Editor, Author at SCC Times

Whether Customs Act creates a first charge, overriding the charge in favour of secured creditor? SC answers

“Provisions in the Customs Act, 1962 do not negate or override the statutory preference in terms of Section 529A of the Companies Act, 2013”.

Case Briefs High Courts

Composite trade marks not to be dissected to determine deceptive similarity, comparison to be made as a whole: Delhi High Court

“The plaintiff's mark and the defendants' mark are composite trade marks, which imply that they are a combination of different elements, and their registration willd not grant an exclusive right in the word ‘d mart'.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

‘Criminal antecedents of accused cannot be sole consideration to decline quashment of proceedings’; SC Observes

“FIR in a criminal case is an extremely vital and valuable piece of evidence for the purpose of corroborating the oral evidence adduced at the trial and the delay in the registration of the FIR, by itself, cannot be a ground for quashing of the FIR”.

transfer of property act genuine transaction sham transaction

Cases Reported Never Reported Judgments

Never Reported Judgment| Price paid less than market value in transfer of property cannot convert a genuine transaction into a sham one [(1952) 1 SCC 127]

“This report covers the Supreme Court’s Never Reported Judgment dating back to the year 1952 on Transfer of Property Act, 1882.”

High Court Round Up Legal RoundUp

HIGH COURT AUGUST 2023 WEEKLY ROUNDUP| Stories on Sex reassignment surgery; Banke Bihari Ji Temple; Misuse of Section 498A IPC; Gold Import and more

A quick legal roundup to cover important stories from all High Courts this week.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Premature Release of Convicts | SC discusses judicial involvement in Grant of Remission

“If the view of the Presiding Judge, based on the judicial record, is mechanically followed, then the discretion of the executive empowered with execution of the sentence, would be denuded of its content”.

Case Briefs High Courts

Contractual female employees cannot be denied maternity benefits solely due to nature of employment; Delhi HC directs DSLSA to grant maternity benefit to its advocate

“ It is ironic that the petitioner being appointed with the Juvenile Justice Board, is hired to protect the interest and welfare of the children who may be suffering at the hands of criminal justice system, however, is not able to secure the benefits that are necessary for the best interest and welfare of her own child.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Liberty Footwear v. Liberty Shoes : Delhi High Court dismisses the petition for the want of jurisdiction

“District Court, Karnal where the first petition was filed pertaining to the Agreement in question alone shall have jurisdiction over the arbitral proceedings and all subsequent applications arising out of the Licence Agreement. No other Court can entertain any subsequent application.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court directs VAT Authorities to process Flipkart’s VAT refund along with interest

A pre-deposit does not partake the character of a tax or duty. Those are sums which are deposited by an assessed solely for the purposes of pursuing the remedy of appeal.

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Serious constitutional, administrative issues’; Delhi HC requests Attorney General for India’s assistance in a petition challenging appointment of Junior Judicial Assistants

“This Court opines that the present writ petition raises serious constitutional and administrative issues and requests the Attorney General for India to assist this Court as amicus curiae on the next date of hearing.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Dissenting Opinion in Arbitration cannot be treated as an award if majority award is set aside: Supreme Court

“Dissenting opinion of arbitrators might provide useful clues during procedural issues, which forms a critical part when the hearings are challenged”.

Case Briefs High Courts

‘DATAPAQ’ as a whole is a registered trade mark, no exclusivity is vested in ‘DATA’ or ‘PAQ’ separately: Delhi High Court

“The appellant's mark ‘DATAPAQ' has been registered in a large number of countries and the appellant has a number of marks ending with ‘PAQ '. Thus, the mark is consistent with the series of marks being used by the appellant.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Principal Amount should be static; Arbitral Tribunal cannot add pre-reference interest to the principal amount: Delhi High Court

“The interest awarded for that period could not have been subjected to a further levy of interest running through the period during which proceedings remained pending before the tribunal.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Rajasthan High Court appoints sole arbitrator where performance security was forfeited without considering force majeure clause

“The Court exercised the powers conferred under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and appointed, Jai Prakash Narayan Purohit, Retired Additional District Judge, as the sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute between the parties.”

Case Briefs Tribunals/Commissions/Regulatory Bodies

“‘Works Contracts’ leviable to service tax only from July 2012 onwards”; Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai

“After the insertion of Section 65B (54) in the Finance Act 1994, from 01-07-2012 onwards, the definition of ‘works contract’ was expanded to include repair and maintenance services of movable properties. Hence, the composite contracts for repair and maintenance of motor vehicles are leviable to service tax from said date.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court Ruling on the Principles governing issuance of Writ of Certiorari: All you need to know

“The purpose of certiorari is only to confine the inferior tribunals within their jurisdiction, so as to avoid the irregular exercise, or the non-exercise or the illegal assumption of it and not to correct errors of finding of fact or interpretation of law committed by them in the exercise of powers vested in them under the statute”.

Case Briefs High Courts

Excessive drinking habit by the husband amounts to mental cruelty against wife and the entire family: Chhattisgarh High Court

“The concept of maintenance grant was to ensure that the wife and the children of the husband were not left in a state of destitution after the divorce .”

Case Briefs High Courts

Orissa HC quashes criminal proceedings against issueless woman accused of buying female infant

“Continuance of the criminal proceedings against the accused without any acceptable evidence would be a travesty of justice and an abuse of the process of the Court”.

Know thy Judge

Know Thy Judge | Supreme Court of India: Justice Sanjay Karol

Justice Sanjay Karol served the High Courts of Tripura and Patna as Chief Justice before his elevation as a Supreme Court Judge on 06-02-2023.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Explained | SC sets aside Orissa HC’s order for extending superannuation age of CCRAS Research Assistant equivalent to AYUSH doctors

“While granting interim relief for continuation in service, the Court or Tribunal should, therefore, be slow and circumspect, unless prima facie evidence of unimpeachable character was produced because if the public servant succeeds, he can always be compensated. But if he fails, he would have enjoyed undeserved benefit of extended service and merely caused injustice to his immediate junior”.