R S SARKARIA

The appellant was charged under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966 for allegedly possessing railway property obtained through forged receipts. An RPF inspector recorded his statements during an inquiry, but the trial magistrate denied the appellant access to copies of documents and statements, leading…

The dispute concerned lands that were part of a Desgat estate held by two brothers, Narayanarao (elder) and Ramachandrarao (younger). In 1902 Narayanarao executed a deed (Exhibit 39) granting certain lands to Ramachandrarao for his maintenance and that of his male descendants. The plaintiffs, descendants of Narayanarao…

The appellant, Mohan Singh, was accused of causing the disappearance of evidence under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code after a murder was committed on 4 March 1978. The prosecution alleged that his car, used to transport the victim's body, was washed on 8 March 1978, and on that basis the Sessions Judge framed a c…

The Director of Enforcement, under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, issued an ex parte order on May 12, 1967 imposing a Rs.6,000 penalty on Dara Singh for contraventions of sections 4 and 9, with a 45‑day payment deadline. No payment was made and a complaint under section 23F was filed alleging that a copy of…

The State of Andhra Pradesh appealed the acquittal of P.T. Appaiah and another, who had been convicted by a Sessions Judge for murder under IPC s.302 read with s.34. A Division Bench of the High Court upheld the conviction but was split on whether the offence was murder or culpable homicide. Under s.429 of the Code of …

The appeal concerned the validity of Section 60 of the Madras Cooperative Societies Act, 1932, which empowers the State Government to exempt a registered cooperative society from any provision of the Act or to modify its application. The Kerala High Court had struck down a notification issued under this provision on th…

The appellants, customs officers, were accused of dishonest misappropriation of goods they had seized and were holding in trust. The Sub‑Divisional Magistrate found a prima facie case under Sections 120B and 409 IPC and summoned the appellants, who sought discharge on the ground that prosecution required prior sanction…

Dr. Rajendra Prakash Sharma claimed title to a house he purchased under the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954, asserting that it had been declared evacuee property and that the sale was valid. The respondents argued that no declaration under Section 7 of the Administration of Evacuee Propert…

Mrs. Frances Coralie Mullin, a British national, was detained on 23 November 1979 under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974. She filed a writ petition under Article 32 alleging that her right to make a representation under Article 22(5) was violated because the represen…

The petitioners, appointed as Temporary Assistant Engineers between 1955 and 1964 under a special scheme, claimed they were members of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) Class I and were entitled to promotion under Rule 133(3)(c) and equal treatment under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The Railway …

Brijendra Singh, an army officer, owned 44 acres of land in Uttar Pradesh and sold two parcels of 12.5 acres each in 1971 to raise funds for building a house in New Delhi. The Prescribed Authority declared the 25.96 acres surplus under the Uttar Pradesh Imposition of Ceiling of Land Holding Act, 1960 (as amended). The …

Syad Akbar, a bus driver, was convicted under Section 304A IPC for the death of a four‑year‑old girl who was struck when he swerved his bus to avoid her. The prosecution’s eye‑witnesses were treated as hostile and their testimony was discarded by the trial court. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that hostile witnesses…

The Supreme Court examined three writ petitions challenging detentions under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974. The petitioners argued that a communication dated July 27, 1980, sent by their counsel requesting the detainee’s release and copies of documents, was a "rep…

The appellant, a granddaughter of a non‑redeeming co‑mortgagor, sued for partition and possession of her one‑half share of mortgaged property that had been fully redeemed by the father of the respondents between 1913‑1918. The trial court held the suit was not barred by limitation, but the High Court reversed, applying…

The State of West Bengal appealed the discharge of four licensed gun dealers who had handed firearms to an unlicensed mechanic for repair at his own workshop. The Supreme Court examined whether such hand‑over amounted to delivery of "possession" under Section 29(b) of the Arms Act, 1959, and whether it violated licence…

In the 1978 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, K. Veera Reddy was elected. V. Krishna Reddy filed an election petition alleging Veera Reddy's disqualification under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. All candidates, including Thammanna (original respondent No.5), were joined as respond…

K. M. Chokshi was detained under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 and filed a writ of habeas corpus. The Gujarat High Court rejected his petition and certified a substantial question: whether a detaining authority must consider the possibility of a criminal prosecuti…

