Case Briefs Archives

Order 7 Rule 11 CPC rejection of plaint meaningful reading

Clever Drafting Cannot Save a Benami Claim: Supreme Court on Meaningful Reading of Plaint Under Order 7 Rule 11

The Court directed the confiscation of the property where a claim, which was presented to be based on a will, but was in substance an attempt to obtain judicial recognition of a benami transaction.

Case Briefs High Courts

Permitted in Cinemas but Stopped on OTT? That’s “Incongruous”: Delhi HC Refuses Injunction Over Remixed “Tirchi Topiwale” in Dhurandhar 2

Delhi High Court refused interim injunction against the OTT release of Dhurandhar: The Revenge in a copyright dispute over the remixed “Tirchi Topiwale” song from Tridev, holding that suppression of material facts and prolonged inaction disentitled the plaintiff from equitable relief.

daughter in law eviction from shared household

Case Briefs High Courts

When Senior Citizens Act and Domestic Violence Act Collide: Delhi HC Draws the Line on Daughter-in-Law’s Right of Residence in Shared Household

The Delhi High Court upheld the eviction of a widow and her son from the in-laws’ property under the Senior Citizens Act, holding that shared household rights under the Domestic Violence Act do not create proprietary rights and cannot override senior citizens’ right to peaceful residence.

Section 34 37 arbitration limited scope interference

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Courts Have a ‘Disturbing Tendency’ to Set Aside Arbitral Awards by Reassessing Facts: Karnataka HC Warning Upheld by Supreme Court

Supreme Court dismissed SLP filed by BMRCL challenging Karnataka High Court judgment restoring arbitral award in favour of Navayuga Engineering Company, reiterating limited scope of interference under Sections 34 and 37, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and upholding award including finance charges as compensatory claim.

NSA preventive detention order right to representation

Case Briefs High Courts

Right to Make Representation Must Be Communicated When Grounds of Detention Are Served, Not Weeks Later: Manipur HC Sets Aside NSA Preventive Detention Order

“The right to make a representation implies that the person detained must be informed of his right to make a representation to the authority that has made the order of detention at the time when he is served with the grounds of detention so as to enable him to make such a representation and the failure to do so results in denial of the right to make representation and renders the order invalid.”

Contempt Proceeding Against Arvind Kejriwal

Case Briefs High Courts

“Power and Popularity Do Not Confer Constitutional Immunity”: Delhi HC’s Criminal Contempt Order Against Kejriwal and Others Explained

“When the institution of the judiciary and this Court was put on trial, it became the duty of this Court, at that moment, to stand up for itself and the institution”

Signed order prevails over oral dictation

Case Briefs Supreme Court

“Signed order alone is final and binding; dictated draft can be corrected before signing without rehearing if no material change occurs”: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court held that a digitally signed order is the final and binding order of the Court and that corrections or refinements to a dictated draft before signing are permissible so long as they do not materially alter the judgment.

Mother's Custody Best for Child Under Five

Case Briefs High Courts

Child Below Five Belongs with Mother Unless Proven Unfit: Allahabad HC Grants 21-Month Old’s Custody to Mother

Allahabad High Court: In a habeas corpus writ petition filed by mother seeking custody of a 21-month-old minor child,

Case Briefs High Courts

Raid Within Days of AAP-BJP Switch Was Political Vendetta, Not Environmental Urgency: Punjab & Haryana HC Applies Wednesbury to Restrain PPCB

In the case at hand, the Punjab Pollution Control Board raided a company at the time when its Chairman Emeritus switched political allegiance from AAP to BJP.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court’s Landmark Benami Act Ruling Explained: Why the 2016 Amendment Is Retrospective, What ‘Fiduciary Capacity’ Means, and When Confiscation Follows

The Court directed the confiscation of the property where a claim, which was presented to be based on a will, but was in substance an attempt to obtain judicial recognition of a benami transaction.

right to potable water MP Jal Nigam water pipelines

Case Briefs High Courts

Colony Built, Pipes Not Laid: MP HC Ends SADA-Jal Nigam Buck Passing; Directs Jal Nigam to Ensure Residents’ Right to Potable Water

The Court stated that although it would have been appropriate for the State to proactively coordinate and ensure that its instrumentalities discharge their respective obligations, the failure to do so does not give any right to the Special Area Development Authority (SADA) and Jal Nigam to shed their responsibilities and deny the residents their basic entitlement.

