Judgments of 1997

Vijayawada Bottling Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of Maaza Mango aerated water, excluded rental and service charges for returnable bottles from its price list. The Assistant Collector of Central Excise included these charges in the assessable value, a view affirmed by the Collector (Appeals). The CCEAT held rental charges i…

Mis Oblum Electrical Industries, a manufacturer of lightning arrestors, imported Crystar beams as kiln furniture and claimed duty‑free clearance under Customs Notification No. 210/82 and No. 116/88. The Additional Collector of Customs and the Customs, Excise & Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal held that the beams were …

The United India Insurance Company had issued a third‑party motor insurance policy for a car owned by R‑9. The car was driven by R‑1, who was unlicensed, and collided with a scooter, killing its rider. The claimants (dependents of the deceased) sought compensation, and the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal held that R‑9 h…

Ten persons attacked a bullock‑cart carrying the complainant party; one victim, Bhura, died and another, Badri, was injured. Five of the accused (the appellants) were convicted by the trial court and the High Court under Section 302 (murder) and Section 148 IPC. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the appella…

The respondent, a former employee of the Allahabad High Court, received four premature salary increments by orders of the Chief Justice but the State of Uttar Pradesh excluded those increments when calculating his pension. The respondent challenged this in a writ petition, which a Full Bench of the Allahabad High Court…

Dr. Ashok filed a public‑interest petition under Article 32 seeking a ban on 40 insecticides and chemicals deemed hazardous to health. The Union of India set up an expert committee, issued notifications cancelling the registration of certain insecticides and restricting others. Manufacturers challenged the cancellation…

Petitioners Kashinath Kher and others filed contempt petitions under Section 23 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, alleging that respondents, including Dinesh Kumar Bhaghat, failed to implement the Supreme Court's directions in State Bank of India & Ors. v. Kashinath Kher & Ors. (1996) 8 SCC 762 concerning the prepar…

Ten workmen were employed by Sri Ganganagar Urban Co‑operative Bank in 1992 and were dismissed on 5 June 1992 without any prior notice or payment in lieu of notice. They filed an application before the Industrial Tribunal under Section 33(c‑2) of the Industrial Disputes Act seeking reinstatement with full back wages. T…

The respondent was engaged on daily wages for a state‑run project that was closed, leading to his discharge. He filed a claim under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act seeking continuity of service and back wages. The Labour Court and the Karnataka High Court held that he was entitled to reinstatement with back w…

The case concerned a 68‑acre government lease in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands originally granted to Khansahib Naban Ali for 30 years in 1922. After his death, the lease was transferred to the appellant’s father‑in‑law and subsequently to the appellant, who applied for a renewal/assignment after the initial term expire…

The case concerned the Sardarajanti Kalan Cooperative Agricultural Service Society, where the President, along with the Secretary and Treasurer (Cashier), were held jointly liable for an unaccounted sum of Rs 65,726.59. An award under the Haryana Cooperative Societies Act had found the three officers responsible, which…

The appellant, a Scheduled Caste employee of Indian Railways, was promoted up to Welfare Inspector Grade III and sought promotion to Grade II after a restructuring increased the proportion of posts in each grade. The restructuring raised the total Grade II posts from 23 to 26, which, with a 15% reservation for Schedule…

The landlord filed an eviction suit under Section 21(1)(a) of the Uttar Pradesh Premises (Regulation of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972, claiming a bona‑fide need for the premises to start a cloth business. The prescribed authority rejected the claim, but the appellate authority reversed that decision and ordered eviction…

The Supreme Court examined whether the Karnataka Entertainment Tax authorities could reassess "escaped turnover" for periods prior to the commencement of Rule 29‑F, which prescribes a five‑year limitation for exercising the power under Section 6‑B of the Karnataka Entertainment Tax Act, 1958. The High Court had held th…

The Supreme Court heard an appeal by special leave against a Punjab & Haryana High Court order dismissing a writ petition that challenged the Ludhiana Improvement Trust's land acquisition. The Trust had issued notifications under the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 (equivalent to Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition …

The appellant (landlord) leased land to the respondent (tenant) in 1953 for seven years. The tenant built a house within five years, which was destroyed by fire in 1958 and subsequently rebuilt. The landlord served a notice to vacate on 12 December 1959 without the one‑month period required under Section 11 of the Assa…

The respondents, originally Senior Assistant Grade‑II teachers, were promoted to Grade‑I and claimed entitlement to graded advance increments based on their total length of service under Government Order (G.O.) No. 41 dated 4 February 1980. The Tribunal had set aside their claim on a procedural ground, holding that the…

Ramanath Patnaik, who entered the Orissa State service as a clerk in 1944, had his date of birth recorded as 1 January 1921 based on his matriculation certificate. After retiring in 1976, he filed a suit in 1981 seeking a declaration that his correct date of birth was 1 January 1925. The trial court dismissed the suit,…

V. Satyanarayana died leaving his widow Raghavamma, a minor son (the appellant) and a daughter (the respondent). A 1955 compromise decree partitioned the estate, granting the widow a life interest with reversion to the son. After the Andhra Pradesh Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, the settlem…