The petitioner, a direct recruit Joint Commercial Tax Officer (JCTO) appointed in 1966, challenged a fresh combined inter‑se seniority list prepared by the Government in 1977 which placed him below a transferee recruit in the 1967 list. The High Court had earlier quashed the original seniority list and directed a fresh…

Murari Lal was convicted of murder and related offences on the basis of two key pieces of evidence: a wrist‑watch belonging to the deceased recovered at his instance, and a handwritten note found beside the dead body that a handwriting expert identified as being written by the appellant. The appellant contended that th…

Bai Dosabhai, who had received two plots of land as a gift, executed a deed of lease in 1946 granting the lessee (Indu Prasad Dev Shankar Bhatt and successors) a right to purchase the land within seven years for a stipulated price, with provisions for rent, default, and sale by public auction. After repeated notices fo…

The appellant, editor of the magazine 'Mother India', was convicted under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code for two articles titled 'A Tale of Two Communalisms' and 'Lingering Disgrace of History'. He argued that the articles were political theses and historical protests, not attacks on any religion, and thus could…

M.N. Sundarajan, a Section Officer in the Tamil Nadu Secretariat, was compulsorily retired on 2 March 1976 under Fundamental Rule 56(d). He challenged the retirement in the Madras High Court, arguing that the Review Committee which considered his case was improperly constituted, as the Government Order of 19 March 1973…

The State of Uttar Pradesh investigated Ram Babu Misra for offences under Sections 120‑B, 420, 468 and 471 IPC and asked the Chief Judicial Magistrate to order the accused to provide a specimen writing for comparison with disputed documents. The magistrate refused, holding that Section 73 of the Evidence Act did not em…

The Lt. Governor of Delhi superseded the New Delhi Municipal Committee under Section 238(1) of the Punjab Municipal Act, alleging incompetence, default and abuse of power. Two non‑official members of the Committee challenged the order, contending that they were not given any opportunity to be heard on the allegations. …

Sabir Ahmed filed a writ petition under Article 32 challenging the detention of his brother, Dawood Hasan Sheikh Ibrahim, under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA). The detenu had made a representation to the detaining authority and later applied to the Centr…

The plaintiff, an intermediary landlord, sued the respondents, tenants‑at‑will, for possession of agricultural land after a notification under Section 3 of the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950 had vested the plaintiff's estate in the State. The trial court held the plaintiff was in "khas" possession and could evict; the Hi…

The appellant was appointed as a temporary Inspector of Central Excise on the basis that he was a sportsman who had represented his university in an Inter‑University Tournament. He had qualified and been selected to represent Mithila University in the 1972 tournament but was unable to participate due to a serious illne…

Amritlal Ratilal Mehta and Gajanan Gandhi, employees of a private firm, were charged with cheating the Central Excise Department by making false entries in gate passes. They were tried for offences under IPC s.420 read with s.34 (cheating) and s.477‑A read with s.34 (false entry). The magistrate acquitted them of s.420…

The plaintiff, a landlady, leased premises to the defendant for the business of retreading tyres at a rent of Rs.850 per annum. When the defendant defaulted on rent, the plaintiff served a 30‑day notice to terminate the tenancy. The defendant contended that the lease was for "manufacturing purposes" under Section 106 o…

The appellant obtained a money decree from the Small Causes Court in 1953 and, under Section 39(1)(d) CPC, had it transferred to the Munsif Court for execution. The Munsif Court sold the immovable property in execution of the decree, and the purchaser later sold it to the respondents. The respondents challenged the sal…

The Supreme Court examined the dismissal of V.N. Vajpayee, a warehouseman employed by the Uttar Pradesh State Warehousing Corporation, a statutory corporation. Vajpayee was dismissed after a preliminary inquiry without being allowed to cross‑examine witnesses or present defence, and was also ordered to pay a sum for al…

Lallubhai Jogibhai Patel was detained under Section 3 of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 on 30 January 1980. He filed a writ petition (No. 449 of 1980) under Article 32 challenging the detention, which was dismissed. After the dismissal he raised additional grounds …

The petitioners, transport operators, challenged the validity of Section 3(3) of the Haryana Passengers and Goods Taxation Act, 1952, which levied a tax on passengers and goods carried on routes partly within Haryana, arguing that it infringed the freedom of inter‑state trade under Article 301 and was not a permissible…

