Read four articles and nine significant decisions of Supreme Court in Part 5 of 2022 SCC Volume 3.
Appointment of Arbitrators: In this article, the author discusses the issue of validity of party appointed arbitrators in the case of multi-arbitrator tribunals, such as a three-member Arbitral Tribunal. Unilateral Appointment of Arbitrators: Unfairness and Unequal Treatment of the Parties by Shamik Sanjanwala, (2022) 3 SCC (J-32)]
Arbitration Act, 1940 — Ss. 30, 33 and 39 — Arbitral award — Scope of interference with, by Court — Law summarized: Once arbitrator had interpreted clauses of contract by taking a possible view and had gone to great lengths to analyse several reasons offered by appellant claimant to justify its plea that it was entitled to extension of time to execute the contract, Division Bench of High Court under S. 39 ought not to have sat over said decision as an appellate court seeking to substitute its view for that of the arbitrator. [Atlanta Ltd. v. Union of India, (2022) 3 SCC 739]
Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Ss. 11 and 34: Award passed by an arbitrator appointed under 1996 Act by Court with consent of parties despite the existence of M.P. Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 is binding, when the same attains finality i.e. is not appealed against. Subsequent invocation of arbitration under the 1983 Act regarding identical claims i.e. after an award has already been rendered by the arbitrator appointed under 1996 Act is not permissible. [M.P. Housing and Infrastructure Development Board v. K.P. Dwivedi, (2022) 3 SCC 783]
Child Sexual Assault: This article aims to briefly discuss various nuances of child sexual abuse as adjudicated in some important judgments to illuminate relevant substantive and procedural notions of the POCSO Act. In addition, with the help of recent global trends based on judicial interpretation and legal research, few submissions have also been culled out to reinforce the legal regime on CSA in India. “Skin-To-Skin” Touch for Defining Child Sexual Assault: Interpretational Vagaries of the POCSO Provisions by Dr G.K. Goswami & Aditi Goswami (2022) 3 SCC (J-16)]
Constitution of India — Art. 226 — Interference with award of Industrial Tribunal — Permissibility — Extent of: In absence of any jurisdictional error or violation of natural justice or error of law apparent on face of record, interference by High Court in merits of controversy as appellate court, impermissible. [Indian Overseas Bank v. Om Prakash Lal Srivastava, (2022) 3 SCC 803]
Constitution of India — Arts. 19, 14 and 21: Law summarised regarding when proportionality test to be applied for determining reasonableness of restrictions or limitations on the rights concerned, specifically in the context of Art. 19(6) and more generally under Arts. 14 and 21. [Akshay N. Patel v. RBI, (2022) 3 SCC 694]
Foreword to Law of Writs: Foreword to V.G. Ramachandran’s Law of Writs (Eastern Book Company, 7th Edn., 2022) by Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah. Foreword to Law of Writs by Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah (2022) 3 SCC (J-1)]
Insurance — Contract of Insurance/Policy/Terms/Cover Note — Duties of parties/Uberrima Fides/Uberrimae Fidei/Claim to Insurance money/Insurer’s liability: The duties of the insured and insurer to disclose all material facts at contract formation/pre-contract stage or renewal stage, held, include the duty of the insurer or its agent to notify the insured of any material change(s) in the policy terms at the pre-contract or renewal stage. Thus, held, insurer cannot contend that the insured were under an obligation to enquire into and satisfy themselves in respect thereof, if a new term/modified term had been introduced in the policy at the renewal stage. This duty of the insurer to disclose material terms/new or altered terms at the pre-contract or renewal stage, is all the more onerous where insurance policies are in standard form and consumers hardly have any choice in the matter or any power to negotiate alteration of the terms of the policy. [Jacob Punnen v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., (2022) 3 SCC 655]
Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — S. 54, 23(1-A) and 18 — Additional compensation: Interference with award of additional compensation, by Reference Court in exercise of its power under S. 18, when permissible, explained. [Ambalal Babulal Patel v. ONGC, (2022) 3 SCC 691]
Registration Act, 1908 — Ss. 17(1)(e), 17(1)(b) and 17(2)(v): Award or document providing for effectuating a division of joint family properties in the future, held, fell under S. 17(2)(v) and was thus exempt from compulsory registration. Test in such a case is whether document/award itself creates an interest in a specific immovable property or merely creates a right to obtain another document of title. If a document/award does not by itself create a right or interest in immovable property, but merely creates a right to obtain another document, which will, when executed create a right in the person claiming relief, the former document does not require registration and is accordingly admissible in evidence. [K. Arumuga Velaiah v. P.R. Ramasamy, (2022) 3 SCC 757]
Service Law — Promotion — Incentive Scheme/Financial Upgradation — Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme: In this case, it was held that Cl. 8.1 of the Scheme stipulated that on implementation of Sixth CPC’s recommendations, grade pay of Rs 5400 would be in two bands viz. PB-2 and PB-3 which would be treated as separate grade pays for grant of upgradation under the MACP Scheme. R-1 and R-2 erroneously granted grade pay of Rs 6600 for PB-3 under the MACP Scheme, which was later modified/corrected as GP of Rs 5400 as per Cl. 8.1. The High Court by impugned judgment granted grade pay of Rs 6600 to respondents, which was held not sustainable. [Enforcement Directorate v. K. Sudheesh Kumar, (2022) 3 SCC 649]
Service Law — Reinstatement/Back Wages/Arrears — Reinstatement with back wages — Entitlement to — Principles summarized — Wrongful termination — Entitlement to back wages: Denial of back wages to appellant CA, whose termination was found unjustified, not proper. [Pradeep v. Manganese Ore (India) Ltd., (2022) 3 SCC 683]
Waiver of the Right to Object under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996: This article seeks to trace the origin of Section 4 of the A&C Act and to analyse it in the context of the other provisions of the Act and recent judgments of the courts in India. Section I sets out chronologically the discussions of the States in an attempt to provide the context in which Article 4 of the Model Law came to be introduced. Against the background set out in Section I, Section II analyses the text of Section 4 of the A&C Act and the conditions governing its application with a focus on the interplay between Section 4 and other provisions of the Act. By analysing Section 4 of the A&C Act in light of the judgments of the courts in India, these sections hope to provide an insight into the functioning of Section 4 of the A&C Act and if it is in fact furthering its objective of efficiency. Waiver Of The Right To Object Under The Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996 by Medha Rao and C.K. Nandakumar, (2022) 3 SCC (J-4)]