The petitioners in Transfer Petition (Civil) Nos. 1233- 1237 of 2008 and 243-244 of 2009 are schools run by the Tamil Nadu Arya Samaj Education Society (in short "the Society") which...

This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 12.01.2009 passed by the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Special Civil Application No. 5663 of 1990 with Civil...

This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 12.01.2009 passed by the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Special Civil Application No. 5663 of 1990 with Civil...

Delay condoned in S.L.P.(C) No. 35734 of 2009. Leave granted in both the special leave petitions. Being aggrieved by the final order dated 26.09.2008 passed by the High Court of Madhya...

This appeal, by grant of leave arises from the judgment and order dated 22nd June, 2005 passed by the Chhatisgarh High Court in Criminal Appeal No.936 of 2000, whereby it had upheld the...

This appeal, by special leave, is directed against the judgment and order dated 10th July 2002, passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, whereby the High Court has dismissed the...

What should be the criteria for determination of the compensation payable to the dependents of a woman who dies in a road accident and who does not have regular source of income is the question...

This appeal by special leave arises out of an order passed by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in Criminal Appeal No.9 of 1996 and confirmation No.21/1996 whereby the appellant s...

A. Ranvir Penal Code, 1860 — S. 302 — Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 — S. 3(3) — Murder trial — Conviction — Challenge to — Confession for proving the offence u/S. 302 of the RPC — Reliance exclusively on — Permissibility of — A plain reading of the confession clearly goes to show that the accused was guilty of conspiring or attempting to commit or advocating, abetting, advising or inciting or knowingly facilitating the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to a terrorist act — The act of killing Moulvi Farooq comes within the definition of `terrorist act as given in S. 2(h) r/w S. 3(1) of the TADA Act inasmuch as, in order to achieve the objectives as described in S. 3(1), Moulvi Farooq was put to death by firing at him — The confession in clearest possible terms and in detailed manner shows formation of a group of terrorists, who were in all seven in number — The confession of accused refers to the training in the use of fire arms and his visit to Pakistan in the year 1989 by crossing the border from Chowkibal side which is on Kupwara side — The appellant has given the whole outfit including the names of leader and other companions and the confession also refers to the fire arms brought by the group of terrorists from Pakistan and the training which was for bringing into effect the terrorist activities in the Kashmir valley — The appellant then gives a graphic account of the five terrorists action in the years 1989 and 1990 — The appellant also gives a detailed account about the members in the group who had taken active part in those activities — The last activity was about killing of Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq on 21.5.1991 — It is clear from the confession that the whole modus operandi was discussed and after discussions, the task was given — Details given in the confession and the meticulous planning that went behind committing murder of Moulvi Farooq, which has been reflected in the confession, not only render it voluntary, but truthful also — Once we accept the confession made u/S. 15 of the TADA Act, there is no necessity of any other evidence being required B. Ranvir Penal Code, 1860 — S. 302 — Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 — S. 3 (3) — Murder trial — Conviction — Challenge to — Prosecution has failed to prove the offence u/S. 302 of the RPC independently of the confession — Contention of — The only test which the Court has to apply is whether the confession was voluntary and free of coercion, threat or inducement and whether sufficient caution is taken by the police officer who recorded the confession — Once the confession passes that test, it can become the basis of the conviction — Confession in this case was free from all the aforementioned defects and was voluntary ...

Armed Forces — Pension Regulations for the Army 1961 — Pt. I — Regn. 173 — Disability pension — Entitlement to — Medical Board is an expert body and they take into consideration all relevant factors and essential practice before arriving at any opinion and its opinion is entitled to be given due weight, merit credence and value — Medical Board has given unanimous opinion that the disease of the appellant was neither attributable to nor aggravated by the military service — Findings of the Medical Board has been accepted by the Division Bench of the High Court — No interference is called for — Appellant is not entitled to disability pension...

The order dated September 21, 2006 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay (Appellate Side), which fixes the interim maintenance at the rate of Rs. 12000/- per month pending appeal, is...

Constitution of India — Art. 142 — Duty to do complete justice between the parties — Penal Code, 1860 — Ss. 406 r/w 34 & Companies Act, 1956 — S. 630 — Caretaker with the company — Non-delivery of peaceful and vacant possession of servant quarter after attaining age of superannuation — Taking into consideration all the defences taken by accused their eviction from the servant quarter is inevitable — He has committed default of his own promise — Accused persons directed to vacate the premises and to hand over its peaceful vacant possession to the Company — It is clear from the impugned orders that there is manifest illegality in the same and have resulted in palpable injustice to the Appellant/Company curable at this stage under Art. 142 of the Constitution as the aforesaid powers are inherent on this Court as guardian of the Constitution...