Case Briefs High Courts

Prolonged Custody Without Trial Violates Article 21: Orissa HC Releases Sushanta Dhalasamanta on Bail in 2004 Murder Case After a Decade of Incarceration

Court cites violation of speedy trial rights under Article 21, hostile witnesses, and prolonged delay in concluding prosecution evidence as reasons for granting bail

Case Briefs High Courts

“Fear of Financial Impact Is Not Enough”; Second wife not a necessary or proper party in first wife’s maintenance proceedings under S. 125 CrPC: Delhi High Court

Delhi High Court held that a second wife cannot seek impleadment in maintenance proceedings under Section 125 CrPC between the husband, first wife, and children, observing that such proceedings are limited in scope and impleadment would unnecessarily widen the lis.

Case Briefs High Courts

“Humiliation, degradation, or public shaming of accused violates Art. 21”: Madhya Pradesh HC Directs Inquiry into Alleged Mala-Fide Public Parading of Accused

At the same time, the Court stated that mere transportation of an accused from a police station to the Court for production before the Magistrate, even if done on foot, under unavoidable circumstances, would not ipso facto constitute a violation of fundamental rights, unless it is shown that such an act was done deliberately to humiliate or with mala fide intention.

Bank Employees joint disciplinary proceeding

Case Briefs Supreme Court

‘May’ Cannot Be Read as ‘Shall’: Supreme Court Holds Canara Bank’s Regulation 10 Joint Enquiry Provision Directory, Not Mandatory

Supreme Court observed that the word “may” in Regulation 10, 1976 Regulations, from any standpoint, is directory and construing it as mandatory would remove the discretion available to the employer in dynamic circumstances.

S. 498-A case quashed after mutual divorce

Case Briefs High Courts

Wife Left at Parental Home Is Not Dowry Harassment: Himachal Pradesh HC Quashes S. 498-A FIR After Mutual Divorce

“Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide or where the proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge, the High Court while exercising its inherent power can proceed to quash the proceedings.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Right to Education in Mother Tongue Flows from Article 19(1)(a); Supreme Court Directs Rajasthan to Introduce Rajasthani in Schools

“The ability to understand and be understood in one’s own language is not a matter of convenience, but a matter of existential rights, for comprehension must necessarily precede meaningful participation in the society and day to day life activities.”

continuous residence citizenship act foreigner's tribunal foreigner remand

Case Briefs High Courts

Declared “Foreigner” Despite Voters’ Lists from 1966 and Jamabandi from 1958: Gauhati HC sets aside Foreigners Tribunal’s ‘Cryptic’ Order; Remands Matter

“The cryptic judgment of the Tribunal appears to be perverse and requires a thorough and elaborate discussion by dealing with the documentary evidence submitted by the petitioner.”

Toyota ALPHARD well-known trademark in India

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court declares Toyota’s “ALPHARD” a well-known trade mark in India

The Court ordered removal of identical “ALPHARD” registrations, recognising Toyota’s trans-border reputation and spillover goodwill in India.

Caste-Based Abuse Inside Residential House

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Caste-Based Abuse Inside House Not an Offence Under SC/ST Act Absent ‘Public Gaze’; Supreme Court quashes proceedings

“The requirement that the place must be one “within public view” can be said to be substantiating the other elements of the offence under the SC/ST Act. It is therefore a sine qua non for making out the offence under the SC/ST Act.”