Constitutional Law - Election Law - Constitution of India 1950 - Article 171 - Representation of the People Act 1950 - Section 27 - Voting rights of nominated members - High Court declared inclusion of nominated members in electoral roll of Local Authorities Constituency as unconstitutional and directed recount excluding their votes - Appellants challenged the order arguing nominated members fall under the expression every member and finality of electoral rolls prevents such challenge - Supreme Court analyzed the constitutional transformation under Part IX A focusing on democratic local self government - Court held that Article 243R explicitly bars nominated members from voting in municipal meetings - Extending voting rights to them in Legislative Council elections would dilute democratic representation and contradict constitutional intent - Court ruled that only democratically elected representatives with voting rights in local authorities can form the electoral college - Inclusion of nominated members being void ab initio materially affected the election result where margin of victory was 6 votes against 12 invalid votes - Held - High Court rightly ordered recount segregating invalid votes - Appeals dismissed - [Paras 21-50].

Writ Law - Election Law - Constitution of India 1950 - Article 226 - Maintainability of writ petition - Challenge to electoral roll prior to election - Appellants raised preliminary objection that writ petitions were barred due to alternative statutory remedies under Representation of the People Acts - Supreme Court noted that the challenge went to the root composition of the electoral college and not merely the conduct of elections - Controversy involved pure questions of constitutional and statutory interpretation without disputed facts - Statutory appellate mechanism under Section 27 of 1950 Act was illusory as the Electoral Registration Officer was also the appellate authority - Held - Existence of alternative remedy is a rule of discretion and does not bar writ jurisdiction when the remedy is ineffective or the issue is a pure question of law - Writ petitions were maintainable - [Paras 22-26].

Election Law - Finality of Electoral Rolls - Representation of the People Act 1951 - Section 100 - Appellants argued that once electoral roll is finalized it cannot be questioned in an election petition except on limited grounds - Supreme Court distinguished precedents dealing with ordinary mistakes or irregularities in electoral rolls - Court held that inclusion of constitutionally ineligible voters is void ab initio and affects the basic composition of the electoral college - Principle of finality ensures certainty but cannot override the Constitution or validate participation of ineligible persons - Held - Constitutional violations in electoral rolls can be challenged and remedied in collateral proceedings - [Paras 39-42].

Election Law - Secrecy of Ballot - Segregation of void votes - Appellants contended that segregating votes of nominated members violates ballot secrecy - Supreme Court held that ballot secrecy is not absolute and cannot sustain a constitutional illegality - Higher constitutional objective is preservation of free and fair elections and purity of electoral process - Returning Officer confirmed possibility of segregating void votes by comparing ballot papers counterfoils and marked copies of electoral rolls - Held - Direction for recount excluding void votes does not improperly invade individual voting preferences but is a necessary exercise to remove illegality - [Paras 45-46].

Decision: Appeals dismissed – Registry directed to transmit the sealed cover containing the recount report and the revised result to the Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka forthwith – Respondent authorities directed to take appropriate steps as per the High Court order within 30 days.

Civil Law - Probate - Limitation Act 1963 - Article 137 - Indian Succession Act 1925 - Sections 222 and 276 - Application for probate of Will dated 15 April 1995 filed by executor in 2005 - District Court rejected application under Order VII Rule 11 CPC as being barred by limitation since testator died in 1995 - High Court of Jharkhand affirmed the rejection citing unexplained delay - Supreme Court set aside both orders - Held - ISA does not provide a limitation period for probate applications - Article 137 of Limitation Act 1963 applies - The right to apply for probate is a continuous right - The three-year limitation period under Article 137 begins when the right to apply accrues - Such right accrues when it becomes necessary to apply which is not necessarily the date of the testator death - In this case the need to apply arose when respondents took hostile action via General Power of Attorney on 8 August 2005 - Application filed on 31 August 2005 was within limitation - [Paras 1-6, 8].

