Contract Act, 1872

The Supreme Court was asked to resolve a long‑standing controversy over whether courts exercising jurisdiction under Sections 34 and 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 can modify an arbitral award. The issue arose from the earlier decision in Project Director, NHAI v. M. Hakeem, where the Court held that …

The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of sections 34(1), 47(1)(a)(i) and 58(1)(a)(i) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which base the pecuniary jurisdiction of district, state and national consumer commissions on the value of consideration paid rather than the compensation claimed. The challenge arose fr…

The appellant, Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd., was contracted by the respondent, Software Technology Parks of India, to construct a building. The contract stipulated liquidated damages for delay, but the respondent granted several extensions of time before finally deducting Rs. 82,43,499 as liquidated damage…

The case concerned whether cellular mobile service providers (the assessees) were required to deduct tax at source under section 194-H of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the margin earned by franchisees/distributors from selling prepaid kits at a price higher than the discounted price paid to the assessees. The Revenue arg…

The appellant, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd., entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a solar project SPV and a farmer under Karnataka's solar policy, requiring commercial operation within 18 months. Delays occurred in land conversion, evacuation approvals, and other regulatory processes, leading…

The case involved a dispute over a plot of land originally owned by Muniyappa, who executed a General Power of Attorney (GPA) and an agreement to sell in favour of A. Saraswathi in 1986. After Muniyappa's death in 1997, Saraswathi, as GPA holder, executed a registered sale deed in 1998 transferring the property to her …

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL), successor to Gujarat Electricity Board, entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Essar Power Ltd (EPL) for 300 MW of a 515 MW plant, while EPL had a separate PPA with its sister company Essar Steel Ltd (ESL) for the remaining 215 MW. EPL repeatedly supplied electricity to…

The dispute concerned ownership of a 2‑18‑10 bigha parcel of land in NOIDA, jointly purchased in 1997 by Reddy, Sudhakar and Vishnu. Reddy later sought to establish sole ownership by filing separate suits and a writ petition, suppressing the earlier joint‑ownership litigation, and obtained a High Court order declaring …

The Supreme Court considered a dispute where a financial creditor had obtained a loan of Rs 100 crore from a corporate debtor (Gujarat Hydrocarbon and Power SEZ Ltd.) secured by a corporate guarantee furnished by its holding company, ACIL. After the corporate debtor defaulted, the creditor initiated insolvency proceedi…

Swapan Kumar Mullick worked for United Bank of India for 36 years and resigned in 2006 citing mental depression, opting for provident fund benefits rather than pension. A 2010 circular issued under a bipartite settlement offered a new pension option to employees who had not previously opted for pension, and Mullick app…

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Puri Construction Ltd (PCL) entered into a Development Agreement for land development, later supplemented by a Supplementary Agreement and a Tripartite Agreement involving a bank. Disputes arose over alleged economic duress, non‑fulfilment of conditions precedent, and L&T's abandonment of the …

The appellants, sons of Tirakappa Gurusiddappa Malagi, challenged a compromise decree dated 18 January 2000 that partitioned seven acres of land among their father, uncles, and grandfather, alleging that their father was coerced into the settlement and that the land was not ancestral joint family property. The trial co…

The AMP Group and the JRS Group entered into a Family Arrangement Agreement (FAA) containing an arbitration clause, and later sought to appoint a sole arbitrator under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The petition raised two questions: the scope of the referral court’s jurisdiction after the…

OPG Power Generation (the appellant) and its holding company Gita Power were sued by Enexio Power Cooling Solutions for unpaid amounts under supply and erection orders for an air‑cooled condenser unit. The arbitral tribunal held that Gita Power, as the holding company, was bound by the arbitration agreement and jointly…

Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL) entered into a three‑year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) to organise Formula 4 motor‑racing events. Several public‑interest litigations were filed challenging the event on grounds of safety, noise, and the use of publ…

The appellants purchased half of a 3.40‑hectare land from respondent No.2 in 1985, and a sale deed was executed on 02‑12‑1985 but remained unregistered due to stamp‑duty deficiency until 14‑06‑2011. Respondent No.2 later executed a second conveyance in 2010 in favour of respondent No.1 for the same land, leading the ap…

The appellant, Sonali Power Equipments, supplied transformers to the Maharashtra State Electricity Board between 1993 and 2004 and faced delayed payments. It referred the dispute to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council under Section 18 of the MSMED Act, obtaining an award in 2010, which the respondents …

