Case Briefs Archives

‘Merely providing wrong policy number doesn’t rule out insurance company’s liability’; Jharkhand HC refuses relief to Reliance Insurance for carpenter’s death

“The claimants are not supposed to know the exact policy number, and they have gathered it from somewhere and produced it before the Motor Vehicle Accident Claim Tribunal.”

Case Briefs Tribunals/Commissions/Regulatory Bodies

‘LOCs can’t be treated as guarantee under S. 126 of Contract Act’; Arbitral Tribunal refuses liability of Zee & Essel in repaying loan given to SNL by Aditya Birla Finance

“Zee and Essel undertook to ensure that SNL would fulfil its obligations and assured that the outstanding amount would be paid. To treat the said LOCs as guarantees would amount to adding words which were not written.”

Case Briefs High Courts

MP High Court deprecates practice of Advocates filing affidavit affirming client’s factual assertions; directs Bar Association to issue guidelines

‘Fact that the appellant is falsely implicated and has not committed any crime, can’t be verified by an Advocate as he was not present at the time of incident.’

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court urges sensitization of officials and creation of more POCSO Courts to combat delays in child rape trials

“In our opinion, since the timelines have been stipulated under the POCSO Act for all stages right from the stage of Investigation up to the stage of Trial, the same must be adhered to as far as possible. Because of the inadequacy of the number of exclusive Courts for the POCSO Cases, the said timelines mandated in the Act for completion of the trials are not being maintained.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Claims can’t be bisected into arbitrable and non-arbitrable at the stage of appointment of arbitrator under Section 11 of A&C Act: Supreme Court

“The High Court erred in bisecting the claim of the appellant into two parts, one arbitrable and the other non- arbitrable, when it found arbitration agreement to be there for settlement of disputes between the parties.”

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Illegality is inherently incurable’; Bombay HC upholds demolition order against Aaryans World School, Pune for illegal structure

The Gram Panchayat’s permission/NOC has no relevance, and the required permission ought to have been obtained from the Collector in the absence of any Authority.

Case Briefs High Courts

Rajasthan High Court takes suo moto action over non-functioning of 16 Permanent Lok Adalats

The Court noted that although courts generally refrain from interfering in government policy, they are constitutionally obligated to intervene when such decisions infringe upon rights like access to justice or fair trial.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court directs High Courts to frame or amend rules for recruitment and service conditions for Court Managers; Issues directions for their regularisation

“The Court Managers having served for years, after rendering their services for such a long period, if they are not made permanent and are to be thrown away at this stage, it would cause a great hardship to them”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court urges courts to exercise suo motu powers in cases involving misleading arbitration clauses drafted by lawyers

“What is most shocking to our judicial conscience is the incontrovertible reality that the parties in the present cases have spent nigh a decade acrimoniously litigating over the method of dispute resolution itself, while their actual qualms against each other remain deeply buried under the surface—effectively stuck in limbo.”

Case Briefs High Courts

All that MP High Court said on registration of FIR against BJP Minister Vijay Shah in Col. Sofiya Qureshi Remark Case

“This is gross subterfuge on the part of the of the State. The FIR has been drawn in a manner so as to assist the suspect Mr. Vijay Shah to be able to have the FIR quashed on a later date.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Objections under S. 47 CPC not allowed in enforcement proceedings of arbitral award, allowing such objection undermines S.34 A&C Act: Delhi HC

“The provisions of CPC are only applicable to the extent of ‘enforcement’ of an award which are reflected in Order 21 of CPC. The legislature did not intend to permit a challenge an award during enforcement proceedings again on merits as it would be contrary to the objectives of the A&C Act which aims to ensure finality and limited judicial interference.”

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Doctors have no incentive to willfully endanger life in trust-driven healthcare ecosystem’; Rajasthan High Court quashes FIR alleging Medical Negligence

“The solemn obligation of the legal system is to distinguish between misfortune and culpability, and to ensure that human suffering, however profound, does not substitute for proof required under the law.”

Case Briefs High Courts

Public Information Officer neither has power nor duty to conduct an inquiry under Section 7 of Right to Information Act: Kerala High Court

“Assuming that there is negligence on the part of the petitioner to that extent, an isolated instance of negligence as alleged against the petitioner cannot be a reason to decline approval to the appointment of the petitioner as Principal which was made after a due selection process.”

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Article 20(3) of Constitution not attracted’; Bombay HC orders wife to give voice sample to verify husband’s claim of extra marital affair

The Magistrate in the matters of domestic violence has the power to adopt the procedure as per Section 28(2) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and exercise of such power depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Case Briefs High Courts

Bigamy not applicable to Muslim man under Mohammedan Law unless second marriage is void under Shariat: Allahabad High Court

Allahabad High Court highlighted that the Quran permits polygamy for just and fair reasons, but in modern times, this provision is often misused for selfish purposes.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi HC directs Saket Gokhale to publish apology to Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri; rejects sealed cover apology

The respondent was directed to publish an unconditional apology on his X (previously Twitter) Handle and in Times of India, in a time bound manner and the petitioner was held entitled to damages for a sum of Rs 50 lakhs.

Case Briefs High Courts

Cessation of employment by wife to raise her child cannot be viewed as voluntary abandonment of work; Wife entitled to maintenance: Delhi HC

The wife was previously employed as a guest teacher. However, owing to the compelling responsibilities of single-handedly raising the child coupled with the burden of long commuting hours, she had to discontinue her employment.

Case Briefs High Courts

“Systematic attempt to mint more money under PMJAY scheme”; Gujarat HC dismisses bail plea of doctor accused in Khyati Hospital Angioplasty Scandal

The Court stated that the fact remained that seven patients were forced to undergo the procedure of angioplasty without their wish and without any need in some cases. Furthermore, the material on record suggested that no proper post operational care was taken.

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Bribery strikes at root of public administration, erodes public faith in govt. institutions’; Punjab and Haryana HC rejects anticipatory bail plea of Junior Engineer

“The demand for Rs. 1000 — however modest in quantum — is not to be seen in isolation but must be viewed in light of the position held by the accused engineer and the context of the demand. The act of coercing an ordinary citizen to pay a bribe for availing a rightful service, amounts to gross misconduct.”

framing mandatory guidelines criminal appeals

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court proposes framing of mandatory guidelines for expeditious appraisal of criminal appeals

“We say so being fully cognizant of the fact that the judiciary’s efficient functioning is a necessary pre-requisite to maintain the trust and faith of the consumers of justice in the justice delivery system”.