A. Land Acquisition and Requisition — Compensation — Solatium and Interest — Development is reckoned in terms of investments in urban infrastructure, roads and highways, communication, technology, extraction and commercial exploitation of minerals, generation of power, production of steel and other essential metals and alloys — Creation of wealth is of utmost importance — Redemption lies in GDP — India does not lack material resources required for development — There are vast treasures of minerals lying buried deep inside its earth — But excavation of minerals from the bosom of the earth and putting them to good industrial and commercial use require lots of initial investment and highly advanced technology — Those too are now available as blessings of globalisation — The imperialist’s formula of "philanthropy plus five percent" is the accepted norm — Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the latest mantra — For some reasonable profits, companies and corporations, both Indian and multinational are willing and ready not only to do the mining for us but also to undertake the development of the region by providing schools, hospitals, and many similar amenities and facilities to the local population — Even the public sector undertakings are not lagging far behind in the race — But there is one catch — There is also the involvement of the human factor — Most of the mineral wealth of India is not under uninhabited wasteland — It lies mostly under dense forests and areas inhabited by people who can claim to be the oldest dwellers of this ancient country — Any large scale mining, therefore, needs not only huge investments and application of highly developed technology but also en masse relocation of the people dwelling upon the land that needs to be mined or at any rate getting the land freed from its inhabitants, for whom it may be the only source of sustenance B. Environment Protection and Pollution Control — Mining — Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation), Act 1957, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, (in many States) — Laws restricting and regulating trade in forest produce and above all the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and its clone the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 that envisage compulsory acquisition of land by the government for any public purpose on payment of its market value (plus solatium for the compulsory nature of acquisition!) to the land holder — Law is based on the twin sound principles of the eminent domain of the sovereign and the largest good of the largest number — Seen thus, the whole issue of development appears to be so simple, logical and commonsensical — And yet, to millions of Indians, development is a dreadful and hateful word that is aimed at denying them even the source of their sustenance — It is cynically said that on the path of `maldevelopment almost every step that we take seems to give rise to insurgency and political extremism C. Land Acquisition and Requisition — Compensation — Solatium and Interest — On many occasions laws are implemented only partially — The scheme of land acquisition often comes with assurances of schools, hospitals, roads, and employment — The initial promises, however, mostly remain illusory — The aims of income restoration and house resettlement prove to be very difficult — Non-compliance with even the basic regulations causes serious health problems for the local population and contamination of soil and water — But there is yet another far worse scenario where even the most basic obligation under the law is not complied with and even the fig leaf of legality is dispensed with — Case in question is a textbook example D. Land Acquisition and Requisition — Compensation — Solatium and Interest — Coal company seeks to challenge the High Court order on the plea that it has no liability to pay compensation for the lands acquired by the Central Government since they are of no use for the purpose of mining operations nor are they likely to be needed in the near future as per the mining plan approved by the Central Government — Apart from this, the petitioner has taken some rather strange pleas — It is pleaded that the acquisition proceedings were still incomplete because no steps were taken for determining the market value of the lands and no compensation was paid to the land holders — If this is not adding insult to injury we do not know what else is! — It is also alleged the lands are not in possession of the coal company and they are still in the possession of the land holders, including the writ petitioners — This last allegation is strongly denied by the writ petitioners — The SLP remains pending in this Court for the last three years — Now, twenty three years have passed and the writ petitioners remain unpaid of the compensation for their lands — Proposed scheme — Proposed by Mr. Subramanium and agreed upon by the Central Government and the Coal Company — Scheme approved but with certain clarifications and modifications ...

The Maharshi Dayanand University (hereinafter referred to as "the appellant") has questioned the correctness of the order in Revision Petition No.132/06 passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi...

During the pendency of this matter the parties have amicably settled the matter. The appellant is also present in the Court....

The appellant-Vinod Kumar @ Bittu was convicted by the trial Court and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for ten years and to pay fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default of payment of fine to...

In this Interlocutory Application, notice was issued by this Court and Mr.Subhash Chandra Das, Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Dispur, Guwahati, Assam has filed a comprehensive...

This appeal is preferred by the State of Andhra Pradesh against the judgment and order dated 27.01.2006 passed by the High Court of Judicature, Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad...

This is an appeal for enhancement of compensation, by the mother, widow, three children and father of Kuldeep Sharma, a Sub-Inspector of Police, aged 36 years, who died in a...

A. Penal Code, 1860 — S. 149 — Murder trial — Provision has essentially two ingredients viz. (i) the commission of an offence by any member of an unlawful assembly and (ii) such offence must be committed in prosecution of the common object of the assembly or must be such as the members of that assembly knew to be likely to be committed in prosecution of the common object — Once it is established that the unlawful assembly had common object, it is not necessary that all persons forming the unlawful assembly must be shown to have committed some overt act — For the purpose of incurring the vicarious liability for the offence committed by a member of such unlawful assembly under the provision, the liability of other members of the unlawful assembly for the offence committed during the continuance of the occurrence, rests upon the fact whether the other members knew before hand that the offence actually committed was likely to be committed in prosecution of the common object B. Penal Code, 1860 — S. 149 — Murder trial — `Common object — Does not require a prior concert and a common meeting of minds before the attack — It is enough if each member of the unlawful assembly has the same object in view and their number is five or more and that they act as an assembly to achieve that object — The `common object of an assembly is to be ascertained from the acts and language of the members composing it, and from a consideration of all the surrounding circumstances — It may be gathered from the course of conduct adopted by the members of the assembly — For determination of the common object of the unlawful assembly, the conduct of each of the members of the unlawful assembly, before and at the time of attack and thereafter, the motive for the crime, are some of the relevant considerations — What the common object of the unlawful assembly is at a particular stage of the incident is essentially a question of fact to be determined, keeping in view the nature of the assembly, the arms carried by the members, and the behaviour of the members at or near the scene of the incident — It is not necessary under law that in all cases of unlawful assembly, with an unlawful common object, the same must be translated into action or be successful — Being more than five in number, they did form an unlawful assembly with the common object of eliminating the deceased and his brother and in prosecution of the common object, the deceased was shot dead and an attempt on the life of his brother (PW 4) was made by one of the members of the unlawful assembly C. Penal Code, 1860 — Ss. 96, 97, 99, 100, 102 and 105 — Murder trial — Land dispute — Private defence — Right of — Is a defensive right — It is neither a right of aggression nor of reprisal — There is no right of private defence where there is no apprehension of danger — Right of private defence is available only to one who is suddenly confronted with the necessity of averting an impending danger which is not self created — Necessity must be present, real or apparent — Right of private defence of life and property cannot be exercised against an unarmed person — Appellants were in fact, aggressors and being members of the aggressors party none of the appellants can claim right of self defence — Right to defend does not include a right to launch an offensive or aggression...

