Case Briefs Archives

Right of Residence in Sister-in-law Property

Marital Discord Cannot Penalise a Sister-in-Law Who Opened Her Home in Good Faith: Delhi HC Rejects Wife’s Shared Household Claim Over Sister-in-Law’s Property

Delhi High Court ruled that a daughter-in-law cannot continue occupying her sister-in-law’s property merely because she resided there with her husband. Once the husband’s permissive right ended, she had no independent right to remain in possession.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi HC: Binding Heads of Terms Gives Rise to Bona Fide Arbitral Claim; Issues of Specific Performance and Enforceability Left to Arbitral Tribunal

In a Section 9 plea under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Court holds that the Heads of Terms constitutes a prima facie binding commercial arrangement warranting interim protection, leaving questions of enforceability and entitlement to specific performance to the arbitral tribunal.

Reassessment beyond four years under Section 147

Case Briefs Tribunals/Commissions/Regulatory Bodies

Investigation Wing Report Alone Insufficient to Sustain Section 147 Proceedings; Reassessment Beyond Four Years quashed; Deleted ₹5 Lakh Section 68 Addition: ITAT Mumbai

The Tribunal noted that where an assessment completed under Section 143(3) is sought to be reopened beyond four years, the Assessing Officer must record a specific finding that the assessee failed to disclose fully and truly all material facts.

Presiding arbitrator has no noteworthy superior role

Case Briefs High Courts

Technical Disputes Do Not Mandate a Technical Presiding Arbitrator; Tribunal May Seek Expert Assistance: Kerala HC Nominates Former Judge as Third Arbitrator

A party that initially chose a retired Judge as sole arbitrator cannot later insist that only a technical expert can adjudicate because the dispute is factual in nature — the Kerala High Court directed the KHHAC to nominate a former Judge as presiding arbitrator, leaving it open to the tribunal to seek expert assistance on technical issues.

SECP Report on Membership Records and Shareholding

Case Briefs Foreign Courts

How Are Company Membership Records and Shareholding Changes Regulated? Lahore High Court Seeks SECP Report

With several petitions concerning rectification of the Register of Members pending before it, the Lahore High Court has directed Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to explain how membership records are created, maintained, altered, and rectified under the Companies Act, 2017.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Administrative Delays in Workshop Renewals Can’t Prejudice Eligible Candidates: SC Upholds Fresh TNPSC Motor Vehicle Inspector Recruitment Process

The Court held that the candidates included in the revised list of 226 candidates acquired no vested right and must participate in the fresh selection process.

Case Briefs High Courts

Bombay HC Permits Preity Zinta to Seek Injunction to Protect Her Personality Rights from AI and Digital Misuse

The Bombay High Court granted leave to enable institution of a suit seeking protection against alleged infringement of Preity Zinta’s personality rights, copyright and reputation through AI-generated deepfakes, manipulated images, chatbot personas and other digital content disseminated online.

Kar HC quashes KERC captive verification order

Case Briefs High Courts

Karnataka High Court quashes KERC order on captive power verification; Strikes down dynamic “UQR” mechanism as contrary to Electricity Rules & SC precedent

The High Court held Clause 6.7 of the KERC Captive Verification Procedure introducing a dynamic “Unitary Qualifying Ratio” based on actual consumption contrary to Rule 3 Electricity Rules, 2005 and the proportionality benchmark laid down by the Supreme Court in Dakshin Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd. v. Gayatri Shakti Paper and Board Ltd..

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Compassionate Appointment Cannot be Kept in Abeyance by Invoking Rule Applicable Only to Financial Assistance: SC upholds Haryana Rule

Supreme Court clarified that compassionate appointment and compassionate financial assistance are distinct benefits under the Haryana Compassionate Assistance Rules, 2019, and held that Rule 23(1) cannot be invoked to defer a claim for compassionate appointment during the pendency of criminal proceedings.

Compensation for Land Acquired for Service Road

Case Briefs High Courts

Landowners Entitled to Compensation Even for Land Acquired for Service Road: Bombay High Court

The Court held that landowners are entitled to compensation for land acquired for a service road in a National Highway widening project and directed payment of the compensation amount, holding the denial of compensation for such land to be arbitrary.

