G T NANAVATI

The Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) deposited the award amount from a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in the executing court but failed to give notice to the decree holders. The decree holders claimed interest from the date of deposit (June 27, 1986) until they were informed (April 19, 1989). The corp…

G. Gopalakrishna Pillai was initially appointed on an ad hoc basis as Storekeeper in the Navy and later regularised in the same post. He claimed seniority from the date he first started officiating, but the Department granted seniority only from the date of regularisation. The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) allo…

The petitioner highlighted severe pollution of the Gomti River caused by several industries, including Mohan Meakins Breweries, and the Supreme Court ordered on 15 January 1993 that these units must rectify deficiencies in their effluent treatment plants by 21 March 1993 or cease operations. Mohan Meakins failed to com…

The Central Bank of India sued Saxons Farms for issuing three cheques that were returned unpaid due to insufficient funds. The bank sent two written notices within fifteen days, each demanding payment and warning of criminal action if the cheques were again dishonoured. After the cheques were re-presented and still bou…

Randhir Basu and a co‑accused were convicted of murdering the mother, father and grandparents of a girl named Sudipa. Sudipa, after being granted pardon, was examined as an approver before a magistrate in chambers, without the accused present for cross‑examination. The appellant challenged the conviction on the ground …

The Supreme Court examined a massive promotion anomaly in the Uttar Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Department where numerous junior clerks were promoted to Supply Inspector posts in violation of seniority rules, depriving senior employees of their rightful promotions. The petitioners argued that these promotions breac…

The Government Engineering College in Bhatinda was transferred to an autonomous society in 1992. The college’s staff, who were government employees, filed writ petitions seeking absorption into regular government service rather than being transferred to the society. The Punjab & Haryana High Court ordered that all of t…

The appellants were charged with violations of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 and the Indian Penal Code section 120‑B. A complaint was filed under the corresponding provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. The trial court dismissed the complaint, holding that the 1947 and 1973 Acts were incon…

Kamla Prasad Singh filed a complaint alleging that police officers raided his house without a warrant, assaulted his wife, abused occupants and seized his property. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, after an inquiry under Section 202 of the CrPC, found that the raid was conducted under a valid warrant and supervised by an…

The appellants entered into a sale agreement for a plot of land with the respondents, fixing May 28, 1989 as the date for performance. The respondents repudiated the contract after the appellants had issued a notice to obtain tax clearance and urban ceiling authority permission. The appellants filed a suit for mandator…

The appellant's father purchased a restaurant business in 1951 and placed the respondent in charge, later alleging mismanagement and filing a suit for declaration and rendition of account. In earlier proceedings the respondent admitted in his written statement that he managed the business and claimed sufficient funds t…

The Supreme Court heard an appeal against an order of the Orissa Administrative Tribunal that, in a review proceeding, directed the appointment of the respondent, Pratap Kumar Nayak, as a regular primary school teacher despite his failure to meet the prescribed qualifications. The Tribunal had earlier, on May 19, 1993,…

The appellant, M.L. Mubarak Basha, appealed a Madras High Court decision confirming a public auction sale of a saw‑mill property, contending that the Commissioner of the court had no authority to fix the upset price. The sale had been conducted under Order XXI Rule 66 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, which requires t…

The State of Punjab alleged that the young bride Jyoti Bala was subjected to dowry demands and maltreatment by her husband Gurdip Kumar and his family, leading her to commit suicide by self‑immolation. The trial court convicted the accused under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetting suicide, relying on test…

The case arose from a criminal proceeding for the abduction and murder of an advocate and his family. The CBI, after a Supreme Court direction, filed a charge‑sheet against the appellant SI Avindervir Singh and three other police officers for offences under Sections 193, 194, 211 and 218 IPC, alleging false implication…

The appellants, Shiv Prakash Pandey (A‑1) and Shobhit Chamar (A‑2), were convicted under IPC Sections 302, 149, 380 and 460 and under Section 27 of the Arms Act for the murder of six male members of a family, including two children, during a dacoity in Rohtas district, Bihar. They challenged the convictions on the grou…

The appellants, Sheikh Abdul Hamid and Ashiq Ali, were convicted under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC for the murder of a woman, her daughter and infant son whose bodies were exhumed from a locked inner room of a dhaba where the accused lived. The prosecution relied solely on circumstantial evidence, including the lock…