Central Excise Rules, 1944 — ‘User Test’ — Any equipment used for the said purpose has to be treated as an accessory in terms of Serial No. 5 of the goods described in column (2) of the Table below R. 57-Q — MODVAT credit in respect of the subject items viz. steel plates and M.S. channels used in the fabrication of chimney for the diesel generating set — Held applying the "user test" on the facts in hand, we have no hesitation in holding that the steel plates and M.S. Channels, used in the fabrication of chimney would fall within the ambit of "capital goods" as contemplated in R. 57-Q — It is not the case of the Revenue that both these items are not required to be used in the fabrication of chimney, which is an integral part of the diesel generating set, particularly when the Pollution Control laws make it mandatory that all plants which emit effluents should be so equipped with apparatus which can reduce or get rid of the effluent gases — Therefore, any equipment used for the said purpose has to be treated as an accessory in terms of Serial No. 5 of the goods described in column (2) of the Table below R. 57Q — The language of R. 57Q is clear and unambiguous — It applies to the final products described in column (3) of the Table under the Rule as also to other goods, referred to as "capital goods", described in the corresponding entry in column (2) of the said Table, used in the factory of the manufacturer of final product (Paras 9, 10 & 14)...

Consumer Complaint — Consumer Protection Act, 1986 — S. 23 — Compensation — Award of Rs 4,84,457 — Sanction of a term loan of Rs 30 lakhs — Failure to release the balance loan amount whether deficiency in service — Non release of loan amount was not because of any deficiency on the part of the Corporation but due to complainant’s conduct and therefore, the failure of the Corporation to render `service could not be held to give rise to claim for recovery of any amount under the Act — Unless the action of a financial institution is found to be mala fide, even a wrong decision taken by it is not open to challenge, as the wisdom of a particular decision is normally to be left to the body authorised to decide — Held there has not been any deficiency in the service the Corporation was required to provide to the complainant — Complainant being himself a defaulter right from inception of his dealing with the Corporation, when his cheque in the sum of Rs 30,000 got dishonoured, coupled with persistent defaults in discharging his liability to the Corporation towards interest, despite repeated demands, he cannot be permitted to plead at the later stage that he suffered on account of deficiency in service by the Corporation because of non — disbursement of balance instalments of loan by them — While not insisting upon the borrower to honour the commitments undertaken by him, the Corporation alone cannot be shackled hand and foot in the name of fairness — Fairness cannot be a one-way street — Where the borrower has no genuine intention to repay and adopts pretexts and ploys to avoid payment like in the present case, he cannot make the grievance that the Corporation was not acting fairly, even if requisite procedures have been followed — Appeal allowed...

A. Income Tax Act, 1961 — Whether a particular receipt is capital or revenue — Reiterated is to be decided on facts of a particular case (Para 11) B. Income Tax Act, 1961 — Whether the liquidated damages received by the assessee from the supplier of the plant and machinery on account of delay in the supply of plant is a capital or a revenue receipt — It is clear from clause No. 6 of the agreement that the liquidated damages were to be calculated at 0.5% of the price of the respective machinery and equipment to which the items were delivered late, for each month of delay in delivery completion, without proof of the actual damages the assessee would have suffered on account of the delay — The delay in supply could be of the whole plant or a part thereof but the determination of damages was not based upon the calculation made in respect of loss of profit on account of supply of a particular part of the plant — It is evident that the damages to the assessee was directly and intimately linked with the procurement of a capital asset i.e. the cement plant, which would obviously lead to delay in coming into existence of the profit making apparatus, rather than a receipt in the course of profit earning process. Compensation paid for the delay in procurement of capital asset amounted to sterilisation of the capital asset of the assessee as supplier had failed to supply the plant within time as stipulated in the agreement and clause No. 6 thereof came into play — Held, the afore-stated amount received by the assessee towards compensation for sterilisation of the profit earning source, not in the ordinary course of their business, in our opinion, was a capital receipt in the hands of the assessee ...

Education and Universities — Admission — Time schedule laid down in Mridul Dhar v. Union of India, (2005) 2 SCC 64, not followed by the State and the University — State/University responsible for the delay in conforming to the schedule for counselling and allotment of candidates under the State quota, on account of leakage of question papers and preparation of wrong key — Answers, which resulted in the non-admission of the six writ petitioners — High Court imposing cost in view of the failure of the appellant college to admit the candidates allotted by the State and admission of candidates of its own choice to the State quota seats — Held, even assuming that the appellant had read the judgment in Mridul Dhar selectively to achieve its object, as held by the High Court, we are of the view that the award of compensation of Rs Two lakhs on each of the six writ petitioners may not be warranted, as there was also a clear violation of the time schedule by the State...