The plaintiffs entered into an agreement to sell a Bangalore property in 1981, paying an advance but failing to execute the sale deed within the stipulated three‑month period, citing a government restriction on registration. The defendants sent multiple notices demanding payment of the balance and eventually forfeited …

The plaintiff, Rajendra Kumar Gupta, claimed ownership of a 7.60‑acre parcel of land in Mowa village, asserting that he purchased it by a registered sale deed in 1968 and had peacefully possessed it until dispossessed in 1983. The defendants, his cousins, contended that the land was joint Hindu family property, that th…

The appellant, Dhanasingh Prabhu, advanced a loan of Rs.21 lakh to the respondents who were partners of the partnership firm “Mouriya Coirs”. The respondents issued a cheque in the name of the firm which was dishonoured, prompting the appellant to serve a statutory notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments…

Vijaya Bank required its senior middle‑manager, Prashant B. Narnaware, to serve a minimum of three years and to pay Rs 2 lakhs as liquidated damages if he resigned earlier, as stipulated in clause 11(k) of his appointment letter. The employee resigned after less than two years and paid the amount under protest, subsequ…

M/s ABCI Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. submitted a financial bid of Rs 1,569 crores for a tunnel project but due to a typographical error the bid appeared as Rs 1,569 only. The appellant discovered the mistake on 24‑08‑2023, promptly informed BRO and sought to withdraw or rectify the bid, but BRO demanded justification, de…

The appellant, Navratan Lal Sharma, filed a suit for declaration and injunction which was dismissed, leading him to file a first appeal. During the pendency of the appeal, the parties executed a compromise deed that provided for the restoration of the appeal if the respondents failed to honor payment obligations. The H…

The Union of India challenged the liability of several private companies, including Future Gaming Solutions, to pay service tax on the sale of paper and online lottery tickets for the Government of Sikkim. The High Court of Sikkim had set aside service‑tax notices issued under various amendments to the Finance Act, 199…

Godwin Construction Pvt. Ltd. executed a document titled “Security Bond cum Mortgage Deed” in favour of the Meerut Development Authority to secure its obligations under a development project. The authorities later claimed that the instrument attracted stamp duty under Article 40 of Schedule 1‑B of the Indian Stamp Act,…

The appellants Jindal Steel issued a work order to Bansal Infra and obtained an unconditional bank guarantee to secure an advance payment. After alleged delays, quality deficiencies and termination of the contract, the appellants threatened to encash the guarantee unless a debit balance was paid. Bansal filed a Section…

Rakesh Kumar Verma and Deepti were employees of HDFC Bank whose appointment letters contained an exclusive jurisdiction clause stating that any dispute would be decided by the courts in Bombay. Both were terminated for alleged fraud and filed civil suits in Patna and Delhi respectively challenging the termination. HDFC…

The Supreme Court examined appeals challenging the High Court's order on six disputed Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) questions. It evaluated the correctness of answer keys for Questions 56 and 77, upheld the High Court's answer for Question 78, and found that Questions 88, 115 and 116 were either improperly framed or…

The Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation entered into contracts with rice millers for paddy procurement and included an arbitration clause. Allegations of massive fraud and misappropriation of public funds led to criminal FIRs, charges under the Penal Code, and recovery proceedings under the Bihar & Orissa P…

The dispute arose from an arbitral award dated 21 November 2004 in favour of G & T Beckfield Drilling Services, directing ONGC (the respondent) to pay a sum of US$6,56,272.34 together with interest at 12% per annum from 12 December 1998, the date the claim was affirmed. ONGC challenged the award under Section 34 of the…

The respondents booked an apartment with Godrej Projects and paid a 20% earnest money deposit as per the Apartment Buyer Agreement. After the developer offered possession in June 2017, the respondents cancelled the purchase citing a market recession and demanded a full refund of Rs.51,12,310 with interest. The NCDRC or…

The Central Bank of India conducted an e‑auction of a secured asset under the SARFAESI Act and the successful bidder, Shanmugavelu, deposited 25% earnest‑money. After being granted a 90‑day extension, he failed to pay the balance and the bank forfeited the entire deposit under Rule 9(5) of the SARFAESI Rules. Shanmugav…

The appellant, K.R. Suresh, paid Rs.20,00,000 as advance under an agreement of sale that required the balance to be paid within four months, failing which the advance would be forfeited. He did not pay the balance on time, and the respondents forfeited the advance and later sold the property to third parties. The appel…

The respondents filed a consumer complaint alleging that the sole proprietor developer failed to complete construction and pay dues under a 1996 Development Agreement. The developer died during the pendency of the case, and the legal representatives were directed by the NCDRC to both pay monetary amounts and to perform…