MARKANDEY KATJU

The Supreme Court examined the legality of resolutions passed by various Bar Associations refusing to represent certain accused persons in criminal cases. It held that every individual, irrespective of the nature of the alleged crime, has a constitutional right to be defended and that it is the lawyer's duty to accept …

The respondents, originally appointed as Mali (gardener) on daily wages, were later required to work as tractor drivers though no such post existed in the Aravali Golf Club. After being paid tractor‑driver wages, they were regularised only as Mali and filed a suit seeking regularisation as tractor drivers. The trial co…

The respondents, who were constables, head constables, assistant sub‑inspectors and sub‑inspectors serving in various districts of Haryana, challenged transfer orders that moved them to other districts or ranges, arguing that the Punjab Police Rules, 1934 limited such transfers within their own district or range. The P…

The petitioners, Geeta Devi & Ors., challenged the Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court's order dismissing their appeal against a single High Court judge's decision that had rejected a miscellaneous appeal arising from a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal award. The central issue was whether such an intra‑court appea…

The appellants, owners of plots reserved for roads, voluntarily surrendered their land and constructed the required roads at their own cost. They claimed that, under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act and the Development Control Regulations, they were entitled to additional Floor Space Index (FSI) or Transf…

Bharti Cellular Ltd, holder of a licence to provide cellular services in the Delhi Metro area, challenged the computation of licence fees, interest, penal interest and the unit call rate applied by the Union of India. The dispute arose from the date of commencement of the licence, the method of counting subscribers, an…

Shyam Telelink Ltd. was granted a basic telecom licence in 1998 with a requirement to commence commercial operations within twelve months. Due to technical deficiencies, permission to start operations was denied, and the Union of India offered a Migration Package in July 1999, which the company unconditionally accepted…

The case concerned a dispute over the user of a 7,224‑sq‑yd plot in Mumbai leased to Abhinav Sahakar Education Society for a school, which the Municipal Corporation had originally earmarked as a playground in the draft development plan. The State Government later modified the plan, first by a 1985 notification reservin…

The Supreme Court had earlier set aside a High Court order granting bail to Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and directed his surrender. A review petition was filed challenging that order and also seeking exemption from surrender. The Court observed that despite the bail cancellation, the accused had neither surrendered…

The appellant employees' union challenged the registration of another employees' union before the Industrial Court under Section 20 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act. The Industrial Court cancelled the appellant's registration and directed registration of the respondent union, which had not filed an application un…

Rekha, the wife of a man accused of selling expired drugs with tampered labels, challenged his preventive detention order under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, 1982. The High Court dismissed her habeas corpus petition, but the Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the detention order was…

Varsha Plastics Pvt. Ltd. imported a consignment of LDPE/HDPE granules from the United States and declared a low invoice price. The Customs Authority rejected the transaction value as unrealistically low, enhanced the valuation using prices from foreign journals as directed by Standing Order No. 7493/99, confiscated th…

The case concerns Nandabai, a young Bhil woman who was beaten, stripped and paraded in a village after an illicit relationship with a higher‑caste man. The trial court convicted four accused under IPC sections 452, 354, 323, 506(2) read with 34 and under Section 3 of the SC/ST Act; the High Court set aside the SC/ST co…

Mohd. Akram Ansari contested the 2003 Delhi Legislative Assembly election and lost to Haroon Yusuf, who was then Chairman of the Delhi Wakf Board. The appellant challenged Yusuf's election on the ground that the Wakf Board chairmanship was an office of profit and that the election petition raised other issues, includin…

The Supreme Court considered an application by the Deputy Manager of Goa Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., who held a power of attorney, to appear and argue the case on behalf of the company. The Court examined Sections 29, 32 and 33 of the Advocates Act, 1961, which restrict the right to practice in courts to enroll…

The appellant, K.P. Thimmappa Gowda, was charged under Section 376 IPC for having sexual intercourse with Rathnamma, an 18‑year‑old woman, on a false promise of marriage, resulting in the birth of a child. The FIR was lodged on 4 January 1996, nearly eight months after the alleged acts, and the trial court acquitted th…

The plaintiffs, minor sons of a pre‑deceased son, filed a suit seeking to declare a 1978 decree that transferred agricultural land to other family members null and void, asserting their right to inherit the land as ancestral property. The defendants contended that the land was not ancestral and had been allotted to the…