The testator, Pyare Lal Singh Bhatia, executed a will in 1944 leaving a life interest in his property to his second wife Lakshmi Devi and, after her death, to his son Om Prakash. The will also expressly denied any right to the property for the widow and daughters of his pre‑deceased son, while providing for their maint…

The State of Tamil Nadu appealed the acquittal of R. Krishnamurthy, who had sold gingelly oil adulterated with 15% groundnut oil and claimed it was for external use only. The trial court convicted him under section 16(1)(a)(i) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, but the Sessions Judge and High Court acqui…

Ram Deo, the tenant, entered into a compromise agreement on 13 June 1960 to pay Rs.600 of pre‑agreement rent arrears in monthly instalments of Rs.25 each, alongside Rs.25 of current rent. He later fell into arrears and the landlord, Umrao Singh, served a notice demanding Rs.150, of which Rs.75 represented three months'…

The appellant, a temporary Sub‑Inspector of Police, was removed from service after his name was placed on a list of officers of low reputation during a police‑wide purge. He had earlier faced disciplinary proceedings for a second marriage, which were quashed. He challenged the termination as a punitive dismissal violat…

Hazari Lal, a police constable, demanded a Rs.60 bribe for releasing the complainant's scooter rickshaw. The complainant reported the demand to the Anti‑Corruption Department, where an inspector set a trap by marking six currency notes with phenol‑phthalene powder and handing them to the complainant, who passed them to…

The State of Punjab charged six accused of murdering Hazara Singh and Resham Singh, relying primarily on the eye‑witness testimony of Resham Singh (PW‑2) and Bachan Singh (PW‑3). The High Court acquitted all accused, rejecting the witnesses as interested and pointing to inconsistencies, lack of motive for most accused,…

Biswabani Pvt. Ltd. occupied Kalpana Theatre under a registered lease (1948‑53) and later under a consent decree that attempted to create a fresh five‑year lease starting March 1955. The fresh lease was not registered, rendering it void under the Transfer of Property Act. After the five‑year period expired in February …

The Supreme Court examined the conviction of Rajasthan Pharmaceutical Laboratory, its partner and its manager for offences under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, including sale of unlicensed and sub‑standard drugs, failure to disclose source, and contravention of a prohibitory order. The High Court had imposed fines …

The respondent, a motor vehicle dealer from Tamil Nadu, transported new cars and chassis through the State of Mysore en route to other states, covering about 400 miles and making brief halts. The Mysore Road Transport Authority demanded road tax under Section 3(2) of the Mysore Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1957, which …

A First Information Report alleging fraud by TISCO against the railways led to a criminal case registered at Tatanagar. After the railway police filed a final report under section 173(2) of the CrPC, the State of Bihar, through the Chief Secretary and Chief Minister, directed the Inspector General (Vigilance) to conduc…

The Municipal Council of Pusad imposed a Boja and Bale tax on ginning and pressing cotton under Section 66(1)(b) of the Central Provinces Municipalities Act, 1922, in 1932. Gokaldas Dossa & Co. Ltd. challenged the tax in 1967, arguing that it exceeded the ceiling limits set by Article 276 of the Constitution and the Pr…

Swadeshi Cotton Mills challenged a Government order under Section 18AA of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, which authorised the National Textile Corporation to take over its management without a prior hearing. The Supreme Court examined whether the principle of audi alteram partem was implied in S…

The appellant's property was attached and sold in execution of a decree. He claimed the sale proclamation contained several irregularities and filed an application under Section 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure to set aside the sale. The executing court agreed that the irregularities vitiated the sale and set it aside…

In a proceeding before the Uttar Pradesh Board of Revenue, the appellant S.K. Sarkar allegedly abused counsel Vinay Chandra Misra, using vulgar language, and was accused of committing criminal contempt of his own court and the High Court. Misra filed a petition under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and the Allahabad …

The State of Maharashtra prosecuted Sk. Bannu, Shankar and Mohammad Nazir for forging a bail bond and affidavit in a bail application filed under the Bombay Prohibition Act. The first magistrate who granted bail later transferred the case to another magistrate, who, after discovering the forgery, filed a complaint unde…

