Judgments of 1986

RibTapes (India) Pvt. Ltd. imported 27 knitting machines in 1972 under a licence. Customs authorities held the machines were reconditioned and that the declared price (Rs. 77,441) was far below the actual value (Rs. 2,98,359). The Collector of Customs found the company in breach of sections 111(d) and 111(m) of the Cus…

The Uttar Pradesh Government, under Section 14(1)(a) of the U.P. Sugarcane (Purchase Tax) Act, 1961, granted a remission of purchase tax of Re. 0.51 per quintal to twenty sugar factories in the eastern zone that purchased sugarcane yielding low recovery, while denying the same relief to other similarly situated factori…

Vanaz Engineering (P) Ltd. introduced a gratuity scheme in mid‑1970 and, based on an actuarial report, provisioned Rs 2,11,305 as a liability as of 31 December 1970. The Income‑Tax Officer allowed only Rs 27,249, the difference between the provision and the liability for 1969, but the Appellate Assistant Commissioner a…

Sawai Singh, a Superintendent in the Rajasthan Government, was removed from service after a departmental inquiry found him guilty of favouring a candidate, manipulating a dummy candidate's withdrawal, and forging a nomination paper by erasing the word "panch". The inquiry relied on vague charges and the testimony of a …

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 Rajkot Municipality framed draft rules for levying rates on buildings and lands, obtained State Government sanction, and published a newspaper notice under section 77 of the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, 1925 stating that the rules could be inspected and purchased at the municipal office. Sonik Industries challeng…

M. Duraiswamy, holder of an inter‑regional stage‑carriage permit issued by the Periyar Regional Transport Authority (RTA), applied to that RTA for a variation that included converting the service to a mofussil one and extending the route into Salem District, which lay wholly in the jurisdiction of the Salem RTA. The Pe…

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 Karnataka State Transport Authority received 495 applications for 14 All‑India Tourist Vehicle permits. It initially granted 11 permits to the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation, one to the Indian Tourism Development Corporation and two to the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation. The Karnataka S…

The mill of Prakash Cotton Mills was forced to shut from 24 March to 10 June 1964 because essential raw materials were detained by excise authorities. The Rashtriya Mazdoor Sangh sought closure compensation for regular employees and Badli (casual) workers. The Labour Court ordered compensation at 50% of wages; the Indu…

The Karnataka University prescribed, under emergency powers, that admission to its engineering courses required passing the two‑year Pre‑University Examination of the Bangalore board or an equivalent exam recognised by the university. The appellants, who had either passed the 11‑year Higher Secondary Examination of Raj…

The State of Tamil Nadu appealed against the Madras High Court’s decision that the penalty under section 10A(1) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 should be calculated on the basis of the concessional tax rate applicable to goods covered by a ‘C’ form. The assessee had purchased motor spare parts using ‘C’ form certifi…

The Government of Andhra Pradesh authorised the sale of lands belonging to Sri Bugga Math, Tirupati to certain respondents by private negotiation at Rs.62,500 per acre under the proviso to clause (c) of s.74(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable & Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1966. The appellants challenged this order…

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 respondents, two Scheduled Caste auditors, failed to meet the aggregate qualifying marks in the Part II Subordinate Accounts Service examination of December 1980 and sought a writ of mandamus directing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to apply the relaxation prescribed in Office Memorandum No. 36021/10/76 …