A. Land Laws — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952 — R. 285-D — Violation of — Auction — Setting aside of — Bid amounts — Non-deposit of on conclusion of the auction, but on next day — Land scam — Auction for Revenue Recovery under provisions of Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 — Disturbing features — It is plainly a case of appropriation of large areas of public/government land by some very unscrupulous people both outside and inside the State Government acting in cahoots — And we have reasons to fear that this is not an isolated case B. Land Laws — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952 — Rr. 273, 282 & 285-D — Violation of — Auction — Setting aside of — Bid amounts — Non-deposit of on conclusion of the auction, but on next day — Land scam — Auction for Revenue Recovery under provisions of Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 — Under the Rules the only mode for advertisement of auction-sale is by affixation of the Sale Proclamation at a conspicuous place in the village where the property is located and by beat of drum — There is no provision of advertisement in the newspapers or by any other means to spread the information about the proposed auction on a large scale — There is no provision in the Act or the Rules for fixation of reserve price before the property is put up for auction sale — Collector of the District regularly notifies “circle rate” for different types of land and different locations — This circle rate is primarily used for computation of stamp duty for registration of document — In 2007 instructions were given to confirm sale only above the market price — There is also no provision enabling the authorities to bar someone with a criminal record or against whom there are tax dues or government dues of any other kinds from taking part in the sale of land by the government — Law under which the auction sale proceedings were held was itself quite deficient — But the enumeration of the shortcomings and the lacunae in the provisions of an archaic law is not to say that the auction proceedings of the two plots were otherwise fair and proper and suffered from some irregularities only due to the flaws in the law — On the contrary — Auction sale of the two plots was illegal, fraudulent and collusive and the appellants and their abettors in the revenue department of the State Government fully exploited the weaknesses of the law to their advantage C. Land Laws — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952 — Rr. 273, 282 & 285-D — Violation of — Auction — Setting aside of — Bid amounts — Non-deposit of on conclusion of the auction, but on next day — Land scam — Auction for Revenue Recovery under provisions of Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 — The so called auction sale of the two plots in favour of the appellants was thoroughly illegal — Though the High Court set aside the auction sale of the two plots on the technical ground of violation of R. 285-D, on a consideration of the overall facts and circumstances, we are satisfied that the auction sale was bad and mala fide and was a blatant attempt to grab the public land — No merit in the appeal D. Land Laws — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952 — Rr. 273, 282 & 285-D — Violation of — Auction — Setting aside of — Bid amounts — Non-deposit of on conclusion of the auction, but on next day — Land scam — Auction for Revenue Recovery under provisions of Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 — CBI investigation — CBI is already overburdened and secondly, the matter is about 20 years old — Officers posted at Ghaziabad would no longer be there, some of them might even have retired — But this case certainly calls for exemplary costs to the appellants — Court is not for manipulators, speculators and land grabbers — Litigation in this Court is not like buying a lottery ticket that, if luck favours, might bring a windfall (even though illegitimate) but would cost no more than the expenses of litigation — That is not the way of this Court — Rs 2 lakhs cost imposed of on each of the two appellants E. Land Laws — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 — U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Rules, 1952 — Rr. 273, 282 & 285-D — Violation of — Auction — Setting aside of — Bid amounts — Non-deposit of on conclusion of the auction, but on next day — Land scam — Auction for Revenue Recovery under provisions of Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 — Existing provisions of the UPZALR Act and the UPZALR Rules are out of date by three quarters of a century — Those were designed to deal with agriculture holdings in a rural area — Even for that purpose the provisions appear to be far from satisfactory — But they have become woefully inadequate and completely deficient for dealing with land holdings and other immovable properties in highly urbanised and industrialised regions of the State — There is, therefore, an urgent need to update the law either by framing fresh Act and Rules or by thoroughly amending the existing ones...

