(241) M/S SEW INFRASTRUCTURE LTD. Vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 07-05-2025 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 34 — Setting aside arbitral award — Grounds — Jurisdiction — Chhattisgarh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 — State legislation for dispute resolution through arbitration — Contract with State-Appointed Arbitrator — State challenging award under Section 34 of 1996 Act, alleging the State Act alone applies and India Law Library Docid # 2425917
(242) STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. JITENDRABHAI @ JITU GOKLABHAI CHAUDHARI[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 07-05-2025 Criminal Law — Offences affecting the human body — Kidnapping — Enticing — Consent of minor — Section 361, Penal Code: Enticement or taking away of a minor from lawful guardianship without consent, essential for kidnapping; however, if minor accompanies willingly due to love affair and against parental wishes, and there is no proof of threat or coercion, the element of “against the will of the lawful guardian” may not be established in the context of seduction or elopement based on mutual affect India Law Library Docid # 2425975
(243) LH OF DECD SHASHIKANT GANPATBHAI PATEL AND OTHERS Vs. KRUNAL BHARATBHAI PATEL AND ANOTHER[GUJARAT HIGH COURT] 07-05-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — Section 96 — First Appeal — Suit for declaration, permanent injunction and cancellation of sale deed – Dismissal by trial court – Challenge to relinquishment deed (termed as partition deed), revenue entries, and subsequent sale deed – Trial court’s appreciation of evidence upheld India Law Library Docid # 2425976
(244) HARJINDER SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 319 — Power to proceed against other persons appearing to be guilty of offence — Nature of “Evidence” — The power vested in a Court under Section 319 CrPC to summon an additional accused is triggered by “evidence” that emerges during the course of an inquiry or trial, not by mere conjecture or suspicion — A statement rendered under oath and duly recorded in Court, such as the deposition of a prosecution witness (PW-1 in this instance), constitutes substant India Law Library Docid # 2425400
(245) RAJENDRA ANANT VARIK Vs. GOVIND B. PRABHUGAONKAR[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — Section 138 — Reversal of Acquittal by High Court — Failure to Consider a Valid Defence — Where a High Court, in an appeal against acquittal in a Section 138 NI Act prosecution, reverses the acquittal without adverting to a significant legal issue and valid defence (such as the applicability of a State-specific Money-Lenders Act which formed the basis of the acquittal by the First Appellate Court India Law Library Docid # 2425401
(246) SAROJ SALKAN Vs. HUMA SINGH AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order 12 Rule 6 — Power to Dismiss Suit — Scope and Discretion — The Court possesses wide discretion under Order XII Rule 6 CPC to pass a judgment at any stage of the suit, either on the application of a party or suo motu, based on admissions in pleadings or otherwise — This power is not confined to decreeing a claim but extends to the dismissal of the suit itself if admissions by the plaintiff, including in a rejoinder, warrant such dismissal. India Law Library Docid # 2425402
(247) KUMARI REKHA Vs. SHAMBHU SARAN PASWAN[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Constitution of India — Article 142 — Power to Grant Divorce on Ground of Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage — The Supreme Court, in exercise of its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, can dissolve a marriage on the ground of irretrievable breakdown, even if such a ground is not explicitly available under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and even if one party vehemently opposes the dissolution — This power is exercised when the Court is satisfied, India Law Library Docid # 2425403
(248) A. RAJA Vs. D. KUMAR[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Representation of the People Act, 1951 — Section 100(1)(a) & (d)(i) — Challenge to Caste Certificate in Election Petition — Scope of ‘Trial’ under State Caste Certificate Legislation — A duly issued Caste/Community Certificate, particularly one issued under a specific state legislation (like the Kerala (Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1996) which provides a comprehensive mechanism for its issuance, verification, and cancellation, cannot be India Law Library Docid # 2425404
(249) ARABIAN EXPORTS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 11(6) and 11(6A) — Discharge Voucher — Economic Duress — Arbitrability of Dispute — The mere execution of a full and final settlement receipt or a discharge voucher by an insured in favour of an insurer does not automatically bar the insured from raising a dispute and seeking reference to arbitration, especially when the validity of such discharge is challenged on grounds of economic duress, coercion, or undue influence — At the stage of a Section India Law Library Docid # 2425405
(250) DISTRICT APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY Vs. KAUSHIK BABULAL SHAH AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 — Section 29 (Proviso) — Preservation of Records/Case Property (Sonography Machine) — Meaning of “Final Disposal of Proceedings” — The mandate under the proviso to Section 29(1) of the PC & PNDT Act to preserve records and documents (including seized property like a sonography machine) till the “final disposal of such proceedings” must be applied reasonably — Where an accused has been acquitted by the Tri India Law Library Docid # 2425490