Gurmukh Singh sued Jaswant Kaur for recovery of Rs.2,31,000, relying on a pronote and receipt dated 2 May 1994 in which the defendant allegedly borrowed Rs.1,50,000 and promised repayment with interest. The defendant denied the documents, claiming they were forged. The trial court, after finding the documents were exec…

The appellant, a judgment debtor, was sued for recovery of principal and interest on a promissory note, resulting in an ex‑parte decree. The plaintiff obtained an execution decree and the appellant's immovable property was sold to satisfy the decree. The appellant applied under Order 21 Rule 90 CPC to set aside the sal…

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal filed by Kunj Aluminium Private Ltd against a Division Bench order of the Delhi High Court that dismissed an appeal without providing any reasons. The Division Bench had merely noted that it had heard counsel and found no legal infirmity, rendering the order cryptic. The Court held …

The petitioners challenged the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1997 (as amended in 2003), arguing that it encroached upon Union legislative competence (entries 43‑45 of List I) and violated Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitutio…

The father of a deceased woman appealed against the High Court's acquittal of her husband, who was charged with murder under Section 302 IPC. The trial court had convicted the husband based on circumstantial evidence, a threatening letter (Exhibit 7) establishing motive, the recovery of a revolver with smoke, and the f…

The respondent, Mis. Prince Rubber Industries, sought an 8% cash compulsory support premium against an advance import licence under a scheme funded by the RBI. The Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade rejected the claim, stating that the scheme had been closed in 1994. The respondent filed a writ petition, and the …

Indian Charge Chrome Ltd. sought specific performance of a contract to purchase government land. The land, originally granted to a third party, required State Government permission for transfer. The State Government refused permission, leading to a writ petition in the Orissa High Court, which set aside the refusal and…

In an eviction suit under the Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act, the appellant Dashrath Rao Kate sought to be impleaded as the legal representative of the deceased owner Sukhiabai on the basis of a Will. The trial court, after a full inquiry under Order 22 Rule 5 of the CPC, held the Will proved and allowed the …

The trustees of Gangai Vinayagar Temple leased a plot for a theatre; the lessee died and the trustees sold the land to third parties. The lessees sued for injunction, claiming the sale was void because the property was a public temple and required sanction under the Hindu Religious Institutions Act. Parallel suits for …

Krishna Kumar Variar, accused under Sections 415 and 420 IPC, was summoned by a Delhi court. He contended that only a Bombay court had jurisdiction and filed a petition under Section 482 of the CrPC in the Delhi High Court, which dismissed his challenge. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that an accused must first appr…

The Supreme Court set aside a Patna High Court order granting bail to Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav in Sessions Trial No. 976 of 1999, despite a prior Supreme Court ruling that no further bail applications in the case would be entertained. The Court held that the High Court's grant of bail was a contempt of its earli…

The petitioner sought anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which the Calcutta High Court rejected. He filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging that order. The Court examined the record and found no justification to grant anticipatory bail. However, it clarified …

Kumaon Seeds Corp. and others, dealers in certified seeds, were served with show‑cause notices by the Krishi Utpadan Mandi Committee seeking to levy a market fee under the Uttar Pradesh Krishi Utpadan Mandi Adhiniyam, 1964. The dealers filed suits challenging the notices; the High Court dismissed the suits, upheld the …

The case involved three accused who shot Baggar Singh, injuring his leg, and subsequently abducted Hoshiar Singh, whose body was found the next morning with only lacerated wounds and no gunshot injury. The trial court convicted them under Section 307 IPC, while the High Court upheld a conviction for murder under Sectio…

Arup Bhuyan was convicted under Section 3(5) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for alleged membership in the banned outfit ULFA, based solely on a confession he allegedly gave to the Superintendent of Police. The Supreme Court examined whether such a confession, inadmissible under Secti…

The State of Kerala appealed a Kerala High Court order granting bail to Dr. Raneef, a dental surgeon accused of aiding assailants who assaulted a college professor and severed his right palm. The prosecution alleged that Dr. Raneef, a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI), had pre‑arranged to provide medical treat…