The Amar Nath Ashram Trust Society, which runs a public school, sought land adjacent to its premises for a playground. The Uttar Pradesh Government acquired the land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, Part VII (company acquisition), issuing a Section 4 notification and a Section 6 declaration, with the entire cost t…

Shri Kanwar Singh, who had earlier been temporarily promoted to Assistant Sub‑Inspector in 1988, contested the subsequent open selection for the same post, arguing that his prior experience should have been given weightage in the interview component. The selection board allocated 75% of the total marks to a written exa…

The case concerned a lease of land and buildings granted to the Taliparamba Education Society for the purpose of running an educational institution. The lessor gave notice of termination alleging that the lessee had allowed shops and rooms to be used for cultural and marriage functions, thereby breaching the lease cove…

The appellants, members of Jai Mangla Hariyan Kalyan Samiti, occupied tenements that they claimed were outside the campus of a public hospital but were being evicted under a High Court order directing the removal of all encroachments within the hospital premises. The High Court had ordered the authorities, with police …

The appellants, successors to a 1946 purchase of a property, sued the respondents for declaration of title and ejectment after the respondents, who were tenants under a 1948 compromise decree, failed to vacate the premises after the decree’s three‑year term expired in 1951. The trial court decreed in favour of the appe…

The appellant, a Lower Division Clerk (LDC) appointed in 1972-73 with an intermediate qualification, claimed seniority over respondents who were appointed earlier (1970-71) but possessed only matriculation. The Government had issued a 1971 order prescribing intermediate as the minimum qualification for LDC recruitment …

The appellant, a resident of Velleturu village, attacked V. Nageswara Rao (the deceased) at a police‑ordered meeting, stabbing him in the chest with a knife that penetrated the right ventricle, causing instant death. The prosecution proved that the appellant uttered the words "do away with the deceased" before the assa…

The appellant, Prakash Chandra Sahu, held a permanent stage‑carriage permit issued under the Motor Vehicles Act of 1939 for an inter‑state route. After the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 came into force, his permit expired and he applied to the State Transport Authority (STA) for renewal. The STA rejected his renewal and gra…

Basudev Pati, while employed as a lecturer, received a revised UGC pay scale (Rs.700-1600) with retrospective effect from 1 January 1974, fixing his salary at Rs.780 and granting arrears. He was later selected to the Orissa Administrative Service (Class‑II) whose pay scale was Rs.525-1150, and he claimed that his last …

The petitioner, a Sub‑Inspector of Police, was served with adverse entries in his Annual Confidential Report for the period April 1994 to March 1995, alleging corruption, unreliability and other defects. He made a representation to the Deputy Inspector General, which was rejected, and a second representation to the Dir…

The case concerned a high school in Uttar Pradesh that had been upgraded in 1974 with an attached primary section operating since 1970. The primary section employed 21 teachers, of whom 19 were untrained and 2 were trained, and after the school was removed from the list of approved schools the payment of salaries under…

Both parties filed civil suits against each other for damages. The petitioner's suit was dismissed by the trial court, while the respondents' suit was also dismissed but later allowed on appeal, resulting in a decree for Rs. 24,875 in favour of the respondents. The petitioner filed a second appeal challenging the respo…

Mrs. Surjeet Malhan and her husband, Mr. B.K. Malhan, owned shares in a private company and sued John Tinson & Co. and others for declaration and injunction after the appellants allegedly transferred those shares without proper authority. The appellants argued that the wife had impliedly consented to the transfer and t…

The respondents originally filed suit O.S. No.158/94 in the District Munsiff Court, Navalagund, but the plaint was returned for lack of territorial jurisdiction. They amended the plaint and refiled it as O.S. No.10/91 in the Civil Court at Dharwad. The original plaintiffs filed an application under Order VII Rule 10 of…

The respondent, a government employee appointed in 1942 and regularized in 1945, tendered his resignation in June 1970 claiming a right to voluntary retirement after completing 25 years of service. The government accepted his resignation effective March 19, 1970. At that time, pension benefits required 30 years of qual…

The State of Bihar filed a Special Leave Petition challenging a Patna High Court order that imposed personal costs on a government officer, Subhash Singh, for failing to comply with the High Court's directions within two months. The officer delayed compliance for one year and five months and offered no explanation to t…