A. Corporate Laws — Debt, Financial and Monetary Laws Securities, Markets and Exchanges Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 — Regn. 20(12) — Plainly says that the offer price for the shares of a company being taken over indirectly and as a consequence of the acquisition of the primary target, would be determined with reference to two dates, one when the public offer was made in regard to the “Parent company” and the other when the public offer is made for the secondary target company and the higher of the two will be taken as the offer price — In terms of sub-regulation (12) of regulation 20, therefore, the share price of Zenotech was required to be determined as on June 16, 2008 and as on January 19, 2009 — Regn. 20(12) tells us the dates with reference to which the offer price is to be determined but it does not tell us how the offer price is to be determined — For that it refers us back to sub-regulations (4) and (5) — It needs to be stated here that sub-regulations (4) and (5) remained unchanged and did not undergo any amendments following the introduction of sub-regulation (4) in regulation 14 and sub-regulation (12) in regulation 20 — This is to say that the provisions of sub-regulations (4) and (5) apply both to cases of direct and indirect take over; they were not designed only for cases of indirect take over B. Corporate Laws — Debt, Financial and Monetary Laws Securities, Markets and Exchanges Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Take overs) Regulations, 1997 — Regn. 20(5) — It lays down the method for determining the offer price for a company the shares of which are infrequently traded — Sub-regulation (4) prescribes three ways for determining the share price with the stipulation that the highest among them would be the offer price — Clause (a) of sub-regulation (4) refers to the negotiated price under the agreement — This would clearly apply to a case of direct take over and shall have no application to a case of indirect take over like the present one — Clause (b) is based on the price paid by the acquirer or persons acting in concert with him for acquisition of shares of the target company within the period of twenty six weeks prior the date of the public announcement and clause (c) is based on the price of the shares of the target company as quoted on the stock exchange C. Corporate Laws — Debt, Financial and Monetary Laws Securities, Markets and Exchanges Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Take overs) Regulations, 1997 — Regn. 20(4)(b) — Applicability of regulation to determine the offer price for Zenotech shares in the public announcement made by Daiichi — Concept of “person acting in concert” under Regn. 2(e)(1) is based on a target company on the one side, and on the other side two or more persons coming together with the shared common objective or purpose of substantial acquisition of shares etc. of the target company — Unless there is a target company, substantial acquisition of whose shares etc. is the common objective or purpose of two or more persons coming together there can be no “persons acting in concert” — For, dehors the target company the idea of “persons acting in concert” is as irrelevant as a cheat with no one as victim of his deception — Two or more persons may join hands together with the shared common objective or purpose of any kind but so long as the common object and purpose is not of substantial acquisition of shares of a target company they would not comprise “persons acting in concert” — The other limb of the concept requires two or more persons joining together with the shared common objective and purpose of substantial acquisition of shares etc. of a certain target company — There can be no “persons acting in concert” unless there is a shared common objective or purpose between two or more persons of substantial acquisition of shares etc. of the target company — For, dehors the element of the shared common objective or purpose the idea of “person acting in concert” is as meaningless as criminal conspiracy without any agreement to commit a criminal offence — The idea of “persons acting in concert” is not about a fortuitous relationship coming into existence by accident or chance — The relationship can come into being only by design, by meeting of minds between two or more persons leading to the shared common objective or purpose of acquisition of substantial acquisition of shares etc. of the target company — It is another matter that the common objective or purpose may be in pursuance of an agreement or an understanding, formal or informal; the acquisition of shares etc. may be direct or indirect or the persons acting in concert may cooperate in actual acquisition of shares etc. or they may agree to cooperate in such acquisition — Nonetheless, the element of the shared common objective or purpose is the sin qua non for the relationship of “persons acting in concert” to come into being D. Interpretation of Statutes — Subordinate/Delegated Legislation — Deeming provision as contained in sub-clause (2) of Regn. 2(e) — Deeming provision cannot do away either with the target company or the common objective or purpose of substantial acquisition of shares etc. of the target company shared by two or more persons because to do so would be destructive of the very idea of “persons acting in concert” as defined in sub-clause (1) of Regn. 2(e) — Sub-regulation (2) of Regn. 2(e) containing the deeming clause should be seen as a `stand alone provision, independent of sub-regulation (1) of Regn. 2(e) — No merit in the submission — Deeming provision under sub-regulation (2) operates only within the larger framework of sub-regulation (1) of regulation 2(e) — Deeming provision simply says that in case of nine specified kinds of relationships, in each category, the person paired with the other would be deemed to be acting in concert with him/it — If one partner in the pair makes or agrees to make substantial acquisition of shares etc. in a company it would be presumed that he/it was acting in pursuance of a common objective or purpose shared with the other partner of the pair — But the mere fact that two companies are in the relationship of a holding company and a subsidiary company, without any thing else, is not sufficient to comprise “persons acting in concert” — Presumption created by virtue of the deeming provision is expressly left open to rebuttal as indicated by the concluding words “unless the contrary is established” occurring in sub-regulation (2) — Regn. 2(1)(e)(2) defines “person acting in concert” — It is a deeming provision — It has to be read in conjunction with Regn. 2(1)(e)(1) which states that person acting in concert comprises of persons who in furtherance of a common objective or purpose of substantial acquisition of shares or voting rights or gaining control over the target company, pursuant to an agreement or understanding (formal or informal), directly or indirectly cooperate by acquiring or agreeing to acquire shares or voting rights in the target company or to acquire control over the target company — The word “comprises” in Regn. 2(1)(e) is significant — It applies to Regn. 2(1)(e)(2) as much as to regulation 2(1)(e)(1) — A fortiori, a person deemed to be acting in concert with others is also a person acting in concert — In other words, persons who are deemed to be acting in concert must have the intention or the aim of acquisition of shares of a target company — It is the conduct of the parties that determines their identity — Whether a person is or is not acting in concert with the acquirer would depend upon the facts of each case — In order to hold that a person is acting in concert with the acquirer or with another person it must be established that the two share the common intention of acquisition of shares of some target company — Deeming fiction under sub-regulation (2) can only operate prospectively and not retrospectively — Deeming provision under sub-regulation (2) would give rise to the presumption that Daiichi and Ranbaxy were “persons acting in concert”, provided of course the other conditions as explained above were also satisfied, only from October 20, 2008, the date on which Ranbaxy became a subsidiary of Daiichi and not before that — Hence, the purchase of Zenotech shares by Ranbaxy in January 2008 cannot be said to be by a “person acting in concert” with Daiichi E. Interpretation of Statutes — Subordinate/Delegated Legislation — Takeover Code — Regns. 14(4) and 20(12) — Provisions of — As per the legislative practice a regulation or any amendments introduced in it are not preceded by the “Object and Purpose” clause — Absence of the object and purpose in the regulation or the later amendments introduced in it only adds to the difficulties of the court in properly construing the provisions of regulations dealing with complex issues — Regulations are brought in and later subjected to amendments without being preceded by any reports of any expert committees — Highly important and complex and specialised spheres of human activity are governed by regulatory mechanisms framed under delegated legislation it is high time to change the old practice and to add at the beginning the “object and purpose” clause to the delegated legislations as in the case of the primary legislations...

Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (for short `Regulatory Commission ) was created in furtherance to the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Reform Act, 1998...

