A P SEN

The Supreme Court examined whether the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Ltd., a government‑owned company under section 617 of the Companies Act, qualifies as "the State" under Article 12 of the Constitution and whether clause (i) of Rule 9 in its service rules – which allows termination of a permanent employe…

The State of Uttar Pradesh issued a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 on 8 January 1980 to acquire 60 plots of land for a market yard, simultaneously exempting the proceedings from Section 5‑A by an order under Section 17(4). A subsequent notification under Section 6 authorised the Colle…

The tenant, B.P. Khemka Pvt. Ltd., was sued for eviction on the ground of rent default. While the suit was pending, the West Bengal Premises Tenancy (Amendment) Ordinance 1967 introduced Section 17(2A) allowing tenants in default to pay arrears in instalments, and Section 5 gave it retrospective effect to all pending s…

Dipak Kumar Biswas, a permanent government auditor, resigned to take up a lecturer post in a private aided college in Meghalaya, relying on the principal's assurance that the Director of Public Instruction's approval was a formality. After five months his appointment was terminated because the Director had not given pr…

The Supreme Court considered a suit under Section 202 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1951 for possession of land on payment of a mortgage money. The mortgage in question was a usufructuary mortgage of an occupancy holding executed in 1869 when the Recovery of Rents (Bengal) Act, 1859 was in force…

The Siliguri Municipality sought to levy a graduated consolidated rate on the annual value of its holdings under the Bengal Municipal (Amendment) Act, 1980. The Calcutta High Court, invoking its jurisdiction under Article 226, issued an interlocutory order staying the municipality's recovery of the tax. The municipalit…

The petitioners, Express Newspapers Pvt. Ltd. and others, challenged two notices: one issued by the Engineer Officer, Land & Development Office, for re-entry upon forfeiture of lease, and another by the Zonal Engineer (Building), Municipal Corporation of Delhi, for demolition of the Express Building. The petitioners al…

The Uttar Pradesh Government, invoking the Essential Commodities Act, fixed a stock limit of 250 quintals for wholesale wheat dealers and issued a teleprinter instruction restricting movement of wheat without a formal order. Wholesale dealers challenged the stock limit and the movement restrictions as violations of Art…

The case concerned lands acquired for the Beas Dam Project that were notified in 1962‑63 under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The compensation was fixed using the capitalisation method, multiplying the net annual income of the land by a "years' purchase" multiplier. The Land Acquisition Officer and the District Court …

Vasudeo Vishwanath Saraf, a former principal of a school run by New Education Institute, challenged multiple departmental enquiries and termination orders that were passed without hearing or reasons. The High Court repeatedly dismissed his writ petitions with laconic orders such as "rejected" and "dismissed" without re…

Ashok Kumar challenged his preventive detention under the National Security Act, 1980, arguing that the two‑day delay in furnishing the grounds of detention violated Article 22(5) of the Constitution and that the detaining authority failed to specify the period of detention and to link the grounds to "public order". Th…

The landlord filed a suit for eviction, arrears of rent and damages against the tenant, alleging that the premises were not covered by the Uttar Pradesh Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972 because the building was less than ten years old at the time of filing. The tenant contended that …

The Supreme Court examined a petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution challenging the sale of a property executed against a judgment-debtor. The sale was ordered by a Subordinate Judge after the surety of the judgment-debtor failed to deposit the required amount and subsequently died. The surety's alleged h…

The case concerned a seasonal sugar factory that paid a retaining allowance to its workers during the off‑season. The management treated this allowance as part of wages for the Employees' Provident Funds Act but not for the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. An Industrial Court held the allowance could not be counted for bonu…

Balwant Kaur was convicted for the murder of her husband, Pritam Singh, based primarily on the testimony of co‑accused Ram Sarup, who turned approver. The prosecution alleged that Kaur conspired with Nand Singh and Sarup to murder her husband and that she had urged them to do so. The Supreme Court examined whether the …

Kamal Singh Ghugtyal, a former Havildar, filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking a pension under the Army Pension Regulations, claiming more than 15 years of service in the regular army, including a stint in the Lok Sahayak Sena (LSS). The respondents produced service records showing his actual army tenure amoun…

