(141) RADHA RANI AND OTHERS Vs. VARINDER SINGH AND OTHERS[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166 — Compensation Assessment — Proof of Income — Income Tax Returns (ITRs) — Income Tax Returns filed by the deceased are considered reliable evidence for the assessment of income in motor accident claims — The income reflected therein, corroborated by other evidence like witness testimony, can form the basis for calculating the multiplicand. India Law Library Docid # 2425042
(142) VEENA RANI @ AMITA RANI AND OTHERS Vs. AMIT AND OTHERS[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 168 — Just Compensation — Principles for Injury Claims — The determination of compensation by Tribunals/Courts must adhere to the principle of ‘just compensation’, which signifies adequate recompense — neither excessive nor insufficient — While monetary awards cannot fully redress the suffering from severe injuries impairing normal life, Courts must genuinely attempt to restore the claimant’s self-dignity by recognizing actual needs and accounting for ground re India Law Library Docid # 2425043
(143) STATE OF HARYANA Vs. CHHATTAR PAL[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Criminal Appeal Against Acquittal — Scope of Interference — Penal Code, 1860, S. 376 — An appellate court reviewing a judgment of acquittal under Section 376 IPC, while possessing powers similar to those in an appeal against conviction, should not interfere merely because a different view is possible — Interference is unwarranted if the trial court’s view is based on evidence and is reasonable and plausible — The presumption of innocence favours the accused, and reasons must be assigned for diff India Law Library Docid # 2425044
(144) PAWAN AND ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF HARYANA[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Criminal Law — Circumstantial Evidence — Principles of Appreciation — Completeness of Chain — In cases resting purely on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish a complete chain of circumstances that unerringly points towards the guilt of the accused and is inconsistent with any hypothesis of innocence — Each circumstance must be fully established, and the cumulative effect must exclude every possible hypothesis except the one proposed to be proved, showing that within all human India Law Library Docid # 2425045
(145) DAVINDERDEEP SINGH Vs. PARAMJEET KAUR[PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (Cr.P.C.) — Section 125 — Interim Maintenance — Assessment — Duty to File Affidavits of Assets and Liabilities — Adverse Inference — In proceedings for interim maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C., both parties are required to file affidavits detailing their assets and liabilities to enable the court to make a proper assessment, following the principles laid down in Rajnesh versus Neha and another, (2021) 2 SCC 324 — Failure by a party (in this case, the husband) t India Law Library Docid # 2425046
(146) SMT. PUSHPARANI DUTTA Vs. RANAJIT DUTTA AND OTHERS[CALCUTTA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Sections 372 (Proviso), 378(4) & 401(4) — Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 227 — Maintainability of Revision/Supervisory Application against Acquittal — Bar when Appeal Lies — A criminal revisional application, whether styled under CrPC or Article 227 of the Constitution, filed by a complainant against a final judgment of acquittal passed by a Magistrate in a complaint case, is not maintainable in view of the specific bar contained in Section 401(4) C India Law Library Docid # 2425204
(147) SEKHAR SHARMA Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ANOTHER[CALCUTTA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Penal Code, 1860 — Section 420 — Cheating vs. Breach of Contract — Mens Rea at Inception — A mere breach of contract, such as non-payment for goods supplied under a business agreement, does not ipso facto constitute the offence of cheating under Section 420 IPC — To attract Section 420, the prosecution must establish the existence of fraudulent or dishonest intention (mens rea) on the part of the accused at the very beginning of the transaction, i.e., at the time of inducement or making the prom India Law Library Docid # 2425205
(148) PUNIT RAJGARIA Vs. NAINA AGARWAL[CALCUTTA HIGH COURT] 04-04-2025 Special Marriage Act, 1954, Section 31 — Family Courts Act, 1984, Section 7 — Anti-Suit Injunction — Suit filed on the Original Side of the High Court seeking an anti-suit injunction to restrain the defendant-wife from pursuing matrimonial proceedings in California, USA — Plaintiff-husband and defendant-wife both reside outside the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court — Marriage solemnized under the Special India Law Library Docid # 2425198
(149) SMT. GANGAMMA AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA AND OTHERS[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Bangalore Development Authority Act, 1976 — Sections 17, 18, 19 — Land Acquisition — Deletion of Lands between Preliminary and Final Notification — Allegation of Arbitrariness and Discrimination (Article 14) — The exclusion of a substantial portion of land between the preliminary notification and the final notification during acquisition proceedings under the BDA Act does not inherently vitiate the entire process as arbitrary or discriminatory under Article 14 of the Constitution — Such deletion India Law Library Docid # 2424343
