M M DUTT

The appellants were promoted to Awai Karkun posts in the Food & Civil Supplies Department, Sholapur, while private respondents holding those posts were ordered to be repatriated to the Revenue Department. The respondents challenged the order as violative of Articles 14, 16 and 309 of the Constitution. The trial court, …

The Jackson Co‑operative Credit Society appealed against a Bombay High Court order that directed it to pay bonus to its employees at 20% of total annual earnings for the years 1975‑76, 1976‑77 and 1977‑78. The Society contended that the High Court erred by ignoring deductions permissible under Section 6(d) of the Payme…

The petitioners, former officers of Caltex Oil Refining (India) Ltd. (CORIL), challenged HPCL's 1980 rationalisation scheme that integrated management staff of CORIL, ESSO and Lube India into HPCL pay‑grades. They alleged that the scheme was arbitrary because HPCL failed to equate posts on the basis of functional simil…

The appellant, the son of a temple priest, cultivated three agricultural plots belonging to the respondent landlord and received the entire crop as payment for his services as pujari and caretaker of dharamshalas. The landlord sued for possession, and the lower authorities initially held the appellant to be a tenant, a…

The Telco Convoy Drivers Mazdoor Sangh, representing about 900 convoy drivers of Tata Engineering & Locomotive Co., demanded permanent status and facilities, asserting that the drivers were workmen of the company. The Deputy Labour Commissioner, relying on a 1973 Law Department opinion that no master‑servant relationsh…

The petitioners challenged the University of Delhi's 1988 admission scheme for postgraduate medical courses, which, as a transitory measure, barred candidates who had completed a one‑year housemanship (seniors) from the new three‑year degree and two‑year diploma programmes and used a single common entrance test for bot…

The District Magistrate of Mathura declared two plots in the Baldev town area as a bus stand/halting place and the Town Area Committee contracted a private firm to collect fees from bus operators. The appellant, a bus operator, challenged the magistrate's order and the fee levy through a writ petition, which the Allaha…

In the 1984 Lok Sabha election from Nizamabad, T. B. Goud was declared elected. M. Narayan Reddy filed an election petition under Sections 80 and 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, alleging counting irregularities, impersonation and corrupt practices, and specifically contended that the Additional Assist…

Madan Lal Anand and two others were detained under section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA) on allegations that they used benami firms to obtain duty‑exempt advance licences, imported polyester yarn, failed to export the goods as required and sold …

The respondents, Junior Scientific Officers in the Defence Research & Development Service, were promoted to the post of Scientist ‘B’ with effect from 16 October 1985. They contended that, because the posts were created in 1984‑85, the promotions should be back‑dated to 1 July 1984, as had been done for promotions up t…

The Union of India and several Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs) and Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) appealed against judgments of the Calcutta High Court and the Central Administrative Tribunal that had struck down rule 3(2)(d) of the Indian Forest Service (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1968 and cla…

The petition challenged a detention order issued under Section 3(2) read with 3(3) of the National Security Act, 1980 against Praveen Kumar Gupta, who was already in jail for an IPC 307 offence. The order was based on a solitary incident in which he shot a person, causing communal tension and an apprehension of a riot,…

The Supreme Court was asked to finalise the scheme for an All India entrance examination to fill the 25% of postgraduate medical seats reserved on the basis of institutional preference, following its earlier judgment in Dr. Pradeep Jain v. Union of India. The Court considered three ancillary issues: the structuring of …

In a 1986 Panchayat election, the first respondent was declared elected with 649 votes while the petitioner secured 556 votes. The petitioner alleged irregularities and filed an election petition under Section 178 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, seeking a recount and declaration of his election. The Election Tribunal…

The appellant, an MBBS graduate from Andhra Pradesh, married a Maharashtra government medical officer and obtained a supernumerary housepost in Obstetrics and Gynaecology under Rule X(2) of the Maharashtra regulations to become eligible for a postgraduate M.D. course at Dr. V.M. Medical College, Solapur. After completi…

S. Banerjee, Additional Registrar of the Supreme Court, sought voluntary retirement under Rule 48‑A of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, effective from the forenoon of 1 January 1986. He claimed pension benefits under paragraph 17.3 of the Fourth Central Pay Commission report, which allows employees ret…