The State of Madhya Pradesh appealed against the Madhya Pradesh High Court's acquittal of Udai Singh, who had been convicted by the trial court for the murder of three women and the attempted murder of a fourth under IPC sections 302 and 307. The Supreme Court examined whether the eyewitness testimonies—despite minor i…

The Supreme Court examined amendments made by the Madhya Pradesh Government to the 1973 Recruitment Rules for Assistant Teachers under the Operation Black Board Scheme, which introduced a proviso allowing the State to prescribe selection criteria and procedures in specific circumstances and set the qualification as Bas…

In the 1995 Vidhan Sabha election for the Lakhisarai constituency, respondent No.1 was declared elected. The appellant, Ashwini Kumar Sharma, filed an election petition under Section 100(1)(d)(iii) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, alleging irregularities and illegalities in the counting of votes, includin…

The U.P. Cooperative Federation Ltd. terminated Ram Singh Yadav's employment on the ground of wilful absence without giving the one‑month notice or salary in lieu required by Regulation 19 of the U.P. Cooperative Societies Employees' Service Regulations, 1975, and without conducting a disciplinary enquiry as mandated b…

The appellants Sukhbir Singh and others were initially charged under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and tried by a designated TADA court. The designated judge held that no offence under TADA was made out and, relying on a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision, ordered the case transfer…

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi appealed against a Delhi High Court order that declared the acquisition notification of two Khasra numbers void because the award under Section 11-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was not made within the statutory two‑year period. The High Court had held that a stay order dated 25‑…

The case concerned members of the Reserved Trained Pool (RTP) of the Posts and Telegraphs Department who, after being absorbed as regular employees, claimed the benefits granted to casual labourers under the 1989 Casual Labourers (Grant of Temporary Status and Regularisation) Scheme. The Central Administrative Tribunal…

The Supreme Court, recalling its earlier D.K. Basu judgment which laid down eleven procedural safeguards to prevent custodial violence, noted that more than seven months had passed without evidence of implementation. On petitions filed by Dr. A.M. Singhvi, the Court directed the Director General of Police and Home Secr…

The Rajasthan State advertised a post in 1992 requiring a technical qualification (B.S.T.C. or equivalent) to be possessed by the application deadline of 29 June 1992. Hitendra Kumar Bhatt applied but did not have the qualification on that date; his results were declared only on 6 August 1992. He obtained an interim or…

Krishan, already serving life imprisonment for a prior murder, was convicted of murdering his brother‑in‑law Ranbir inside District Jail, Sonepat, using a spade. The trial court sentenced him to death, a decision affirmed by the High Court. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the death penalty was justified u…

The first appellant, a public limited company, and its senior directors were accused by minority shareholders of oppression and mismanagement. The shareholders filed petitions before the Company Law Board under Sections 397 and 398 of the Companies Act, 1956, seeking injunctions and the appointment of an administrator.…

The appellant, Agauta Sugar and Chemicals, had failed to pay approximately Rs 29 crore owed to cane growers and societies for sugarcane supplied, leading the District Collector to attach the factory’s sugar stock‑in‑hand. The factory filed a writ petition challenging the attachment, and the High Court issued interim di…

The Supreme Court approved a rehabilitation scheme for Ashok Paper Mills, Darbhanga, and ordered its implementation after the IDBI reneged on loan commitments. The petitioners, representing the mill workers, sought the Court's intervention to compel the Finance Ministry and IDBI to honour the scheme despite technical o…

The case concerned the appointment of K.K. Sharma as Professor of Ancient History at Meerut University. The Selection Committee, lacking two external experts, selected Sharma, but the Executive Council rejected the selection because Sharma did not hold a Ph.D. in Ancient History. Under Section 31(8)(a) of the U.P. Univ…

The Supreme Court examined the implementation of the Delhi hawkers rehabilitation scheme by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in light of the R.C. Chopra report. It directed the MCD to give all applicants previously held ineligible an opportunity to make representations, to re‑examine eligibility, to prepare zon…

Two recognised workers' unions and a third union (respondent No.2) that was not recognised under the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971, challenged a circular issued by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation regarding payment of interim relief. The unre…

The appellants claimed tenancy rights over a 689.28‑acre partnership property that had been declared evacuee property after one partner migrated to Pakistan. They argued that, under Section 12(2) of the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954, a tenancy existing before 14 August 1947 could not be …

The appellants and respondents were holding haats (market places) on land in Uttar Pradesh. The dispute centered on whether the Settlement Officer under the U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1954 could adjudicate a case involving buildings on that land used for commercial purposes. Section 3(5) of the Act defines "la…

Mohd. Marghoob Siddiqui, who had migrated to Pakistan before 1947 and became a Pakistani citizen, claimed Bhumidari rights of his mother Kabool Fatima after her death in 1965 and sold the land to the appellants. The Union of India and others initiated proceedings under the Enemy Property Act, 1968, asserting that Siddi…

The petitioners, manufacturers of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani drugs, challenged the amendment to Section 3(h) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, arguing that it arbitrarily prohibited the manufacture of drugs administered by the parenteral route and violated Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. The Court ex…

Pratap Pharma Pvt. Ltd. and others filed writ petitions under Article 32 challenging the amendment of Section 3(h) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (as amended by Act 68 of 1982), alleging it was arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. The petitioners contended that the amendment ex…