(150) SRI. MALLAPPA BASANNA NAVALAGUDDA AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA AND OTHERS[KARNATAKA HIGH COURT (KALABURAGI BENCH)] 03-04-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 21 — Right to Livelihood — Right to Water — Farmers — Irrigation Needs vs. Drinking Water Priority — Duty of State to Balance — While the State has a paramount duty to prioritize and ensure the supply of drinking water to its populace (implicit in Article 21), this duty does not absolve it of its obligation towards farmers whose right to livelihood, also flowing from Article 21, depends heavily on access to irrigation water for their crops — The State is obl India Law Library Docid # 2424439
(151) V. SANTHAKUMARI, FORMERLY HEAD CLERK Vs. REGISTRAR GENERAL, HIGH COURT, MADRAS[MADRAS HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Service Law — Disciplinary Proceedings — Natural Justice — Fair Enquiry — Non-Supply of Documents / Non-listing in Charge Memo — In disciplinary proceedings, failure to list certain documents (like internal communications or CCTV footage) in the annexure to the charge memo does not automatically vitiate the enquiry if the core evidence (CCTV footage) was shown to the delinquent and their counsel, opportunities for cross-examination and adducing defence evidence based on such India Law Library Docid # 2424456
(152) MINI AND ANOTHER Vs. BINU AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 163A — Accident Arising out of the Use of Motor Vehicle — Expression has a wider connotation than “caused by” — Does not require direct or proximate causal relationship, but accident must be connected with the use of the vehicle — Negligence of the owner/driver need not be pleaded or established by the claimant. India Law Library Docid # 2424595
(153) CHEEKILODE PREMALATHA Vs. K.V. ABDURAHIMAN[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Civil Procedure — Doctrine of Merger — Principle that an inferior court’s decree/order merges into the decree/order of a superior court upon disposal of an appeal or revision, making the superior court’s decision the operative one — Applies even if the appeal was limited to a specific aspect (like costs), rendering the appellate decree the one from which time limits generally run. India Law Library Docid # 2424596
(154) STATE OF KERALA Vs. REJI. S[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Sections 306, 307, 308 — Pardon to Accomplice (Approver) — Approver granted pardon must make a full and true disclosure at every stage required — Failure to do so (by wilful concealment or giving false evidence) leads to forfeiture of pardon. India Law Library Docid # 2424597
(155) BALU Vs. STATE OF KERALA AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Constitution of India, 1950 — Articles 72 & 161 — Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Sections 432, 433, 433A — Premature Release/Remission — Powers and principles governing premature release of convicts — Includes constitutional power, statutory power of remission/commutation, and remission under jail manuals/state rules. India Law Library Docid # 2424637
(156) XXX AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF KERALA AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 154, 190, 482 — Second FIR — Registration of a second FIR by the same informant against the same accused regarding the same cognizable offence or occurrence, subsequent to an earlier FIR where investigation is underway or completed, is impermissible and constitutes an abuse of process. India Law Library Docid # 2424638
(157) AJITHA JAYAKUMAR Vs. ABRAHAM AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 — Order 39 Rule 2A — Consequence of Disobedience of Injunction — Rule provides discretionary powers (“may”) to the court — Measures include attachment of property (limited to one year) and civil imprisonment (limited to three months) — Primary intent is to ensure compliance with court orders, though punitive element exists. India Law Library Docid # 2424639
(158) G.VISWANATHAN Vs. ABRAHAM SALAMMA AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Lease vs. License — Distinction — Lease involves transfer of an interest in property coupled with exclusive possession, whereas license is a mere permission to do something on the property without transfer of interest or exclusive possession — Determined by the substance of the agreement, not just nomenclature. India Law Library Docid # 2424640
(159) ABRAHAM AND OTHERS Vs. AJITHA JAYAKUMAR AND OTHERS[KERALA HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Transfer of Property Act, 1882 — Sections 122 & 123 — Gift/Settlement Deed — Essentials include transfer without consideration, donor, donee, subject matter, transfer, and acceptance — For immovable property, requires a registered instrument signed by/for donor and attested by at least two witnesses. India Law Library Docid # 2424641
(160) MADAN LAL AGRAWAL AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH AND OTHERS[CHHATTISGARH HIGH COURT] 03-04-2025 Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 — Section 68(2) — Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011 — Rule 3.1.1 — Adjudication Proceedings — Requirement of Inquiry and Reasonable Opportunity — Section 68(2) of the FSS Act, 2006, read with Rule 3.1.1 of the FSS Rules, 2011, mandates that the Adjudicating Officer must hold an inquiry before imposing a penalty for contravention of the Act/Rules/Regulations — This inquiry necessitates giving the person charged a reasonable opportunity of making representat India Law Library Docid # 2424720