A. Contract and Specific Relief — Suit for specific performance — Courts have failed to appreciate the evidence in its correct perspective and the judgment under appeal is liable to be set aside — Held all the three Courts have returned all the findings of fact in favour of the present respondent — Such findings are based upon proper appreciation of evidence and no legal infirmity can be traced in them B. Contract and Specific Relief — Suit for specific performance — Value of the land has increased tremendously and it would be unjust and unfair to pass a decree for specific performance in favour of the respondent C. Contract and Specific Relief — Suit for specific performance — Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 & Specific Relief Act, 1963 — S. 13(1)(c) — Decree for specific performance could not have been passed by the Courts against the appellants, as the property was mortgaged to the cooperative society, and the property being under the charge of the society, no title could be passed in favour of the respondent — Appellants had not adduced any evidence that the property in question had been mortgaged or was under the charge of the society — Be that as it may, the provisions of cl. (d) of S. 48 of the Societies Act, places a restriction upon alienation of the whole or any part of the land or interest in the property unless and until the whole amount borrowed by the member of the society has been repaid with interest — Restriction is conditional and once the loan of the society has been cleared, the society obviously cannot have any objection to transfer the said property — No effort was made by the appellants to bring on record any evidence to show as to what was the extent of money currently due to the society, if at all, and for what amount the property had been mortgaged in favour of the society — In the absence of any specific evidence in that regard, the Court will have to draw an adverse inference against the appellants for not producing before the Court the best available evidence D. Contract and Specific Relief — Suit for specific performance — Specific Relief Act, 1963 — Land could not be transferred in favour of the respondent in view of the restriction contained in S. 12(1)(c) and S. 12(2) of the Re-settlement Act — Submission of — Bare reading of these provisions show that the Government can grant permission for transfer of the property, subject to such conditions, as it may deem fit and proper — Appellants have neither claimed any issue nor led any evidence before the Court to substantiate even this plea E. Contract and Specific Relief — Specific Relief Act, 1963 — S. 13(1)(c) — Postulates that where a person contracts to sell immovable property with an imperfect title and the property is encumbered for an amount not exceeding the purchase money, the purchaser has the right to compel the seller to redeem the mortgage and obtain a valid discharge and then specifically perform the contract in its favour — Even from this point of view, the right of the present respondent is fully protected F. Contract and Specific Relief — Specific Relief Act, 1963 — S. 20 — Discretionary jurisdiction — Exercise of — The Court is expected to take care to see that the process of the Court is not used as an instrument of oppression giving an unfair advantage to the plaintiff as opposed to the defendant in the suit — Discretion of the Court has to be exercised as per the settled judicial principles — All the aforesaid principles are squarely satisfied in the present case and it is the appellants before us who have taken advantage of the pendency of the proceedings — They have used the sum of Rs 10,000 , which was given as earnest money for all this period, as well as, have enjoyed the fruits of the property — In the present case, it is not only lawful but even equity and facts of the case demand that a decree for specific performance should be granted in favour of the respondent — Besides all this, the respondent before us has agreed to pay much higher consideration than what was payable in terms of the agreement to sell between the parties ...

Service Law — If an employee keeps making representation after representation which are consistently rejected then the employee cannot claim any relief on that ground — Appellant’s request for change which was rejected by the authorities related to declining of combining the service of DAE and NPC — In the Writ Petition before the High Court, the appellant had prayed for a direction to the respondents to accept his option for combined service pension — Even the circular issued on 27th January, 2003 (Annexure `P-7 ) clearly stated that in case of re-employment of military pensioner in civil service, the pensionery benefits for second spell of service shall not be subject to any limitation as per provisions of R. 18(3) of the Rules — In other words, it is not relatable to service rendered in DAE vis-à-vis combining the same with the Corporation service — The relief claimed even in the present petition thus, is misconceived and cannot be granted on the facts of the case — Merely because the case of the appellant was forwarded by the Department vide its letter dated 27th January, 2007 for favourable consideration, would not vest any right in the petitioner and can hardly be of any material consequence...

Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 — S. 5(3) — Material amendments carried out in the provisions of S. 5(3) of the Act with effect from 01.04.2002 — Format of Form No. 18 issued to Assessee had not been amended consequently — High Court had specifically noticed the contention of the assessee firm that the initiation of the proceedings is based on a provision which had been repealed, non-existent and inapplicable, as such, the entire proceedings and imposition of penalty was unjustified, still the High Court did not deal with this contention — Order of High Court dismissing Writ set aside — Matter remanded for disposal in accordance with law...

Penal Code, 1860 — Ss. 304-B & 498-A — Dowry death — Conviction for — Appeal thereagainst — Ingredients of the offence not satisfied — Contention thereto — Death because of burn injuries at the matrimonial home — Dowry demand — "Chuktiparta" — Execution of — Itself demonstrate that there was a clear intention on the part of the appellants to take dowry in and as consideration for marriage — Gifts were given at the time of marriage and some items were also agreed to be given subsequent to the marriage — This itself would be an appropriate fact to be taken into consideration and is, in any case, completely in line with the case of the prosecution — Death is not disputed and large number of witnesses have made specific allegations of dowry demand and the harassment to which the deceased was being subjected during the short period for which the marriage survived — By and large the statement of prosecution witnesses are on similar lines and all the material and crucial aspects stand duly corroborated — Offence under Ss. 304-B r/w 498-A of IPC is made out in this case and has been proved by the prosecution beyond any reasonable doubt — Court has to examine the cumulative effect of the evidence on record and analyze the same in its true context — Once, the appellant had ensured execution of "Chuktiparta" at the time of marriage then this itself would fully support the version of the prosecution and statement of witnesses that there was demand of dowry — Appeal is dismissed...

Specific Relief Act 1963 — S. 26 — Not of general application — Rectification — When can be claimed — The provisions of S. 26 of the Act would be attracted in limited cases — The provisions of this Section do not have a general application — These provisions can be attracted in the cases only where the ingredients stated in the Section are satisfied — The relief of rectification can be claimed where it is through fraud or a mutual mistake of the parties that real intention of the parties is not expressed in relation to an instrument — Even then the party claiming will have to make specific pleadings and claim an issue in that behalf — Proviso to S. 26 (4) of the Act makes it clear that when such a relief has not been claimed by the concerned parties, the Court shall, at any stage of the proceedings allow him to amend the pleadings on such terms, as may be just, for including such a claim and it would be necessary for the party to file a separate suit — The legislative intent in incorporating this provision, therefore, is unambiguous and clear — The purpose is not to generate multiplicity of litigation but to decide all issues in relation thereto in the same suit provided the provisions of S. 26 of the Act are attracted in the facts of a given case (Paras 7 & 8)...

