K.P. TIWARIversusSTATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
1993 INSC 35329 October 1993
The petitioner, Additional Sessions Judge K.P. Tiwari, granted temporary and permanent bail to five accused persons despite having rejected their bail applications on merit. The High Court cancelled the bail orders and, in its judgment, alleged that the judge was "interested" and had been "won over" by the accused, att…
THE ENTERTAINMENT TAX OFFICERversusAMBAE PICTURE PALACE
1993 INSC 34828 October 1993
The Andhra Pradesh Entertainment Tax Officer appealed against a High Court order that struck down the retrospective operation of the Andhra Pradesh Entertainment Tax (Amendment) Act, 1985, which re‑imposed tax on the basis of gross collection capacity for the period 7 September 1984 to 24 October 1984. The State had, t…
THE RUBY SALES AND SERVICES (P) LTD. AND ANR.versusSTATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ORS.
1993 INSC 35028 October 1993
The appellants challenged the liability to pay stamp duty on a consent decree that transferred title to immovable property. The issue was whether such a decree qualifies as a "conveyance" under section 2(g) or an "instrument" under section 2(1) of the Bombay Stamps Act, 1958. The High Court’s single judge held it did n…
RAGHU SEEDS AND FARMS AND OTHERS ETC.versusTHE UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. ETC.
1993 INSC 35128 October 1993
The petitioners challenged the validity of the Central Government's notification dated 24 February 1983 declaring seeds of food‑crops, fruits and vegetables as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the consequent Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 which required licences for dealing in such seed…
G.L. HOTELS LTD. ETC.versusT.C. SARIN AND ANR.
1993 INSC 27725 August 1993
The Employees' State Insurance Corporation demanded contributions from several hotels for the period 1970‑1978, treating the hotels as factories under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 because cooking in their kitchens was a manufacturing process. The hotels contended that only the kitchen should be deemed a fac…
SVENSKA HANDELSBM'KEN AND OTHERS ETC.versusINDIAN CHARGE CHROME LTD. AND OTHERS
1994 INSC 2224 January 1994
The plaintiff (borrower) sued the suppliers, lenders and guarantor over a power‑plant project, invoking credit agreements that contained arbitration clauses. The lenders, particularly Svenska Handelsbanken (defendant No. 4), instructed their counsel not to appear or take any step in the main suit, limiting a power of a…
SMT. RANI DEVIversusBHOLE NATH AND ORS
1991 INSC 26822 October 1991Appeal(s) allowed
Rani Devi, the landlady, filed a suit under section 21 of the U.P. Urban Building (Regulation of letting, rent and eviction) Act, 1972 seeking eviction of the occupants, Bhole Nath and others, on the ground of a bona‑fide requirement to start a business for her son. The original tenant, Lalu, died in 1965 and his heirs…
SRI CHAND GUPTAversusGULZAR SINGH AND ANR.
1991 INSC 26922 October 1991Dismissed
The landlord filed an eviction application under Section 14(1)(b) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, alleging that the tenant, Guizar Singh, had sublet the premises to his brother Avtar Singh. The Rent Controller and the Rent Control Tribunal relied on an affidavit filed by Avtar Singh before the Income Tax authorities, in…
SANGANER DAL AND FLOUR MILLversusF.C.I. AND. ORS.
1991 INSC 27022 October 1991Dismissed
ASSISTANT EXCISE COMMISSIONER AND ORS.versusISSAC PETER AND ORS. ETC. ETC.
1994 INSC 8522 February 1994
The Supreme Court examined disputes arising from the Kerala Abkari Shops (Disposal in Auction) Rules, 1974, where licensees of arrack shops claimed the State was contractually obliged to supply additional quantities of liquor beyond the statutorily mandated monthly quota. The Court held that the monthly quota is obliga…
COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAJ, ORISSAversusDHADI SAHU
1992 INSC 31918 November 1992Appeal(s) allowed
The assessee concealed income of minor children and the Income‑Tax Officer referred the case to the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner (IAC) under Section 274(2) of the Income‑Tax Act because the minimum penalty exceeded Rs 1,000. The reference was made before the amendment of Section 274(2) which, from 1 April 1971, re…
ACTION COMMITTEE ON ISSUE OF CASTE CERTIFICATE TO SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES IN THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRAversusUNION OF INDIA AND ANR.
