Case Briefs Archives

Supreme Court overturns NCLAT judgment that closed insolvency process against Byju’s, following settlement with BCCI

The present appeal raises substantial questions about the legal framework governing the withdrawal of a CIRP; the settlement of claims after the admission of an application instituted by a debtor; and the scope of the inherent powers vested in the NCLAT under Rule 11 of the NCLAT Rules.

States power to regulate intoxicating liquor

Case Briefs Supreme Court (Constitution/Larger Benches)

Read Supreme Court’s Majority Opinion on States’ power to regulate industry of ‘Intoxicating Liquor’

This majority decision overruled Supreme Court’s 7-Judge Bench ruling in Synthetics and Chemicals Ltd. v. State of U.P., (1990) 1 SCC 109, wherein it was held that States cannot tax industrial alcohol.

Case Briefs High Courts

Heated exchange between couple/family members over meal preparation not sufficient to prove abetment to suicide: J&K High Court

The Court stated that the presumption under Section 114-C of the Evidence Act regarding dowry deaths could not be applied without credible evidence of dowry harassment.

Case Briefs High Courts

‘No absolute right of residence can be claimed by wife’; Delhi High Court upholds order dispossessing wife from shared household

It is not a case where the wife is helpless or there is any endeavour to leave her on the road by taking away the roof from her head. The wife herself is an educated woman, who did her MBA and is also employed.

Case Briefs High Courts

Multiple marriage registrations by a Muslim male allowed under Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, 1998: Bombay High Court

Section 7(1)(a) of the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, 1998 contemplates that the Registrar must ensure that the marriage between parties is performed in accordance with the personal law of the parties and under the personal laws for Muslims, they are entitled to have four wives at a time.

Case Briefs High Courts

Surety can only be waived if circumstances so warrant; Delhi High Court modifies bail conditions for Nigerian Nationals charged under NDPS Act

Any waiver of a bail condition must not compromise the one most important legal requirement that a prisoner must make himself available for trial and for compliance with a sentence imposed.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Wife’s guilt under S. 498-A IPC can’t become a ground to hold husband guilty in absence of specific material on record: SC

The Division Bench opined that in Section 498-A IPC cases, the courts have to be careful to identify instances of over implication and to avert the suffering of ignominy and inexpiable consequences.

Case Briefs High Courts

Prior knowledge about chamber allotment vacancies suggests a breach of transparency; Delhi High Court upholds re-allotment

Such vacancies should be notified to the members of the Bar, providing every eligible lawyer with an equal opportunity to express interest; failure to do so creates an appearance of opacity in the process, potentially leading to an impression of arbitrariness.

Case Briefs High Courts

Calcutta HC grants bail to accused under NDPS Act due to failure in filing FLS Report within 180 days

‘In an NDPS case, if charge sheet is filed within 180 days from the date of arrest of the accused, no right of statutory bail accrues.’

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi Police Special Branch Manual falls squarely within the exemptions provided under S. 8(1)(a) of Right to Information Act: Delhi High Court

‘The information concerning law enforcement operations, especially those involving national security considerations, falls under purview of Section 8(1)(a).’

SC Guidelines time limit pronouncement of judgments

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Supreme Court issues guidelines for High Court Judges regarding time limit for pronouncement of judgments

The Court emphasised that Judges must be mindful of the impact of their actions on society at large. Dealing with lakhs of litigation is no mean task, but at the same time, Judges must realize that instances do emerge leaving absolutely no margin for error.

Case Briefs High Courts

Punjab and Haryana HC upholds dismissal from service of a conductor who was implicated in 52 departmental proceedings

In the present case, respondent conducted proper departmental inquiry and found the petitioner guilty. The petitioner was involved in 52 cases and subjected to different punishments. The petitioner is claiming that dismissal from service is harsh punishment, and it should be substituted with compulsory retirement.

grant Indian citizenship to foreign citizens

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Cannot confer Indian citizenship to foreign citizens by doing violence to the plain language of Citizenship Act, 1955: SC

“There is no scope to bring equitable considerations while interpreting such a statute as the language of Sections 5, 8 and 9 is plain and simple, hence there is no scope for its liberal interpretation”.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court questions SSC’s exam for testing candidates’ abilities through trivial questions like the use of ‘OKEY’ as a vulgarism of ‘OKAY’

One wonders, however, whether anything meaningful is achieved by testing the ability of candidates in examination such as this, to qualify and obtain recruitment to civil posts, by testing whether they know that the word “OKEY”, is used, rarely, as a vulgarism of “OKAY”.

Case Briefs Supreme Court (Constitution/Larger Benches)

In-depth analysis of Supreme Court’s majority verdict on Section 6A of Citizenship Act

Supreme Court affirmed that the cut-off date of 25 March 1971 is rational as on the said date, Pakistani Army launched Operation Search Light to curb Bengali nationalist movement in East Pakistan. The migrants before the operation were migrants of partition towards which India had a liberal policy. Migrants from Bangladesh after the said date were migrants of war and not partition.

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Failed to establish that unauthorized absence was wilful and deliberate’; Chhattisgarh HC orders reinstatement of police constable dismissed for his unauthorized absence from duty

Petitioner has taken a specific defence that his wife was seriously ill and was under medical treatment for a long time and ultimately, she passed away. The records of the departmental enquiry also suggested that the medical papers of the wife of the petitioner were duly placed on record. The enquiry officer failed to take this account to its proper perspective.

Case Briefs High Courts

Textbook example of how the affluent people try to flout the law; Delhi High Court dismisses S. 482 CrPC petition

The instant case is a textbook example of how the affluent people try to flout the law by coercing the aggrieved party to settle the dispute, despite the offence being criminal in nature and approach the Courts citing settlement deed.

Case Briefs High Courts

‘Reasons required by Rule 9(1) cannot be left in realm of conjecture and surmise’; Delhi HC concurs with CAT to quash decision of Disciplinary Authority

‘The reasoning given for a fresh inquiry was a mere lip service to the requirement of Rule 9(1) and was delightfully left in the realm of conjecture.’

Case Briefs High Courts

[Bahraich Violence] Allahabad High Court grants 15 days to accused persons to respond to Demolition Notices issued by UP Government

Without making any observations on the merits at this stage, Allahabad Court granted three days’ time to the Chief Standing Counsel to obtain complete instructions. It instructed that the position regarding the category of the road and the applicable norms should be clarified at the next scheduled hearing.

Case Briefs High Courts

Burning dead body inside someone’s house without proper rites is disrespectful & desecratory; Rajasthan High Court denies bail

The complainant was coerced into following a tribal or customary practice, such as “Mautana,” which involves compensating or appeasing the family of the deceased in cases of accidental death.