“Women are subject to a patriarchal mindset that regards them as primary caregivers and homemakers and thus, they are burdened with an unequal share of family responsibilities. Measures to ensure substantive equality for women factor in not only those disadvantages which operate to restrict access to the workplace but equally those which continue to operate once a woman has gained access to the workplace.”
Justice Dr. DY Chandrachud
SK Nausad Rahaman v. Union of India
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All India Bar Exams| From 1/4th negative marking to limiting the validity of Bar exam for three years; SC issues notice to BCI to respond to suggestions
“The right to practice a profession, also being a fundamental right, a balance has to be maintained between the same and the requirement to monitor the legal profession for its better ethics.”
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POCSO| Is investigation of disclosure of victim’s identity permissible without Magistrate’s permission? SC gives split verdict
The bench of Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari, JJ has given split verdict on the issue as to whether the Special Court is debarred from taking cognizance of an offence under Section 23 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) and obliged to discharge the accused under Section 227 CrPC, only because of want of permission of the jurisdictional Magistrate to the police, to investigate into the offence.
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Supreme Court fixes outer limit for claiming COVID-19 death compensation; Claims to be filed within 90 days from now on
The Court agreed with the submission that by now all genuine claimants must have approached the authorities by establishing their claims and that if there is no outer time limit fixed, then the process of receiving the claims would go endless and, in that case, there is all possibility of submitting false claims.
Women burdened with an unequal share of family responsibilities yet discriminated at workplace; State must consider family life while framing any policy
Speaking about the systemic discrimination on account of gender at the workplace which encapsulates the patriarchal construction that permeates all aspects of a woman’s being from the outset, including reproduction, sexuality and private choices, within an unjust structure, the bench of Dr. DY Chandrachud* and Vikram Nath, JJ has observed that it becomes necessary for the Government to adopt policies through which it produces substantive equality of opportunity as distinct from a formal equality for women in the workplace.
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Issue of accommodation in a Domestic Violence dispute between husband and wife shall not affect landlord’s right to get possession of his property
The Court was hearing an appeal against the Delhi High Court verdict [2021 SCC OnLine Del 2109] wherein the Trial Court’s order granting the possession of the suit property on favour of the landlord was upheld. The appellant wife, in the present case, had challenged the Trail Court’s order on the ground that her husband should provide her accommodation as per the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
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‘IBC’s object is not to kill the company’; Builder’s Insolvency Proceedings closed as 82 out of 128 home buyers choose possession over refund/compensation
“If the original applicants and the majority of the home buyers are not permitted to close the CIRP proceedings, it would have a drastic consequence on the home buyers of real estate project.”
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Permanent Injunction can’t be granted against true owner once the title dispute is settled
Supreme Court reverses three concurrent findings.
EXPLAINED
Can voluntary retiree seek retrospective promotion as a matter of right?
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7-year-old’s “brutal” rape and murder: SC commutes Death sentence; No premature release/remission during 30 years’ LI as “conscience of the society cannot be ignored”
“The heinous nature of crime like that of present one, in brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl child, definitely discloses aggravating circumstances, particularly when the manner of its commission shows depravity and shocks the conscience. But,…”
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Refusal to continue to execute a contract unless reciprocal promises are performed by the other party is not abandonment of contract
“A party to a contract may abandon his rights under the contract leading to a plea of waiver by the other party, but there is no question of abandoning an obligation.”
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Where post import, factum of sale isn’t disputed, no exemption from market fee can be claimed under Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing Act of 1966
“It is the sale within the market area that attracts levy of market fee, and not the first purchase that was outside the market area.”
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Confiscation of Truck loaded with cow progeny despite acquittal in criminal proceedings amounts to arbitrary deprivation of property
“…to deprive any person of their property, it is necessary for the State, inter-alia, to establish that the property was illegally obtained or is part of the proceeds of crime or the deprivation is warranted for public purpose or public interest.”
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Promotion cannot be granted retrospectively to give benefit and seniority from the date of notional vacancy
The bench of Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh*, JJ has observed that a right to promotion and subsequent benefits and seniority would arise only with respect to the rules governing the said promotion, and not a different set of rules which might apply to a promoted post facilitating further promotion which is governed by a different set of rules.
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Supreme Court lays down detailed guidelines for leave to defend in summary suits
Grant of leave to defend is the ordinary rule and denial is an exception.
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APMCs liable to pay service tax under the category of ‘renting of immovable property service’
“In a taxing statute, it is the plain language of the provision that has to be preferred”.
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Consent award cannot be the basis to determine compensation in other acquisition, especially, when there are other evidences on record
In case of a consent award, one is required to consider the circumstances under which the consent award was passed and the parties agreed to accept the compensation at a particular rate.