A. Consumer Complaint — Electricity Supply Act, 1948 — Ss. 49 & 79(j) — Regns. Cl. 3.1.1, 3.5.2.1, 3.5.2.2, 3.5.7 under — New connection in the same premises, transfer of the premises, where there exists a connection and the obligation on the part of the consumer to get the connection clubbed — The aim of the Electricity Board is to provide single connection in the premises — Not only this, it is the obligation of the consumer, to get the connections clubbed where more than one connection exists in the same premises — This policy is, primarily, meant to encourage single connection as well as consumers to opt for clubbing of their loads and also to facilitate a smooth transmission — The most important aspect is the mischief that these provisions ought to suppress — A consumer who gets two meters installed in his premises and in that garb receives bulk supply instead of medium supply clearly makes an attempt to avoid payment of higher tariff — It cannot be disputed that a consumer of a medium supply is subjected to a lower tariff than the one receiving bulk supply — Therefore, the intention, thus, is to avoid revenue loss to the Board by circulating the prescribed procedure — These regulations and circulars, thus, cannot be interpreted so as to defeat the very object of suppressing such a mischief in the consumption of electricity — Therefore, if the Electricity Board finds that such mischief is being played, there is nothing in law preventing the Board from treating it as a clubbed connection and impose such tariff and penalty as is permissible in accordance with law — No consumer can be permitted to defeat the spirit of the regulations and take undue advantage of receiving electric supply through all different meters in the same premises and with an intention to defraud the Electricity Board of its genuine dues for supply of electricity B. Consumer Complaint — Electricity Supply Act, 1948 — Ss. 49 & 79(j) — Regns. Cl. 3.1.1, 3.5.2.1, 3.5.2.2, 3.5.7 under — New connection in the same premises, transfer of the premises, where there exists a connection and the obligation on the part of the consumer to get the connection clubbed — Inspection Report of Electricity Board — No specific objections were filed to the effect that the inspection was conducted in a prejudicial manner or correct facts had not been noticed and that is why the protest was raised — It was required of the consumers to establish their case for the period, at the time of or subsequent to the date of inspection — It is the obligation of every bona fide consumer to comply with the requirements and the regulations in the circular and not to abuse the advantage given under the policy of the Electricity Board — If there is a prima facie record to show that the consumer had attempted to circumvent the circular and with an intention to avoid payment of higher tariff, two connections were being utilised in the garb of different premises, while in fact, it was one and same premises, the penal consequences must follow C. Consumer Complaint — Electricity Supply Act, 1948 — Ss. 49 & 79(j) — Regns. Cl. 3.1.1, 3.5.2.1, 3.5.2.2, 3.5.7 under — New connection in the same premises, transfer of the premises, where there exists a connection and the obligation on the part of the consumer to get the connection clubbed — Inspection Report of Electricity Board — Is a document prepared in exercise of its official duties by the officers of the Corporation — Once an act is done in accordance with law, the presumption is in favour of such act or document and not against the same — Thus, there was specific onus upon the consumer to rebut by leading proper and cogent evidence that the report prepared by the officers was not correct — Matter remanded to the Competent Authority in the Electricity Board to determine and record the clear findings afresh ...

Criminal Law — Anticipatory bail — Except for indicating the broad outlines for grant of bail and/or anticipatory bail, no straitjacket formula can be prescribed for universal application, as each case for grant of bail has to be considered on its own merits and in the facts and nuances of each case — Different versions noticed in the three different complaints made in respect of the incident of 11th September, 2008 — Allegations with regard to offences under Ss. 395, 397, 467, 468 and 471 IPC were sought to be added at a later stage of investigation — Held, no case has been made out for allowing the petitioner’s application under S. 439(2) r/w S. 482 CrPC (Para 14)...

A. Constitution of India — Art. 136 — Service Law — Pay scales — Alteration in — Railway Tower Wagon Drivers — New Running Allowance Rules — Structuring of cadre — Either before the Tribunal or before the High Court the Union of India never pleaded the essential basis for justifying payment of different pay scales to two categories of drivers i.e. TWDs on the one hand and goods train drivers on the other — There has to be a substantial difference in method of recruitment, eligibility, duties and responsibilities before substantial disparity in scale can be justified — Factual disputes can hardly be raised before this Court and in any case for the first time — Despite this the Union of India has failed to place any material to substantiate its decision before the Forum/Courts — The judgment of the Calcutta High Court, in relation to running allowances, has attained finality — At that time no other issue was raised by Union of India that they are different and distinct posts with different pay scales and as such identical running allowances could not be paid — In fact, the judgment of the Calcutta High Court has duly been implemented now for years together without objection — Not only this, same pay scale as that of the goods train driver has been paid to these respondents for years and there appears to be no justification on record for unilateral withdrawal of such a scale B. Constitution of India — Art. 136 — Service Law — Pay scales — Alteration in — Railway Tower Wagon Drivers — New Running Allowance Rules — Structuring of cadre — Challenge to — Pay scale is a legitimate right of an employee and except for valid and proper reasons it cannot be varied, that only in accordance with law — None of these justifiable reasons exist in the present case — The impugned order itself does not give any reason — The expression `erroneously used in the order can hardly justify withdrawal of such an existing right C. Constitution of India — Art. 136 — Service Law — Pay scales — Alteration in — Railway Tower Wagon Drivers — New Running Allowance Rules — Structuring of cadre — Averments have been made without any supporting data or documents to substantiate such a plea — No comparative chart of the duties and responsibilities of these two posts, recruitment rules specifying eligibility or selection criteria and working conditions have been placed on record — The vague averments made to that effect cannot persuade this Court to disturb the concurrent findings recorded by the Tribunal as well as by the High Court D. Constitution of India — Art. 136 — Service Law — Pay scales — Alteration in — Railway Tower Wagon Drivers — New Running Allowance Rules — Structuring of cadre — Parties are expected to raise specific pleadings before the first forum for adjudication of the dispute — Those pleadings are the basis of the case of the respective parties even before the appellate/higher Courts — Parties would be bound by such pleadings, of course, subject to the right of amendment allowed in accordance with law — No such amendment has been carried out even before the High Court and it will be unfair for this Court to get into the controversy of factual matrix of the case at this stage of the proceedings, particularly, when there exists no justification whatsoever on record as to why even these averments were not made before the Tribunal and not even before the High Court, despite the fact that the Tribunal had specifically made comments in this regard in its judgment — Even before this Court but for bald averments no documents, data or cogent material has been placed for appropriate adjudication of the rights of the parties ...