1994 INSC 26218 July 1994Dismissed
The Action Committee on Issue of Caste Certificate filed a writ petition under Article 32 challenging Maharashtra's denial of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe benefits to persons who had migrated from other states. The petition argued that the denial violated Articles 14, 15(1), 16(2), 19 and the spirit of Articles …
STATE OF TAMIL NADU AND ORS.versusV.S. BALAKRISHNAN AND ORS. ETC.
1994 INSC 26318 July 1994Appeal(s) allowed
The Tamil Nadu Government transferred employees from the Dairy Development Department to the Dairy Development Corporation on deputation/foreign service, later replacing the corporation with a cooperative federation. The employees challenged GO 1921 (1993), which provided terminal benefits on permanent absorption into …
MOHINDER SINGHversusGULWANT SINGH AND ORS. ETC.
1991 INSC 34217 December 1991Appeal(s) allowed
The appellant filed a complaint before the Chief Judicial Magistrate alleging that his brother‑in‑law, Darshan Singh, had contracted a second marriage while his first marriage to Jagjit Kaur was still subsisting, thereby committing bigamy under IPC s.494 and abetment under s.109. The magistrate, after recording stateme…
COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAXversusSUN ENGINEERING WORKS (P) LTD.
1992 INSC 25617 September 1992Dismissed
Sun Engineering Works filed loss returns for assessment years 1960-61 and 1961-62 after the statutory time limit; the Income Tax Officer treated the returns as "no demand" and did not allow the losses. The assessee later disclosed Hundi loans, which the Officer treated as escaped income and, under sections 147 and 148,…
SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ORISSAversusLAXMIKANTE NANDA AND ORS.
1993 INSC 37116 November 1993
The Government of Orissa issued a resolution on 15 December 1986 revising the eligibility criteria for promotion to Deputy Director of Homeopathy, eliminating the requirement of a recognised qualification under the Homeopathy Central Council Act and excluding college lecturers from consideration, limiting eligibility t…
SVENSKA HANDELSBANKENversusMIS INDIAN CHARGE CHROME AND ORS.
1993 INSC 33615 October 1993Appeal(s) allowed
The plaintiff (borrower) entered into contracts with suppliers for a 108 MW captive power plant and with a consortium of banks, including Svenska Handelsbanken, for financing. The plant was later found to have a capacity of only 60 MW, leading the plaintiff to allege fraud by the suppliers and the lender and to seek a …
COMMISSIONER OF SALES TAX, U.P.versusM/S GENERAL MANAGER, NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY, GORAKHPUR, ETC. ETC.
1994 INSC 25514 July 1994
The North Eastern Railway (NER) applied for registration under the U.P. Sales Tax Act, 1948 through its Chief Commercial Superintendent, declaring Gorakhpur as its principal place of business. The Sales Tax Officer in Gorakhpur accepted the registration and later issued assessment orders based on a return filed by the …
DR. NANDJEE SINGHversusP.G. MEDICAL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION AND ORS.
1993 INSC 21314 May 1993Appeal(s) allowed
Dr. N. Singh, a biochemist attached to Rajendra Medical College, applied for registration as a teacher candidate for the M.D. (General Medicine) examination. The University and the High Court held that he was not a teacher and had not completed the requisite three years of training, including housemanship, and conseque…
DR. M.S. MUDHOL AND ANR.versusSHRI S.D. HALEGKAR AND ORS.