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“A bus by bus, a mini-bus by mini-bus and not bus by a mini-bus” isn’t a correct way to interpret the expression “same nature”
The Division Bench comprising of K.M. Joseph and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha*, JJ., held that Rule 174(2)(c) of the Kerala Motor Vehicle Rules,1989 is valid and salutary and does not go beyond the scope of Section 83 of the MV Act, 1988. While interpreting the expression “same nature” the Bench observed that such expressions are better kept open ended to enable courts to subserve the needs of changing circumstances.
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Clarification vis-à-vis substantial alteration of commercial agreement; SC considers legality of retrospective application of modifications in agreement
The Division Bench comprising of Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S. Oka, JJ., held that a modification changing tariff for inadvertent drawal from temporary supply rate to the regular supply rate cannot be considered to be a mere clarification and is rather a substantial alteration which cannot be made applicable retrospectively.
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Withdrawal of Inter-Commissionerate Transfers not invalid but Recruitment Rules 2016 may be revisited to accommodate posting of spouses, disabled persons and compassionate grounds
The bench of Dr. DY Chandrachud* and Vikram Nath, JJ has upheld the Kerala High Court verdict that had held that the Central Excise and Customs Commissionerates Inspector (Central Excise, Preventive Officer and Examiner) Group ‘B’ Posts Recruitment Rules 2016 (RR 2016) withdrawing the Inter-Commissionerate Transfers (ICTs) is not invalid as ICTs would violate the unique identity of each cadre envisaged under Rule 5 of RR 2016.
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Is Railway’s decision to disqualify persons with history of lasik surgery for the post of constables (RPF) just and reasonable?
Supreme Court directs constitution of experts committee to answer.
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Eligibility Criteria fixed by UGC must be followed by all Universities
“… prescribing the eligibility criteria shall not be left to the sweet will of the search committee. It may lead to arbitrariness and different search committees in absence of any statutory guidelines and/or prescription, may prescribe different eligibility criteria.”
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HC spends 9 months on deciding appeal from an ‘unappealable’ adjournment order. SC imposes Rs. 5 Lakhs exemplary cost on litigant for wasting ‘precious judicial time’
“Such unwarranted proceedings at the behest of the parties who can afford to bear the expenses of such litigations, must be discouraged.”
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SC reiterates the duties of Competent Authority and Court while issuing and testing externment orders
“An Order of Externment is an extraordinary measure which should be used sparingly”.
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Declaration under the Income Declaration Scheme cannot lead to non-declarant’s immunity from taxation
The protection given, is to the declarant, and for a limited purpose.
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OLX Frauds| SC sets aside P&H HC order directing deletion and re-listing of OLX advertisements with proofs
In recent years, in Districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Palwal and Mewat, hundreds of FIRs have been registered, in which accused persons, by using OLX platform, have given various advertisements regarding sale of gold (in different form) or sale of vehicles like motorcycle or car at cheaper price or asking for professional service like architect or accountants have allured many innocent persons and thus, have committed the offence of cheating and forgery.
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[Bomikhal Flyover Collapse] Is permanent debarment of guilty contractor too harsh? What makes an order a pre-determined one? Supreme Court answers
“Merely because the show cause notice was issued after the inquiry committee report was considered and thereafter the State Government took the decision to initiate proceedings for blacklisting, that by itself it cannot be said that the order of blacklisting was predetermined as observed by the High Court.”
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Murder convict seeks remission of sentence on the ground of being 100% visually impaired. Can disability be a ground for remission? SC answers
The appellant had contended that since he is visually impaired to the extent of suffering permanently from 100% blindness and that was not a result of any voluntary act of the prisoner, the aforementioned provision would come to his aid for consideration of his case for release from serving out the remaining sentence.
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SC allows RPSC to go ahead with RAS Mains Exam; Candidates challenging Pre exam result allowed to sit in Mains
In a breather to the candidates challenging the RAS Pre-examination result, the bench of KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, JJ has confirmed the Rajasthan High Court’s division bench directing Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) to go ahead with the RAS/RTS Combined Competitive Examination-2021 mains examination. It has, however, allowed the 243 candidates, who had approached the Courts, to sit in the Mains Examination to be conducted on March 20-21, 2022.
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‘Business to business’ dispute not a consumer dispute
The bench of L. Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai*, JJ interpreted the true scope of a “consumer” in terms of Section 2(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and has held that the ‘business to business’ disputes cannot be construed as consumer disputes.
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Frivolous petitions defeating the noble object behind PILs and burdening SC and HCs; Bonafides of Litigants must be examined carefully
“Although the jurisprudence of Public Interest Litigation has matured, many claims filed in the Courts are sometimes immature.”