Civil Law - Rejection of Plaint - Code of Civil Procedure 1908 - Order VII Rule 11 - Limitation - Mixed question of law and fact - Objectors filed application for rejection of probate petition - Lower courts adjudicated on merits regarding suspicion of Will and limitation - Supreme Court held that the scope of Order VII Rule 11 is well established - Held - Rejection of a plaint at the threshold is a drastic power and conditions for exercise are stringent - When limitation depends on the date of knowledge of essential facts it becomes a triable issue and a mixed question of law and fact - Such issues cannot be decided summarily without permitting parties to lead evidence - Adjudicating on the suspicious nature of a Will in a summary proceeding under Order VII Rule 11 is legally unsustainable - [Paras 7-8].

Decision: Appeal allowed – Orders of District Court Deoghar and High Court of Jharkhand set aside – Probate matter restored to the Civil Court for proceeding in accordance with law.

Criminal Law - Quashing of FIR - Indian Penal Code 1860 - Sections 419, 420, 201, 467, 468, 471, 120B - Inter-sibling property dispute concerning deceased father's estate - FIR No. 92/2020 registered against appellant alleging dishonest dealing with bank accounts and demat assets, impersonation, and fraudulent liquidation of shares - High Court dismissed appellant's petition to quash proceedings - Supreme Court referred matter to mediation resulting in a comprehensive settlement agreement - Terms included transfer of funds, equal division of shares and mutual funds, mutual relinquishment of rights in residential house and agricultural land, and withdrawal of all pending civil and criminal cases including FIR No. 16/2023 - Parties confirmed voluntary execution of settlement - Held - Settlement accepted by the Court - all pending proceedings, both civil and criminal, including FIR No. 92/2020 (P.S. Connaught Place, Delhi) and FIR No. 16/2023 (P.S. Sector-20, Noida), stand quashed and/or consigned to records as agreed - [Paras 3-11].

Criminal Law - Compounding of Offences - Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 482 - Quashing of FIR based on settlement - Offenses primarily arising from a family and property dispute between brother and sister - Allegations of cheating and forgery in relation to inheritance - Voluntary settlement reached through Supreme Court Mediation Centre - Held - In view of comprehensive and voluntary settlement, continuation of proceedings would serve no fruitful purpose - criminal proceedings quashed - [Paras 6-10].

Civil Law - Family Settlement - Compromise Agreement - Enforcement - Settlement arrived at through Supreme Court Mediation Centre between siblings regarding deceased father's estate - Agreement covered financial assets, immovable properties, and division of future discovered assets - Parties affirmed voluntary execution without coercion - Settlement specified terms for withdrawal of various civil suits and acknowledged arrangement as non-taxable distribution among legal heirs - Held - Settlement accepted and binding upon the parties and their future heirs - [Paras 6-9, 24-27].

Decision: Criminal Appeal disposed of – Settlement agreement accepted by the Court – All pending civil and criminal proceedings, including FIR Nos. 92/2020 and 16/2023, quashed/consigned to records – Parties directed to take necessary steps before jurisdictional courts to bring the settlement to their notice.

Criminal Law - Murder - Indian Penal Code 1860 - Sections 147, 148, 149 and 302 - Accused convicted for the murder of a victim by ambush using sharp and blunt weapons - Prosecution case rested primarily on eye-witness testimony - Supreme Court identified several infirmities including the dead body lying at the scene all night without police protection despite prompt reporting - Significant delay in conducting the inquest and a 48-hour delay in the post-mortem without explanation - Contemporaneous police records named different companions as having accompanied the complainant to the station compared to his trial testimony - FIR reached the Magistrate two days late - Medical evidence showing an empty digestive tract suggested death occurred during early morning repose rather than the afternoon as alleged - Held - Cumulative effect of the unnatural conduct of witnesses and the investigative lapses creates a reasonable doubt - Conviction set aside - [Paras 1-65].

Criminal Law - FIR Registration - Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 157 - Delay in forwarding FIR to Magistrate - FIR purportedly registered on 28th June was received by the Magistrate only on 30th June - Prompt transmission is a vital safeguard intended to avoid ante-dating or concoction of a version of events - Court observed that while delay alone is not always fatal it assumes significance when coupled with other suspicious circumstances - Held - Unexplained delay in forwarding the report along with other lapses probabilized that the FIR was a post-investigation document - [Paras 48-57].