1993 INSC 22513 July 1993Dismissed
The petitioners, members of the teaching staff, sought a writ of quo warranto to remove the principal of a private aided school on the ground that he lacked the essential academic qualification of a II division Master's degree, possessing only a third‑class M.A. but an II division M.Ed. The High Court dismissed the pet…
TARSEM SINGH AND ANR.versusSTATE OF PUNJAB & ORS.
1994 INSC 24212 July 1994Appeal(s) allowed
The case concerned whether employees holding the post of Superintendent in the Punjab Labour Department, whose pay‑scale (Rs.350‑450) is higher than that of a Labour Inspector (Rs.200‑450), could be promoted to the Inspector post under Rule 8(1)(a)(i) of the Punjab Labour Department (State Service Class‑III) Rules, 196…
BISHAMBER DASS KOHLI (DEAD) BY LRS.versusSMT. SATYA BHALLA
1993 INSC 1112 January 1993Appeal(s) allowed
The landlord leased a premises in Chandigarh to the tenant for residential use, but the tenant's husband, a lawyer, set up a small office in part of the premises. The landlord sought eviction under section 13(2)(ii)(b) of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, alleging a change of user without written consent. The…
AMAR SINGH AND ORS.versusAJMER SINGH AND ORS.
1994 INSC 23211 July 1994Appeal(s) allowed
Marn Ram, a large landowner, had 61 acres and 9 units of land partitioned among his sons. Under the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953, 9 acres and 3¾ units were declared surplus in 1961 and the order became final in 1962. The Haryana Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972, Section 12(3) deemed such surplus land ves…
S.R. BOMMAIversusUNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
1994 INSC 11111 March 1994
This landmark judgment concerns the scope of Article 356 of the Constitution of India, which empowers the President to impose President's Rule in states upon failure of constitutional machinery. The case consolidated challenges to proclamations dissolving legislative assemblies in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Madhya…
COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, MADRASversusEXPRESS NEWSPAPER LTD.
1994 INSC 511 January 1994
Express Newspaper Ltd. claimed large losses in its returns for AY 1985-86, which the Assessing Officer rejected as fabricated and assessed a huge income. While the appeal against this assessment was pending, the company filed an application under Section 245‑C of the Income‑Tax Act seeking settlement for four assessmen…
DR. S.K. KHANNA AND ORS. ETC. ETC.versusSTATE OF HARYANA AND ORS. ETC. ETC.
1993 INSC 3665 November 1993
The plaintiffs, originally appointed as Lecturers in a private college that was later taken over by the Haryana Government, claimed they had been promoted to Senior Lecturers under the UGC scheme and that the Government’s regularisation of them as Lecturers amounted to a demotion. The Court examined the statutory order…
OSWAL AGRO MILLS LTD. AND ANR.versusASSTT. COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL EXCISE DIVISION LUDHIANA AND ORS.
1994 INSC 484 February 1994Disposed off
The appellants, Oswal Agro Mills Ltd. and another, paid 50% of the assessed excise duty and furnished bank guarantees for the remaining 50% under interim Supreme Court orders. After the Supreme Court allowed their appeal on the classification of toilet soap, the appellants sought a refund of the duty and the bank guara…
SHRI R.R. BHANOTversusUNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
1994 INSC 24 January 1994Appeal(s) allowed
R.R. Bhanot entered the service of the erstwhile State of Punjab in 1937. After the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, he was provisionally allocated to Himachal Pradesh from 1 November 1966, but he contested this allocation. Himachal Pradesh prematurely retired him in 1968; the Himachal Bench of the Delhi High Court qua…
WELLMAN (INDIA) PVT. LTD.versusTHE EMPLOYEES STATE INSURANCE CORPORATION
1993 INSC 3603 November 1993
Wellman (India) Pvt. Ltd. entered into a settlement with its workers' union in 1966 that created an attendance bonus scheme, which became an express term of the employment contract. The company sought a declaration from the Employees' Insurance Court that the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) could not dema…