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Mere allegation of bias is not fatal to disciplinary inquiry unless supported by materials
Non-supply of demanded documents is not sufficient to challenge a disciplinary inquiry unless it is showed what prejudice has been caused due to non-supply.
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Law on filing false affidavit: Can defaulter get benefit of equity? Read what made the Supreme Court reverse concurrent findings of Courts
“Once an affidavit has been filed which is on the face of it false to the knowledge of the executants, no benefit can be claimed on the ground that delivery of possession was given.”
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‘Lotteries’ a species of ‘betting and gambling’; States Legislatures competent to levy tax
High Courts of Kerala and Karnataka were wrong in holding so as the Legislatures of the State of Karnataka and Kerala were fully competent to enact the impugned Acts and levy taxes on the activity of ‘betting and gambling’ being organised and conducted in the said respective States, including lotteries conducted by the Government of India or the Government of any State.
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Interchangeability of unfilled posts of SC/ST category can be done only by the department concerned, not by appointing authority
Also, rejection of claims of appellants by the departmental authorities relying upon wrong instructions or mentioning incorrect fact of withdrawal of Policy letter would not confer any right to appellants to claim the reliefs.
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Trap party recovers tainted currency notes from Tax Officer accused of demanding bribe. Supreme Court acquitted the officer in spite of proved recovery
In an interesting case relating to corruption, the Division Bench of Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S. Oka*, JJ., acquitted a Commercial Tax Officer in spite of proved recovery of tainted currency notes from her. The Bench observed that though the recovery was proved in the absence of demand being conclusively proved conviction cannot be made under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the PC Act.
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Borrower’s offer to pay Rs.71 lakhs as a purchaser of mortgaged property will not discharge him from entire outstanding liability of approx 1.8 crores
The Division Bench of M. R. Shah* and Sanjiv Khanna, JJ., held that the entire liability outstanding against the borrower could not be discharged on making the payment i.e. Rs.65.65 lakhs against the total dues Rs.1,85,37,218.80 and that the Division Bench of the High Court had erred in directing to release the mortgaged property/secured property and to handover the possession along with the original title deeds to the borrower on payment of a total sum of Rs.65.65 lakhs only.
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Irregular Disciplinary Enquiry: Court cannot reinstate employee as such; Matter must be remanded to Enquiry Officer/Disciplinary Authority
In a case where it is found that the enquiry is not conducted properly and/or the same is in violation of the principles of natural justice, the Court cannot reinstate the employee as such and the matter is to be remanded to the Enquiry Officer/Disciplinary Authority to proceed further with the enquiry from the stage of violation of principles of natural justice is noticed.
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How will the higher Court know why review jurisdiction was exercised? Courts must mention what was that error apparent on the face of the record
“Unless such reasons are given and unless what was that error apparent on the face of the record is stated and mentioned in the order, the higher forum would not be in a position to know what has weighed with the Court while exercising the review jurisdiction and what was that error apparent on the face of the record.”
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Arakonam Naval Station dispute: Supreme Court puts a stop to over 3 decades long commercial dispute
“By going into the minute details of the evidence led before the learned Sole Arbitrator with a magnifying glass and the findings returned thereon, the Appellate Court has clearly transgressed the limitations placed on it.”
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Is amount spent by pharmaceutical companies in gifting freebies to the doctors “business expenditure” under IT Act when act of accepting freebies by doctors is an offence? SC answers
“…the statutory regime requiring that a thing be done in a certain manner, also implies (even in the absence of any express terms), that the other forms of doing it are impermissible.”
Supreme Court Cases
2022 SCC Vol. 1 Part 2
In this part, read a very pertinent decision of the Supreme Court, Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC v. Future Retail Ltd., 2021 SCC OnLine SC 557 wherein while holding that an award passed by Emergency Arbitrator is enforceable under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, a Division Bench of R.F. Nariman and B.R. Gavai, JJ. has ruled in favour of Amazon in the infamous Future-Amazon dispute. It has been held that the interim award in favour of Amazon, passed by the Emergency Arbitrator appointed under the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre is enforceable under the Indian Arbitration Act.
2022 SCC Vol. 1 Part 3
In this part read the Supreme Court decision in Jaypee Kensington Boulevard Apartments Welfare Association v. NBCC (India) Ltd.,(2022) 1 SCC 401, wherein the Court while the Adjudicating authority has the authority to disapprove the resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC), it cannot modify the same.
2022 SCC Vol. 2 Part 1
In this part read a very important matter, wherein a relative committed rape on the prosecutrix and none of the family members believed her and in fact beat her up when she narrated the incident, Supreme Court found it unfortunate that even the sister-in-law (Jethani) and mother-in-law though being women did not support the prosecutrix. [Phool Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 1153]
2022 SCC Vol. 2 Part 2