The appellant, owner of land reserved for a college under a development plan, sought release of the land after the college was disaffiliated. The land had not been acquired within the ten‑year period prescribed by Section 127 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, nor were any acquisition steps taken …

The appellant Vishwambhar Narayan Jadhav was attacked with acid on a bus, sustaining serious burns. He was convicted by the trial court under Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.3,000. The conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Additional Sessi…

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) introduced a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in 1995 that expressly stated employees opting for the scheme would not be entitled to a pension. Mool Chand, the respondent, retired under this scheme. The Delhi High Court had held that despite the scheme's terms, the respondent was …

The case concerned the seniority of a Junior Assistant who moved from a Category‑11 post in a subordinate Commercial Tax office to a Category‑10 post in the Head of Department's office under the Andhra Pradesh Ministerial Service Rules. The employee claimed that his seniority in the new post should be counted from his …

The State of Uttar Pradesh appealed against the Allahabad High Court’s reduction of a death sentence to life imprisonment for Alok Verma, who brutally murdered his wife and four children with a knife and axe, aided by a hired accomplice. The trial court had imposed death based on compelling circumstantial evidence and …

Bombay Anand Bhavan Restaurant, a proprietorship engaged in preparing sweets, savories, coffee and tea, employed more than ten workers and used LPG gas to operate a bottle cooler and coffee roaster. The Deputy Director of the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Corporation directed the restaurant to pay contributions unde…

The Supreme Court dismissed the criminal appeal of Budhadev Karmaskar, who was convicted of murdering a sex worker, and suo motu converted the matter into a public interest litigation to address the plight of sex workers nationwide. The Court held that sex workers are human beings entitled to life with dignity under Ar…

The respondent, Banibrata Ghosh, was initially appointed as an Assistant Teacher on a temporary basis to fill a leave vacancy and later continued in the post after the vacancy became permanent following the resignation of the incumbent. He filed a writ petition seeking regularisation of his service in the permanent pos…

The appellants, Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd. and others, set up new industrial units attracted by a five‑year tariff concession under the Tamil Nadu Revision of Tariff Rates on Supply of Electrical Energy Act, 1978. A later notification (30‑April‑1982) altered the concession, stipulating it would not apply once …

The Supreme Court observed that the State of Jharkhand and other governments habitually file appeals and writ petitions after excessive delays, often justifying the lag by bureaucratic red tape. In the present case, a second appeal before the High Court was filed after 501 days and the petition before the Supreme Court…

The Supreme Court examined an appeal by Bhilwara Dudh Utpadak Sahakari S. Ltd. against judgments of the Rajasthan High Court that upheld a Labour Court finding that certain workmen were employees of the appellant, not of a contractor. The Labour Court had determined that the workmen were under the appellant's officers'…

The Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) took over Patna Electric Supply Co. Ltd. (PESCO) and was directed by the Supreme Court to pay compensation based on the book value of PESCO's assets under the Indian Electricity Act, 1910. BSEB paid Rs 99.72 lakhs, leaving a balance of Rs 35.74 lakhs, which it paid to the Bank o…

The Wakf Board filed eviction suits against tenants occupying property identified as wakf, and the Wakf Tribunal held it had jurisdiction to decide the matters, ordering eviction. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh affirmed the Tribunal's orders. The appellants challenged the jurisdiction of the Wakf Tribunal under Secti…

Anita Nandrajog, an accounts clerk of Bank of Baroda, was absent without leave for more than 150 consecutive days on multiple occasions. The bank invoked Clause 17(b) of the Fifth Bipartite Settlement (dated 10‑April‑1989) and issued a notice on 26‑June‑1989 requiring her to report within 30 days, failing which she wou…

The respondents had taken a fire insurance policy from New India Assurance for their factory. On 8 January 1999 a short‑circuit in the main switchboard caused a flash‑over, generating intense heat that charred the panel, produced smoke and ultimately led to a fire which damaged the boiler and other plant equipment. The…

The appellant, a telecom authority, disconnected a telephone line for non-payment of the bill. The respondent filed a complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, which ordered reconnection and payment of Rs.5,000 compensation with interest. The appellant challenged the forum's jurisdiction via a wr…

The appellant, Kolla Veera Raghav Rao, had been convicted under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. He was later prosecuted under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code for the same set of facts. The central issue was whether Section 300(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, which bars a person from b…