(251) THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Vs. SHIVNATH SINGH KUSHWAH AND OTHERS[MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT (GWALIOR BENCH)] 06-05-2025 Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 — Section 2(e) — Definition of “Employee” — Applicability to State Government Employees Absorbed from Panchayat Service — The exclusion of State Government employees from the definition of “employee” under Section 2(e) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, applies only if such employees are governed by any other Act or Rules providing for payment of gratuity — Teachers (Shiksha Karmis/Adhyapaks) initially appointed in Panchayats and subsequently absorbed into the St India Law Library Docid # 2425573
(252) MAMTA BAI AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS[MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT (INDORE BENCH)] 06-05-2025 Madhya Pradesh Nagariya Kshetro Ke Bhoomihin Vyakti (Pattadhriti Adhikaron Ka Pradan Kiya Jana) Adhiniyam, 1984 — Sections 2(d), 3(3) & 3-A — Rule 9 (Rules of 2008) — Rights of Lease Holders (Patta Holders) — Lease holders (patta holders) under the Adhiniyam, 1984, are conferred with a ‘right to use’ the land for dwelling and are not “land owners” for the purpose of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 — Their rights are g India Law Library Docid # 2425574
(253) VIJAY KUMAR PADALIA Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 — Sections 14 & 16 — Practice and Procedure — Conversion of Original Application to Appeal — Where appellant filed an Original Application (OA) challenging forest clearance for a road project, after being granted liberty by NGT to file a “comprehensive application” incorporating subsequent developments (including the clearance), and NGT dismissed the OA on the technical ground that challenge to sanction should have been by way of an appeal under S. 16, held, NGT India Law Library Docid # 2425584
(254) GOPAL GOVIND LAKADE AND ANOTHER Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Constitution of India — Article 136 — Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 482 — Quashing of FIR — Dismissal of S. 482 application by High Court without issuing notice or assigning reasons — Propriety — Where High Court dismissed appellant’s criminal application (seeking quashing of FIR, alleging a civil dispute was given criminal colour) with a cryptic order stating “After hearing the learned advocate for the applicants for sometime, we are not inclined even to issue notice in this matter India Law Library Docid # 2425585
(255) VINOD KUMAR Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 06-05-2025 Punjab Police (Haryana Amendment) Rules, 2015 — Rule 12.18(3)(b) — Denial of appointment to candidate against whom charges framed for offences involving moral turpitude or punishable with imprisonment for three years or more — Validity — Rule 12.18(3)(b) is not ultra vires the Act or the Constitution of India — The Rule, framed under Art. 309 of Constitution r/w Section 92 Haryana Police Act, 2007, comprehensively considers eligibility criteria including character and antecedents for police serv India Law Library Docid # 2425627
(256) STATE OF RAJASTHAN Vs. GOPAL AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 06-05-2025 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) — Sections 8/18, 25, 29 & Section 42 — Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 — Quashing of Criminal Proceedings — Unauthorized Search as Ground — Respondents were charged under various sections of the NDPS Act following FIR No.552 of 2011 — The High Court, in exercise of its inherent powers under Section 482 CrPC, quashed the criminal proceedings, finding that the search was conducted by an officer not India Law Library Docid # 2425653
(257) ANAND KUMAR KASHYAP Vs. UNION OF INDIA[CHHATTISGARH HIGH COURT] 06-05-2025 Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 348 — Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 311 — Summoning of material witness — Examination of person present — Power of Court — Scope and object is to enable Court to determine truth and render just decision by discovering all relevant facts and obtaining proper proof — Wide discretionary power conferred on courts may be exercised at any stage of inquiry, trial, or other proceeding, even after evidence closure — Court can summon any person, India Law Library Docid # 2425688
(258) VIRENDRA KUMAR SHUKLA Vs. UCO BANK[CHHATTISGARH HIGH COURT] 06-05-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — Section 96 — First appeal — Scope of interference — Findings of fact — Suit for declaration and permanent injunction against bank for wrongful debit of amount credited via cheque subject to clearance — Trial Court dismissed suit finding bank acted in “good faith” based on nature of transaction (domestic transfer, drawer being bank’s Branch Manager, payee being panel lawyer) and knowledge of plaintiff regarding stop payment — Bank’s action of crediting amount “subject India Law Library Docid # 2425689
(259) RAGHUBIR SINGH Vs. DARBARA SINGH AND OTHERS[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 06-05-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 7 Rule 11 — Rejection of plaint — Scope of enquiry — Cause of action and limitation — Where defendant (petitioner) sought rejection of plaint in a suit for declaration of inheritance (challenging a 1926 mutation after 94 years), contending no cause of action and suit barred by limitation based on Customary Law, and trial court dismissed application, held, no interference warranted in revisional jurisdiction — For deciding Order 7 Rule 11 application, only India Law Library Docid # 2425701
(260) JASPREET KAUR Vs. ANMOLJOT SINGH[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 06-05-2025 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Section 13-B — Divorce by mutual consent — Waiver of six-month statutory waiting period for second motion — Permissibility — Where parties had been residing separately for over three years (petition drafted 24.02.2025, separated since 03.02.2022), marriage was irretrievably broken down, reconciliation efforts by relatives and panchayats failed, parties were unwilling to live together, and prolonging their agony by insisting on statutory waiting period would serve no us India Law Library Docid # 2425702