Evidence Law - Conflict between Ocular and Medical Evidence - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 3 - Timing of death - Eye-witnesses claimed the occurrence took place at 4:30 p.m. - Post-mortem symptoms including the absence of food in the stomach and small intestine indicated that death occurred several hours after the last meal - Findings suggested death likely in the wee hours of the morning rather than the afternoon - Held - Medical findings strike at the root of the prosecution's timing and undermine the claimed presence of witnesses at the spot - [Paras 31-32, 58-60].

Decision: Appeals allowed – Judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the Trial Court and affirmed by the High Court set aside – Surviving appellants acquitted of all charges and bail bonds discharged.

Civil Law - First Appeal - Code of Civil Procedure 1908 - Section 96 - Order 41 Rule 31 - Scope of jurisdiction - Appellant filed partition suit challenging an alleged registered Will - Trial Court decreed partition holding Will not proved under Section 63 ISA - High Court in a brief two-paragraph order set aside the decree and dismissed the suit with disparaging remarks against the Trial Judge - Supreme Court held that the First Appellate Court is the final court of fact and must re-hear the case on both facts and law - High Court erred by passing a cryptic order of reversal without framing points for determination or recording its own appraisal of evidence - Held - Reversal of factual findings requires due consideration of Trial Court reasoning and recording of specific evaluation - Impugned judgment set aside and first appeal restored for fresh hearing - [Paras 1-13].

Evidence Law - Proof of Will - Indian Succession Act 1925 - Section 63 - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 68 - Genuineness of testament - Dispute regarding execution of Will by deceased mother - Trial Court found execution not proved due to lack of evidence on reading over contents to illiterate testator and non-examination of second attesting witness - High Court brushed aside these as extraneous - Supreme Court reiterated that a Will must be proved like any other document with additional requirements of proving signature - sound mind - and attestation by two witnesses - Held - High Court failed to discuss statutory requirements and judicial precedents on proving testaments - [Paras 11].

Civil Law - Judicial Discipline - Adverse Remarks - Conduct of Judges - High Court directed the Trial Judge to be sent for training and termed his judgment as lacking understanding - Supreme Court applied the Mohd. Naim principles - Held - Judicial pronouncements must maintain sobriety and moderation - Disparaging remarks against judicial officers whose conduct is not under direct scrutiny should be avoided - Remarks against the Principal Sub Judge Thrissur set aside - [Paras 12].

Decision: Appeal allowed – Impugned judgment of the High Court set aside – First appeal restored to the file of the High Court of Kerala for fresh hearing – Direction against the Principal Sub Judge set aside – No costs.

Civil Law - Declaration of title and injunction - Specific Relief Act 1963 - Section 26 - Identity of property - Plaintiff sought declaration of title over Sy. No. 162 based on a rectification deed executed in 1997 by his vendor to correct previous Sale Deeds from Sy. No. 1/4 to 162 - Original owner Thimmadasappa was not a party to this rectification - Trial Court dismissed the suit noting Plaintiff admitted in cross-examination that the two survey numbers represented distinct properties and failed to prove possession - First Appellate Court reversed the dismissal based on a conjectural comparison of boundaries - High Court affirmed the reversal by invoking Section 43 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 - Supreme Court found that the First Appellate Court and High Court traveled beyond pleadings - Held - A rectification deed cannot in the guise of correcting an error substitute the subject matter of a prior conveyance without the participation of the original transferor - Unilateral alteration cannot divest the legal heirs of the original owner of their rights flowing from a subsequent grant and partition - Judgment of High Court set aside and Trial Court decree restored - [Paras 1-45].