The case concerned a father who retired voluntarily from government service and whose son applied for an ad‑hoc allotment of government quarters in his place. The father failed to vacate the accommodation within the extended period granted by the department, leading to the withdrawal of the extension and imposition of …

The petitioner sought to set aside the execution of a sale of two properties that had been ordered by the High Court after his mother’s earlier application under Order XXI, Rule 64 of the CPC was dismissed and became final. After his mother’s death, the petitioner filed an application under Section 47 of the CPC allegi…

The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) issued a notification under Section 52 of the Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act, 1959 in 1979 and later, after the JDA Act came into force, issued a fresh notification in 1984 to continue land acquisition under the repealed Act. Several writ petitions challenged the validity of the …

The appeal arose from a Bombay High Court order refusing to record a compromise under Order 23, Rule 3 of the CPC. While the appeal was pending, the parties filed an application to record a compromise whereby they appointed Shri Mohanlal S. Mehta as a mediator to sell two flats and adjust the proceeds. The High Court h…

The respondent, a teacher at a private educational institution, was suspended on 18 March 1989 and a domestic enquiry led to his removal. The Tribunal set aside the removal order because the subsistence allowance had not been paid and remitted the matter for a fresh enquiry. The Karnataka High Court stayed the domestic…

The assessee, Shree Man. Junathesware Packing Products and Camphor Works, constructed a cinema theatre and claimed a certain cost in its return for AY 1977‑78. The Income‑Tax Officer (ITO) passed an assessment based on the assessee’s figure because the Departmental Valuation Officer’s (DVO) report was not available at …

The petitioners, Bihar State Food and Supplies Corporation Ltd., sought to have suit No. 398/89, which had been transferred to the Subordinate Judge, Patna, re‑transferred back to that court for trial, arguing that the earlier order for a joint trial with suit No. 1028/78 had outlived its purpose. The respondents oppos…

The appellant, Baby Ammal, owned a property in Trivandrum and filed a suit for possession and a declaration that the respondent, Rajan Asari, was merely a licensee. The trial court decreed in favour of the appellant, but the Kerala High Court reversed the decision, holding that a deed executed in 1966 was a valid gift …

The appellant, Masjid Farikunda Mosque, filed a suit for ejectment and possession of a house, claiming it had purchased the super‑structure in 1975 from Mohd. Hussain. The third respondent had earlier bought the same land and super‑structure by a registered sale deed in 1969, making him the true owner. The Madras High …

The trial court passed a decree in favour of the respondent, which the appellant sought to execute. While the decree was being executed, the respondent filed a revision and the High Court stayed the execution. Counsel for the appellant, unaware of the stay, claimed no revision was filed, leading the executing court to …

The appellants' mother filed a suit for perpetual injunction against Dr. Shanti Mathur to prevent alienation of a family property, later filing suits for partition and for a declaration that Dr. Mathur was a benamidar and the property belonged to the joint family. An application was made to amend the plaint to allege t…

The respondents filed an election petition alleging corrupt practices by the appellant, Bashir Musa Patel, under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The petition was found to lack the specific particulars required by Section 86(5) of the Act. The Bombay High Court, while acknowledging the deficiency, directed t…

The Central Administrative Tribunal directed the appointment of Sukanti Debi as a Hindi Teacher in a third post, even though the post was not sanctioned and the need for such an appointment was not recognised by the education department. The State of Orissa challenged the validity of that direction, contending that Hin…

The case concerned the promotion of Junior Telecom Officers where 15% of the posts were reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). In the competitive examination, several SC/ST candidates failed to meet the general qualifying marks, prompting the government to constitute a Review Committee as per Cir…

M.L. Gokul Chand was detained under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 and the General Clauses Act. He challenged the detention order through three successive writ petitions and Special Leave Petitions, all of which were dismissed. On 7 May 1983 he filed a representati…

Life convicts filed writ petitions seeking premature release on the basis of remissions earned. The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that the applicable government policy was the one in force at the time of conviction and directed the State to reconsider the applications. On appeal, the Supreme Court clarified that r…

The appellant, Suman Sethi, issued a cheque of Rs.20,00,000 to the respondent, Ajay K. Churiwal, which was returned for insufficient funds. Within 15 days, the respondent served a notice demanding the cheque amount plus incidental and notice charges. The magistrate held the notice invalid because the demand exceeded th…