The Supreme Court Employees Welfare Association filed writ petitions seeking parity in pay with Delhi High Court staff, invoking the principle of equal pay for equal work. The Court examined whether the Delhi High Court judgments were res judicata, held that a dismissed Special Leave Petition does not create a binding …

The Supreme Court examined the State of Maharashtra's policy for MBBS admissions in Bombay's municipal and government medical colleges, which allocated 70% of the remaining seats after the All India quota and Article 15 reservations to local Bombay students and 30% to students from elsewhere in the state. The Bombay Hi…

The case involved a murder at Sadar Hospital where Hare Krishna Singh and six others were alleged to have fired upon the deceased Jitendra Choudhary, resulting in his death. The appellants challenged their convictions on several grounds, including the prosecution’s failure to explain injuries sustained by Hare Krishna …

The appellant Vijay Kumar was detained under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA) after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized smuggled gold biscuits linked to him. He was already in custody on a charge under section 135 of the Customs Act when the det…

The appellant, a voter in the Mala constituency of Kerala, filed an election petition challenging the election of the sitting Chief Minister on grounds of several alleged corrupt practices, including a notice, a photograph, and a video cassette purportedly used for election propaganda. The petition annexed these docume…

The Caltex (Acquisition of Shares of Caltex Refining (India) Ltd. and of the Undertakings in India of Caltex (India) Ltd.) Act, 1977 transferred the undertaking of Caltex Oil Refinery (India) Ltd. (CORIL) to the Government and later to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. After the takeover, the Board of Directors of C…

Advance Bricks Co., a registered dealer under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973, purchased sun‑dried bricks on which it paid sales tax and subsequently burnt them to produce baked bricks which it sold at a higher price. It claimed a deduction of the tax paid on the purchase from its gross turnover for the 1981‑82…

The Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports filed a complaint under Section 5 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 against Parle Bottling Co. Ltd. and its Managing Director, alleging contravention of licence conditions. The complaint was transferred to another magistrate court, where cognizance was tak…

The petitioners, who had been allotted MBBS or BDS seats in various medical colleges through the All India Entrance Examination, sought to be transferred to colleges nearer their hometowns. The Union of India filed a civil miscellaneous petition seeking directions for the allocation of 532 vacant seats resulting from d…

SMT K.N. Begum sued Yusuf Khan and others for declaration of title, possession and mesne profits of a suit land. The defendants claimed they were tenants under Sirajuddin, who allegedly obtained the land by gift. The trial court held Sirajuddin had no title and the defendants were trespassers; the decree was executed d…

Hari Singh, aged 25, died in a road accident while traveling in a hired car owned by the Rajasthan Mahila Parishad. His wife and daughter claimed Rs 1 lakh compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal awarded only Rs 10,000 in compensation and Rs 4,000 liability to the insurer, a …

The respondents, members of the United Basel Mission Church (UBMC) of South Kanara and Coorg, sued to declare a 1961 resolution proposing merger with the Church of South India (CSI) void, illegal and ultra vires the UBMC Constitution and the Religious Societies Act, 1880. The trial court dismissed the suit, but the Hig…

Roche Products Ltd, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, imported the raw material isoxamine under an Open General Licence after the two‑year period permitted by its industrial licence for the manufacture of sulphamethoxazole (SMX) had expired. The company declared itself an "Actual User" and that its registration was not ca…

Pyare Lal Sharma, a chemical engineer employed by Jammu & Kashmir Industries Ltd., was served a show‑cause notice on 21 April 1983 under the newly added grounds of unauthorised absence and participation in politics, and his services were terminated on 14 June 1983 by the Managing Director. Sharma challenged the termina…

The former ruler of Mohanpur State gifted and bequeathed certain lands to his younger son, but the eldest son, who succeeded as ruler, challenged the validity of those dispositions, arguing that the rule of primogeniture applicable to the Raj estate barred any alienation. The Civil Judge declared the deed of gift and w…