The State of Gujarat appealed a High Court order that quashed a circular directing police not to grant bail to persons arrested under sections 4 and 5 of the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act. The respondents were arrested by a Sub‑Inspector on a warrant issued under section 6 of the Act and were denied bail by the pol…

The petitioner, the wife of Sarfaraz Maqbool Qureishi, filed a writ of habeas corpus under Article 32 challenging his preventive detention under Section 3 of the Prevention of Black‑Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980. The detenu, who was seriously ill and confined to the Intensive …

R. Subba Rao, having lost two suits before an Additional Sub‑Judge, issued a notice accusing the judge of bad faith, malice and bias and demanding damages. The judge referred the notice to the High Court, which, on the Advocate‑General's petition, convicted Rao of criminal contempt under Section 2(c) of the Contempt of…

The appellant H.S. Bains was alleged to have entered the complainant’s house armed with a revolver and threatened to kill him and his son. The magistrate, on receipt of the complaint, ordered a police investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the police submitted a report under Sec…

The petitioner, Mohammad Yousuf Rather, was detained under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978. He challenged the detention on the ground that the annexed grounds were vague and irrelevant, thereby violating his constitutional right under Article 22(5) to be informed of the grounds and to make a representation.…

Ajit Singh, his son Balwant Singh and another son Mohan Singh were tried for the murder of Manilal and injuries to his brothers. The trial court acquitted them, finding the prosecution evidence unreliable and giving them the benefit of doubt. The State filed an appeal after the limitation period had expired; the Gujara…

The appellant, a widow, claimed possession of a house that had been sold at auction to the first respondent. After the second respondent, her son, entered the house, he was convicted of trespass and the High Court ordered the house restored to the first respondent. The appellant objected to this order in a civil procee…

N. Madhavan was charged under Section 302 IPC for killing a person with his licensed 12‑bore gun. He successfully pleaded self‑defence, invoking Section 96 IPC, and the Sessions Judge acquitted him. However, the judge ordered the gun to be confiscated to the Government without giving any reasons or hearing the accused.…

Mahant Parichchan Das sued to declare that the temples and associated lands were his personal property and not subject to the Bihar Hindu Religious Trusts Act, 1951. The respondents, the Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts and others, contended that the properties formed a Hindu religious trust of public nature. The …

The State of Uttar Pradesh appealed a decision of the Allahabad High Court which had ordered a refund of court fees under Section 13 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 after a case was remanded to the lower court under Order XI Rule 23 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 as amended by the High Court. The central question was…

The Supreme Court examined the Bihar Kendu Leaves (Control of Trade) Act, 1973, which created a state monopoly over the sale of Kendu leaves for bidi manufacturing. The petitioners, traders in Kendu leaves, challenged Clause 13 (a minimum royalty of 75% of the estimated yield) and Clause 4(bb) (purchasers could not obj…

Rama Nand was convicted for the murder of his wife Sumitra under Section 302 IPC, with co‑accused Shish Ram and Kali Datt convicted under Section 201 IPC. The prosecution relied on a series of circumstantial facts: a strong motive demonstrated by threatening letters, Sumitra’s last sighting with the accused, the planti…

The Anti‑Corruption Bureau raided Natwarlal Damodardas Soni's residence and seized 100 gold biscuits of foreign origin concealed in a jacket; the Customs authorities subsequently took possession. Soni, who was absent at the time, was later convicted under sections 135(a) and (b) of the Customs Act, 1962 and the Defence…

Lallu Jogi Patel was detained on 31 January 1980 under Section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA). He sought copies of the documents relied upon in the grounds of detention and permission for his lawyer to interview him. The State supplied the docume…

The State of Maharashtra charged three men with attempting to smuggle 43 silver ingots out of India, violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the Imports and Exports (Control) Act and the Customs Act. The accused, who were the driver of a jeep, the driver of a truck and a cleaner, argued that they were unaware of…

The State of Maharashtra prosecuted Vishwanath Tukaram Umale and others for stealing railway tyres and tubes from a wagon in transit. The prosecution alleged that accused 1, 2, 5 and an absconding accused had removed the tyres, sold them to accused 3, who later sold some to accused 4. The trial magistrate refused to fr…

The petitioners, Indru Ramchand Bharvani and his father Ram Chand Bharvani, were detained under Section 3(i) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, after a customs raid on their diamond business. They requested copies of the statements and documents on which the ground…