Bhojshala complex temple goddess Vagdevi protected monument

Case Briefs High Courts

MP HC Examines Bhojshala’s Religious Character As On 15 August 1947 To Be A Temple Of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati); Holds It A “Protected Monument”

“The religious character of the “disputed area” of Bhojshala Complex and Kamal Maula Mosque was held to be a Temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) in the light of provisions of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.”

Medical reimbursement for non-empanelled hospitals

Case Briefs High Courts

Rejecting Reimbursement Solely Due to Non-Empanelment, Places Procedure Above Human Survival: Punjab & Haryana HC Calls for Reconsideration of Medical Reimbursement Claims

In medical emergencies where overcrowding, waiting periods and urgency compel patients to the nearest hospital regardless of empanelment status, a blanket rejection on procedural grounds violates the constitutional promise under Article 21, the Court directed independent reconsideration of each claim within four weeks with 6% interest.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

“Irreversible Stage” Test and Transfer of Winding-Up Proceedings to NCLT Under S. 434 Companies Act Revisited: Supreme Court Issues Notice

The Calcutta High Court had held that, since no irreversible or irretrievable stage had been reached and the appellant’s unpaid claim could still be pursued before the NCLT, interference with Company Court’s order was unwarranted.

Title Suit Not Barred by Constructive Res Judicata

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Constructive Res Judicata Cannot Bar Title Suit When Right Was Not Previously Under Threat: Supreme Court

A man who had owned land since childhood under a 1960 deed was nearly stripped of his entire property through a doctrine designed to prevent re-litigation, the Supreme Court stepped in, holding that constructive res judicata cannot be used to produce harsh or inequitable consequences.

advocates welfare health insurance annual premium Jharkhand

Case Briefs High Courts

Jharkhand HC: State’s Undertaking on ₹6,000 Annual Premium for Advocates’ Health Insurance Binding; Non-Publication of Resolution in Official Gazette No Bar to Implementation

Jharkhand High Court, in a petition concerning welfare measures for practising advocates, observed that State resolutions and budgetary allocations for health insurance were already in place, and held that the reliefs prayed for stood substantially worked out.

₹10 Beer Overcharge Leads to ₹25000 Consumer Win

Case Briefs Tribunals/Commissions/Regulatory Bodies

₹10 overcharge on beer bottle costs KSBC ₹25,000: DCDRC Holds That Charging Beyond Printed MRP Amounts to Unfair Trade Practice

A Government-owned liquor retailer cannot rely on internal pricing directions to charge above the MRP printed on a packaged commodity, the printed MRP is the statutory ceiling the consumer is entitled to rely on at the point of sale, and the burden to prove any R. 18(3) exception lies on the seller.

Case Briefs High Courts

Gauhati High Court Reduces NDPS Conviction from Commercial to Intermediate Quantity Due to Lack of Proof of Joint Possession

The Court altered the conviction from Section 20(b)(ii)(C) to Section 20(b)(ii)(B), NDPS Act, after the prosecution failed to prove joint possession of the total quantity of ganja recovered under 2 seizure lists and, treating the seizures separately and below commercial quantity.

imprisonment in default of fine Section 138 NI

Case Briefs High Courts

Imprisonment in Default of Fine is Coercive, Not Punitive: Karnataka High Court Orders Release of Convict in Section 138 NI Act Case

In the present case, the petitioner was convicted in three separate cheque dishonour cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act arising from a single loan transaction and was sentenced to pay substantial fines, with three months’ simple imprisonment in default in each case.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Procedural irregularity in final appointment process cannot invalidate fair recruitment: SC directs Haryana Cooperative Society to reconsider employees’ appointments

The present appeal presents an important question concerning the delicate balance between strict adherence to statutory recruitment norms and the constitutional obligation of courts to ensure fairness where employees, appointed through a duly initiated public selection process and having rendered long years of unblemished service, face the prospect of displacement on account of procedural defects allegedly attributable not to them but to the authorities conducting the recruitment.

Case Briefs Tribunals/Commissions/Regulatory Bodies

NCLT Kolkata Holds Title Disputes Over Property Cannot be Decided Under Section 60(5) IBC

Section 18(1)(f)(vi) IBC empowers the resolution professional to take control and custody of any asset over which the corporate debtor has ownership rights as reflected in its balance sheet, information utility, depository of securities, or any other registry recording ownership of assets, including assets subject to the determination of ownership by a court or authority.