notice - Disciplinary authority issued show cause notice before removal - Held - Departmental enquiry not vitiated as respondent was afforded reasonable opportunity of defence and voluntarily failed to participate - [Paras 27-28].

Service Law - Statutory interpretation - Powers of appointment and disciplinary control - Railway Protection Force Act 1957 - Section 6 and Section 9 - Railway Protection Force Rules 1959 - Rule 20 and Rule 43 - Whether power of appointment rests exclusively with Chief Security Officer - Held - Proviso to Section 6 and relevant Rules expressly permit delegation and conferment of appointment and disciplinary powers upon other superior officers including Assistant Commandant or Assistant Security Officer - [Paras 17-23].

Decision: Appeal allowed - Judgment of High Court and First Appellate Court set aside - Order of removal dated 18.03.1983 restored.