The appellants, contractors for supplying ballast to the Public Works Department, were detained under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980 on grounds that they had attacked a rival contractor with firearms and grenades, allegedly to intimidate him and influence tendering. They challenged the detention, argui…

O.P. Gupta, an Assistant Engineer in the Central Public Works Department, was suspended in 1959 pending a departmental enquiry that lingered for over a decade. He was reinstated in 1970 but the enquiry continued, leading to his compulsory retirement in 1972. The Delhi High Court quashed the retirement, held the suspens…

The petitioner, Salim Rajmohmad Muslim, was detained under section 3(2) of the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985 on 11 June 1987. He filed a representation on 15 July 1987 to both the detaining authority (Police Commissioner, Surat) and the State Government, alleging that neither had considered it …

Be​gum Subanu, a Muslim wife, filed a petition under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking maintenance for herself and her minor daughter after her husband, Abdul Gafoor, married a second wife. The lower courts dismissed her claim, holding that the husband's offer to take her back and maintain her negated …

The appellant, a senior lecturer and Head of Department at D.A.V. College, Kanpur, was granted extraordinary leave without pay to serve on deputation at the University of Aden, with a guarantee that his lien and seniority would be preserved. Upon his return, the acting Head refused to hand over charge, claiming seniori…

Ram Chander, a Grade B shunter, was removed from railway service for assaulting his superior. An ex parte enquiry found him guilty, and the General Manager imposed removal. The appellant appealed to the Railway Board under Rule 18(ii) of the Railway Servants (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1968, but the Board dismissed th…

The State of Orissa appealed the acquittal of Bhagaban Barik, who had struck a man with a lathi on the head, causing death. Barik claimed he acted in private defence of his property, believing the deceased to be a thief, and invoked section 79 of the IPC as a defence of mistake of fact. The Supreme Court examined wheth…

The appellants, a bidi manufacturing partnership and dealers in tendu leaves, challenged the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1968 and the 1971 amendment which re‑classified tendu leaves as non‑raw material and taxed them at a higher rate. They alleged violations of Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 286(3), 301 a…

The respondent mortgaged his shop and handed possession to the mortgagees, who subsequently let the premises to the appellant as a tenant. The respondent sued for redemption of the mortgage and vacant possession; the mortgage was redeemed and an order was made to give possession to the respondent. The tenant sought to …

The partnership firm of Rai Bahadur Seth Shreeram Durgaprasad exported manganese ore between 1952 and 1958 but failed to repatriate the full foreign‑exchange proceeds, contravening Section 12(2) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. The Director of Enforcement initiated adjudication proceedings under Section 23…

The case concerned the suspension of IAS officer E.S. Reddi under the Andhra Pradesh Civil Services Rules, which he challenged on the ground of arbitrariness under Article 14 of the Constitution, alleging that similarly situated officers were merely transferred. The Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court rever…

Senior draughtsmen employed in the Ordnance Factories performed identical work and held the same post, but the Government, following the Third Pay Commission, divided them into two groups with different pay scales based solely on seniority. The appellants, who were not in the group entitled to the higher scale, challen…

Four men were tried for murder and attempt to cause hurt under Sections 302, 34 and 323, 34 of the IPC. The Sessions Court acquitted them, finding the delay in reporting, lack of motive, and the unreliability of two eyewitnesses (PW2 and PW6) sufficient to raise doubt. The Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the ac…

The appellant claimed that lands granted to his ancestor as remuneration for patelship were service inam and not liable to resumption under the Gujarat Patel Watans Abolition Act, 1961 or the Resumption Rules, 1908. The Collector, invoking Rule 4 of the Resumption Rules, classified part of the lands as service inam and…

The appellant, a clerk transferred at his own request from the North-Eastern Railway to the South-Eastern Railway in 1958, was placed below temporary staff in the seniority list of the Sealdah Division, contrary to Rule 312 of the Railway Establishment Manual. He made representations and later filed a writ petition cha…