Civil Law - Pleadings and Relief - Code of Civil Procedure 1908 - Section 100 - Judicial Procedure - First Appellate Court and High Court granted relief based on an alleged interchange of northern and southern boundaries which was never pleaded or proved - Supreme Court emphasized that a decision cannot be based on grounds outside the pleadings - Reliance placed on Trojan & Co. Ltd. v. Nagappa Chettiar and Bachhaj Nahar v. Nilima Mandal - Held - Without an amendment of the plaint the court is not entitled to grant relief not asked for or based on a case not pleaded - Disregarding material admissions of the Plaintiff without cogent reasons rendered the lower appellate findings perverse - [Paras 19-22, 38-41].

Civil Law - Transfer of Property - Transfer of Property Act 1882 - Section 43 - Feeding the grant by estoppel - High Court invoked Section 43 for the first time in second appeal to hold that a re-grant of Inam land enures to the benefit of an earlier alienee - Held - The doctrine of feeding the grant by estoppel can only be invoked once the identity between the property transferred and the property subsequently re-granted is established - Since the Plaintiff failed to prove that Sy. No. 1/4 and Sy. No. 162 were the same parcel of land the legal consequences of Section 43 do not arise - [Paras 27-29, 40].

Civil Law - Rectification of Instruments - Specific Relief Act 1963 - Section 26 - Scope of rectification - Rectification is intended to correct an expression of a concluded bargain and remove clerical errors - Held - Rectification cannot be used to substitute one bargain for another or alter the essential subject matter of the transaction - A transferee deriving title under an instrument cannot together with his successor lawfully alter the subject matter of a conveyance executed by a third party without that party’s concurrence - [Paras 30-32].

Evidence Law - Burden of Proof - Title and Possession - Nemo dat quod non habet - Plaintiff seeking declaration of title must succeed on the strength of his own case and not the weakness of the defense - Held - Title cannot rest on surmises or probabilities - If the original owner never conveyed Sy. No. 162 the subsequent purchasers acquired no title to it - A derivative title cannot outvalue the title from which it is derived - Absence of assertion of rights or mutation of revenue records for a decade after the rectification deed further weakened the Plaintiff's case - [Paras 33-37].

Decision: Appeal succeeds and is allowed – Judgment and decree of the High Court and First Appellate Court set aside – Trial Court decree in O.S. No. 334 of 2007 dismissing the suit is restored.

Civil Law - Second Appeal - Code of Civil Procedure 1908 - Section 100 and Order XLII Rule 2 - Appellants challenged Kerala High Court judgment allowing a second appeal without formulating substantial questions of law - Trial Court had decreed the suit for title and possession of property - First Appellate Court reversed the decree citing failure to identify property and unreliability of attesting witness to a 1978 sale deed - High Court allowed Second Appeal based on its interpretation of Section 68 Evidence Act and restored Trial Court decree - Supreme Court observed that High Court committed egregious error by deciding the appeal on merits without formulating questions of law as mandatorily required under Section 100 CPC - Held - Judgment of the High Court is vitiated in law for non-compliance with the mandatory procedural requirements of Section 100 CPC - Matter remitted for de novo hearing - [Paras 1-28].

Evidence Law - Proof of Execution - Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 68 - Applicability to Sale Deeds - High Court applied Section 68 and its proviso to a registered sale deed holding that specific denial of execution required examination of attesting witnesses - Supreme Court held that Section 68 applies only to documents required by law to be attested like Wills or Gift Deeds - A sale deed governed by Section 54 Transfer of Property Act does not require attestation - Held - Section 68 of the Evidence Act as a whole has no application to a registered sale deed - The High Court misconstrued the provision - [Paras 30-40].

Interpretation of Statutes - Proviso - Principles of Construction - Function of a proviso is to qualify or provide an exception to the main enactment - It cannot be read as an independent rule or addendum dealing with subjects foreign to the main section - Proviso to Section 68 Evidence Act cannot create a rule for documents not requiring attestation - Held - Proviso must be construed harmoniously with the main enactment and cannot travel beyond its scope - [Paras 41-46].

Decision: Appeal allowed – Impugned judgment set aside – Matter remitted to the High Court for fresh hearing after formulating substantial questions of law.

