Judgments of 1994

The Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) widened public streets and acquired portions of land under sections 298 and 299 of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. The Commissioner offered Rs 80 per square yard as compensation, which the owners rejected; the Court of Small Causes awarded market‑value compensation of …

Dr. Umrao Singh Choudhary was appointed Vice‑Chancellor of Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya under section 13 of the Madhya Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya Adhiniyam, 1973. On 21 January 1994 the Governor, exercising power under section 52(1) of the same Act, issued a notification that the Vice‑Chancellor should vacate office, causi…

The appellants Arjun Marik, Mulo Marik and Bansi Marik were convicted of murdering Sitaram, his wife and granddaughter and of robbery, and sentenced to death under IPC sections 302, 394 and 411. The Supreme Court re‑examined the circumstantial evidence, finding no reliable motive, inconsistencies in the prosecution’s n…

Chase Bright Steel Ltd., a tenant since 1963, was served a notice in 1977 by the landlord demanding arrears of permitted increases of Rs 56.50 per month from February 1976, along with allegations of unauthorized alterations and nuisance. The tenant applied under Section 11(3) of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging Hous…

The case concerned an 11,000 sq.ft. property originally mortgaged and then leased with a clause permitting sub‑leasing. The original lessee sub‑leased the land to two sub‑lessees, who constructed shops, further assigned their interests to other parties, and eventually the assignees sought protection under the Bombay Re…

The case concerned promotion to the post of Superintendent in the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Two parallel streams of posts – Deputy Superintendents/Revisors and Senior Assistants/Translators – were governed by Rule 10 of the 1992 Recruitment (Conditions of Service) Rules, which required a minimum of three years’ serv…

The State Government acquired 2 acres 46 cents of land belonging to Deep Chand, who objected under Section 49(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, insisting that the whole property, including his factory and office, should be taken. The Collector referred the dispute to the Civil Court, which held that the land to be …

The appellants, H.H. Lakshmi Bai and others, invested Rs.70,000 in National Defence Certificates and Defence Deposit Certificates, which fall under clause (xv) of section 5(1) of the Wealth Tax Act, 1957. They already enjoyed the general exemption of Rs.150,000 under section 5(1) and claimed an additional exemption und…

The respondent, an Executive Engineer, was suspended pending a disciplinary enquiry and was later compulsorily retired under Fundamental Rule 56-J while the enquiry was still pending. The High Court quashed both the compulsory retirement, deeming it automatically penal, and the punishment of reduction in rank, on the g…

Super Forgings and Steels (P) Ltd., the tenant, appealed against an eviction order passed under Section 10(3)(a)(iii) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960. The landlord, the late Thyambally Rasuljee, had sought possession on the ground that he did not occupy any building of his own for his bus…

The partnership Mis. Shori Lal and Sons occupied two government plots in Motia Khan and, under the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) scheme, applied for alternate plots in the Naraina Warehousing Scheme. The DDA allotted them Plot X‑70 (200 sq yds) for one plot and Plot Y‑5 (450 sq yds) for both plots, exceeding the …

Amar Chand had stood as a surety for a decree of Rs.10,000, which included mesne profits, owed by the principal debtor Dia Singh to the decree holder. The decree holder later entered into a compromise with Dia Singh, recording it without any reference to the surety. The question before the Supreme Court was whether the…

The State notified certain lands for acquisition in the Gazette on 19‑02‑1982 and later issued a declaration under Section 6(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, publishing it in the Gazette on 07‑02‑1985, in newspapers on 04‑06‑1987 and by local notice thereafter. The owners challenged the declaration, arguing that the thr…

Amrutlal Someshwar Joshi was convicted of murdering three persons, including a three‑year‑old child, during a robbery and was sentenced to death under IPC 302. He appealed, arguing that he was only 17 years old at the time of the offence and that age should be a mitigating factor, citing Hamam and Raisul as precedents.…

The Supreme Court examined whether Prestige Engineering could claim exemption under Notification No. 119/75 CE, which provides duty relief for goods manufactured as "job work". The appellant received steel pipes from Modipon and added guide rings, strengthening rings, adopters and plastic sleeves, all of which it procu…

The Builders Associations of India filed a writ petition under Article 32 challenging the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in Commissioner of Income Tax v. N.C. Budharaja & Co., which held that the word “construction” in Section 32A(2)(b)(iii) of the Income‑Tax Act applies only to movable items such as ships and not to…

Satish Chandra challenged Sections 4, 5, 16, 21 and 27 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1988 on the grounds that Parliament lacked competence to create the Company Law Board (CLB) and that the Act failed to protect minority shareholders. The petition argued that the power under Section 397 of the Companies Act, 1956 w…

The case concerned a dacoity‑cummurder on a highway in July 1984 for which eight persons were convicted, largely on the testimony of an approver, Ramcharan, who had been arrested under suspicious circumstances and later granted pardon. The Supreme Court examined the legality of his arrest, the timing of his pardon, and…

The Supreme Court examined a series of cases where the State of Punjab alleged that arrests, searches and seizures under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) were illegal because police officers failed to comply with certain statutory provisions. The Court held that the NDPS Act is not a …

The appellant was acquitted by the trial court of murder (Sec. 302 IPC) but was convicted on appeal by the Gujarat High Court. The conviction rested on the statement of the deceased's brother (PW6) recorded by the investigating officer after a telephonic message about the incident was received. The appellant challenged…

The appellants challenged the disallowance of certain expenditures under Sections 40(a)(v) and 40A(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, arguing that the ceiling on such expenditures should not apply to assets used by an employee unless the employee also received a benefit under clause (i). The Supreme Court examined the lan…

The appellant, an arrack shop in‑charge, complained to senior police officials that the Additional Superintendent of Police, K. Shanmuganan, was colluding with illicit distillers. The respondent summoned the appellant, beat him and later tortured him. The appellant filed a criminal complaint under several IPC sections.…

The Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board (APSEB) manufactured prestressed cement concrete poles for its own use and argued that the poles were not "goods" under Section 3 of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 because they were not sold and had no market. The Revenue contended that the poles were marketable, pointi…

The Union of India appealed against two orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal that had allowed the challenges of cadre allocations made to two Indian Police Service probationers who had been granted exemption from training. Rahul Rasgotra, selected in 1988, was allotted a joint Manipur‑Tripura cadre in December…