The petitioners, Common Cause Society, and the Delhi Municipal Corporation sought clarification of the Supreme Court's earlier ruling in Dr. Balbir Singh & Ors. v. Municipal Corporation Delhi (1985) regarding the assessment of rateable value for properties constructed in stages under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act…

The Supreme Court had issued directions in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 591 of 1987 ordering the reinstatement and accommodation of petitioner No. 9 and other employees of the Pension Paying Office in Pokhara, Nepal. A contempt petition was filed alleging that the respondents, including the Officer‑in‑Charge of the office…

The appellant, a diploma‑holder serving as an Administrator/Instructor, obtained study leave from Jodhpur University and applied for admission to the B.E. programme after the general‑seat deadline. The university objected on two grounds: he had secured less than the required 60% in his diploma and his application was u…

The petitioner, Sharad Kumar Tyagi, challenged his preventive detention under the National Security Act, 1980, arguing that the three incidents cited—extortion of "chauth" from a mango garden contractor, a shopkeeper, and a market threat with a revolver—did not affect public order, that the third incident was fabricate…

The petitioner, Piyush Kantilal Mehta, was detained under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985 on the ground that he was a bootlegger who used force and created fear, allegedly affecting public order. He challenged the detention, arguing that the grounds were vague, that mere bootlegging does not …

The All India Bank Officers' Confederation challenged a 23 August 1982 circular that allowed the Central Government to appoint any non‑workmen officer to the board of a nationalised bank, bypassing the panel of three names submitted by the majority association of non‑workmen employees. The petitioners argued that the c…

The Supreme Court examined the murder convictions of Subash and Shiv Shankar under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The prosecution alleged a dispute over repair charges that led to a joint attack on the deceased, with eye‑witnesses identifying the accused in identification parades that were h…

The dispute concerned inter‑se seniority between direct recruits and Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs) in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The Delhi High Court had ruled in favour of the ECOs, ordering that 37 direct recruits holding Commandant posts be reverted, which the direct recruits contested. They a…

The Punjab University limited admission to its evening LLB programme to regular employees of Government and semi‑government institutions, excluding private‑sector workers. Two applicants, one employed by a public‑limited company and another a temporary government employee, were denied admission despite high merit posit…

Petron Engineering Construction Pvt. Ltd. entered into agreements with Toyo Engineering India Ltd. to provide technical services for a project of a Japanese firm in Iraq and sought approval under section 80‑0 of the Income‑Tax Act, 1961 for a deduction on royalties received. The Central Board of Direct Taxes rejected t…

D.P. Sharma, owner of a public service vehicle, applied for a special permit under section 63(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. The Regional Transport Authority refused, invoking the Karnataka Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act, 1976, which it said barred such permits. A single judge of the Karnataka High Court all…

The Bank of India sued Vijay Transport and its partners to recover a cash‑credit loan of Rs.18,14,817.91, claiming mortgages over several properties. The Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Agriculturists Relief Act, 1938 provides that debts of agriculturists may be "scaled down" under section 13, but section 4(e) excludes de…

The Maharashtra Government transferred the cotton‑related activities of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Marketing Federation to a newly formed Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation. Employees who had been declared permanent by an industrial award of the Marketing Federation claimed that th…

The Central Bank of India obtained a decree against the State of Gujarat for a sum of Rs.59,69,422.59 with interest. While the State appealed the decree, the Bank levied execution and the State deposited the decretal amount in the executing court. The State then applied to the Gujarat High Court for a stay of execution…

Two employees of a nationalised bank and two account‑holders were charged with conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption for allegedly withdrawing Rs.54,600 on the basis of false credit entries. The High Court quashed the proceedings against one employee, holding that the FIR, taken at face value, did not disclose a…

The appellant, a retired District and Sessions Judge of the Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service, sought the grant of super‑time scale recommended by the Selection Committee. The Full Court of the Allahabad High Court repeatedly rejected the recommendation, relying on adverse allegations made by the Administrative Jud…

The appellants, originally appointed as Trade Apprentices and later promoted to Skilled Artisan, Instructor‑C (equivalent to Chargeman‑C) and Chargeman‑B, challenged Rule 328(2) inserted by the Railway Board, which retrospectively invalidated all promotions and service length accrued between August 1961 and March 1973.…