Criminal Law - Transfer of Proceedings - Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 - Section 44 - Petitioner promoter of Krrish Realtech Pvt Ltd was accused of cheating homebuyers and siphoning funds - Prosecution complaint filed before Special Judge PMLA Gurugram as proceeds of crime were derived from a project situated there - Petitioner restricted prayer to transfer of PMLA case to Delhi - Scheduled offence FIR No 439/2024 Gurugram was previously clubbed with FIR No 30/2019 Delhi and transferred to Delhi by a Coordinate Bench - Part of the money laundering offence occurred in Delhi through concealment of proceeds such as cash and jewelry seized there - Court noted that under Section 44(1) PMLA both the money laundering offence and the scheduled offence should be tried by the same Special Court - Factual differences distinguished the present case from the KA Rauf Sherif precedent - Held - Expedient for the ends of justice to transfer proceedings to the Special Court at Delhi to give effect to the statutory mandate - [Paras 1-12].

Criminal Law - Territorial Jurisdiction - Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 - Sections 43 and 46 - Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 178(d) - Simultaneous jurisdiction of Special Courts - Prosecution under Section 4 PMLA may be instituted in any Special Court within whose territorial jurisdiction the proceeds of crime are derived or obtained or where they are concealed possessed or acquired - Concealment of attached proceeds at Delhi provided jurisdiction to the Delhi Special Court alongside the Gurugram Court - Section 178(d) CrPC allows inquiry and trial in any local area where several acts constituting an offence are done - Held - Delhi Court has jurisdiction as part of the offence occurred there and the scheduled offence is pending in the same territory - [Paras 8-11].

Decision: Writ petition disposed of – PMLA proceeding pending before Special Judge PMLA Gurugram Haryana directed to be transferred to the Special Judge PMLA Saket Court Complex Delhi – Prosecution to proceed from the current stage.

Civil Law - Specific Performance - Specific Relief Act 1963 - Section 23 - Bar of Relief - Appellant entered into agreement to sell land with respondent - Respondent received substantial earnest money and granted multiple extensions - Trial Court proved execution and readiness but declined specific performance citing the absence of an express enforcement clause and ordered refund of earnest money - First Appellate Court granted specific performance holding that absence of enforcement clause does not bar relief - High Court in second appeal reversed this and restored refund order citing suppression of a separate loan transaction and joint ownership as suspicious factors - Supreme Court observed that under Section 23 of the 1963 Act a named sum for breach does not prevent specific performance unless the contract gives an option of paying money in lieu of performance - Held - The refund clause was a deterrent to secure performance and not an alternative to it - High Court judgment quashed and First Appellate Court decree restored - [Paras 1-31].

Civil Law - Second Appeal - Code of Civil Procedure 1908 - Section 100 - Scope of Jurisdiction - High Court disturbed concurrent findings of fact regarding the genuineness of the transaction and execution of documents - Supreme Court held that the First Appellate Court is the final court of fact - Interference in second appeal is permissible only when findings are perverse or without evidence - High Court failed to record a finding of perversity before re-appreciating evidence - Held - High Court exceeded its jurisdiction by performing a fresh appraisal of surrounding circumstances to overturn concurrent findings - [Paras 14-27].

Civil Law - Specific Performance - Genuine Transaction - Undivided Share - High Court viewed the agreement with suspicion because it involved an undivided half share and the co-sharer brother was not a signatory - Supreme Court clarified that a transfer of an undivided share is a legally recognized and enforceable transaction - Held - The fact that the property was jointly owned has no bearing on the genuineness of the agreement to sell and does not justify declining specific performance - [Para 25].

Evidence Law - Fraud and Suppression - Suppression of Facts - Respondent alleged fraud and claimed signatures were obtained on blank papers for a travel arrangement - High Court emphasized the appellant's failure to plead a separate loan transaction - Supreme Court held that omission of a collateral financial dealing may affect credibility on peripheral matters but does not establish fraud in the execution of the primary agreement - Held - Respondent failed to prove the defence of fraud - [Paras 23-24].

Decision: Appeals allowed – Judgment and order of the High Court quashed – Judgment and decree of the First Appellate Court restored – No order as to costs.