The tenant, Maiku, fell into arrears of rent and, after repeated demands, the landlord filed an eviction suit. The tenant claimed he was not a defaulter because the landlord refused to accept his rent tender, prompting him to deposit the arrears in Court under Section 7C of the United Provinces (Temporary) Control of R…

Two writ petitions filed under Article 32 highlighted extreme poverty, starvation deaths, and exploitation in Kalahandi and Koraput districts of Orissa. The petitioners alleged that the State had failed to protect lives and sought directions for immediate relief measures. The Court ordered a district judge to investiga…

M.A. Chowdhary, a staff artist of All India Radio, was employed under a contract that allowed termination on six months' notice. A government order later stipulated that staff artists could serve up to the age of 55, and a clause was added to his agreement reflecting this. In October 1970, he received a notice of termi…

The case concerned four medical colleges in Bombay, three run by the Municipal Corporation and one by the State, all affiliated to the University of Bombay. Rules 4A (Municipal) and 5 (State) gave preference to candidates who had completed their MBBS at the same college for admission to M.D. courses, even if they score…

Sukhjinder Singh was detained under the National Security Act, 1980 on 28 May 1988. His son, Sukhpal Singh, filed writ petitions seeking habeas corpus, alleging that the detention order was issued without subjective satisfaction, that there was an inordinate delay in considering the detenu's representation, and that th…

The case concerned a deed of settlement executed by Rami Reddy, a coparcener in a Mitakshara joint Hindu family, which conveyed his entire undivided interest in the coparcenary to his brother Veera Reddy while reserving a life interest for himself. After the deaths of both brothers, the widow of Rami Reddy sought parti…

Bhupinder Singh, his father Sher Singh and mother Mukhtiar Kaur were convicted of murdering Bhupinder's wife Gian Kaur by administering an organophosphorus poison, motivated by dowry demands. The trial and High Courts upheld the conviction of Bhupinder and Sher, acquitting Mukhtiar. On appeal, the Supreme Court examine…

The Supreme Court clarified the procedure for appointing members of Administrative Tribunals under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. It held that recruitment to the Central Administrative Tribunal must be overseen by a High‑Powered Selection Committee headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge nominated by the Chief…

Jitender Tyagi was detained under the National Security Act, 1980 by an order dated 19 January 1989 issued by the Delhi Police Commissioner, who was delegated the power by the Delhi Administration. The order was approved by the Administrator on 31 January 1989. Tyagi challenged the detention on three grounds: the compu…

The Supreme Court examined a garnishee order issued under section 226(3)(x) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which sought payment of Rs.8,56,377.55 despite the notice specifying only Rs.2,86,450. The Court held that because the amount in the order was not mentioned in the notice, the garnishee order was a nullity and any s…

The Supreme Court was asked to consider objections raised by several states to the implementation of a Court‑approved scheme that reserved 15% of MBBS/BDS seats for an All‑India Entrance Examination. The states sought a further deferment of the scheme, arguing lack of uniform syllabus, language barriers, and law‑and‑or…

Rajatha Enterprises was granted a lease by the Karnataka Government to construct a shopping complex‑cum‑school on a government plot in Bangalore. The construction proceeded, but the Municipal Commissioner later ordered reduction of the building height and threatened demolition of the upper floors for alleged violations…

The appellant, a Reception Officer who had been temporarily promoted to District Public Relations Officer, challenged an order that placed him below two Tourist Officers transferred from Punjab in the seniority list of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department. The High Court had dismissed his writ petition, holding that…

The Union of India appealed a decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal which had set aside an award of a Board of Arbitrators and directed that Scientific Assistants of the Botanical Survey of India receive the Rs.550‑900 pay scale. The Board had been tasked only with deciding whether the revised scale of Rs.550…

The case concerned the fixation of seniority of Puranjit Singh, who was an Assistant Engineer in the Punjab PWD and was deputed to the Chandigarh Administration on 7 October 1972, later being absorbed on 17 June 1978. He was granted seniority from the date of his deputation (7 October 1972) under a notification dated 1…