This is a statutory appeal filed under Section 23 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, hereinafter referred to as the 1986 Act , from an order dated 24th October, 2005, passed by the...

Arbitration — Limits of arbitrator — Arbitrator cannot make an award contrary to the terms of contract — Reiterated that question is no longer res integra having been settled by a long line of decisions of this Court — While it is true that the Courts show deference to the findings of fact recorded by the Arbitrators and even opinions, if any, expressed on questions of law referred to them for determination, yet it is equally true that the Arbitrators have no jurisdiction to make an award against the specific terms of the contract executed between the parties — Arbitration Act, 1940 (Para 16) Steel Authority of India Ltd. v. J.C. Budharaja, Government and Mining Contractor, (1999) 8 SCC 122, W.B. State Warehousing Corporation v. Sushil Kumar Kayan & Ors. (2002) 5 SCC 679, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. v. Annapurna Construction (2003) 8 SCC 154, MD, Army Welfare Housing Organisation v. Sumangal Services (P) Ltd. (2004) 9 SCC 619, Associated Engineering Co. v. Government of Andhra Pradesh (AIR 1992 SC 232), Jivarajbhai Ujamshi Sheth & Ors. v. Chintamanrao Balaji & Ors. (AIR 1965 SC 214), State of Rajasthan v. Nav Bharat Construction Co. (AIR 2005 SC 4430), Food Corporation of India v. Surendra, Devendra & Mahendra Transport Co. (2003) 4 SCC 80 referred to Award — Valid part of award upheld — We allow this appeal but only in part and to the extent that the award made by the Arbitrators shall stand set aside except so as to separate the inadmissible part of the claim based on an interpretation of Cl. 2.03 from the admissible part...

Consumer Protection — Complaint filed by Respondent 1 for correction of his date of birth recorded in the matriculation certificate allowed — In our view, the impugned order is liable to be set aside because all the consumer forums failed to consider the issue of maintainability of the complaint in a correct perspective — Before the District Forum could go into the issue of correctness of the date of birth recorded in the matriculation certificate of Respondent 1, it ought to have considered whether the so called failure of the appellant to make correction in terms of the prayer made by Respondent 1 amounted to deficiency of service — The District Forum, the State Commission and the National Commission also overlooked that despite repeated communications sent to him, Respondent 2 did not produce the original documents including the admission register so as to enable the appellant to verify the correctness and genuineness of the assertions made by Respondent 1 regarding his correct date of birth — In our view, the District Forum should have taken cognizance of the communications sent by the appellant to Respondent 2 requiring him to produce the original records and called upon him to explain his position in the backdrop of the fact that on the one hand, he was writing letters to the appellant for correcting the date of birth recorded in the matriculation certificate of Respondent 1 and, on the other hand, he resolutely avoided production of the original records — The impugned order of the National Commission as also the orders passed by the District Forum and State Commission are set aside and the matter is remitted to the District Forum for fresh adjudication of the complaint filed by Respondent 1...

Election Petition — Representation of People Act, 1951 — S. 116-A — Corrupt practice — Allegation of — Neither the appellant nor his election agent (PW 30) claims to be a witness to any act of corrupt practice alleged against the respondent — Entire case of the appellant as set up before the High Court and even before us is that the acts of corrupt practice allegedly committed by respondent were reported to the appellant or his election agent by different individuals from time to time — The second aspect which is noteworthy is that the affidavit sworn by the witnesses in regard to each incident of alleged corrupt practice is a carbon copy of the other — Unsafe to believe for purposes of setting aside an electoral process in which the appellant has lost the election by a huge margin of nearly 20000 votes — Third noteworthy aspect — Witnesses examined by the appellant appear to be partisan in character — Incident of bribery alleged against the respondent at labour line of Desam Tea Estate was not reported by these two witnesses to anyone and not even to the Manager of the tea garden concerned — Absence of any documentary evidence to show that any complaints were filed by the appellant or his election agent before the Election Commission of India or any other authority upon receipt of reports regarding commission of the corrupt practice by the respondent — Non-production of the documents admittedly available with the appellant that would lend credence to the version set up by the appellant that the incident of corrupt practice was reported to him and/or to his election agent would give rise to an adverse inference against the appellant that either such complaints were never made or if the same were made they did not contain any charge regarding the commission of corrupt practices by the respondent in the manner and on the dates and the places alleged in the petition — Ill. (g) to S. 114 of the Evidence Act permits the Court to draw an adverse presumption against the party in default to the effect that evidence which could be but is not produced would, if produced, have been unfavourable to the person who withholds it — The rule is contained in the well-known maxim : omnia praesumuntur contra spoliatorem — If a man wrongfully withholds evidence, every presumption to his disadvantage consistent with the facts admitted or proved will be adopted — In an election dispute where oral evidence is generally partisan in character, the non-production of documentary material that could lend support to the appellant’s charge of bribery against the respondent would assume great importance — Absence of a plausible explanation for non — production of the documentary evidence would completely discredit the version which the oral evidence attempts to support — Denials in respondent’s deposition — Denials of the respondent have not been seriously questioned in cross-examination — In the absence of cross-examination on these aspects regarding the denial of the respondent about her presence at the places where she is alleged to have committed the corrupt practices would imply that the statement made by her has not been seriously disputed by the appellant — At any rate, there is nothing in the cross-examination to discredit the version of the respondent leave alone suggest that she was making a false statement regarding her presence at the places where she is alleged to have committed the acts of corrupt practices — Having regard to the seriousness of the charge of corrupt practice, and the nature of the evidence that has been adduced by the appellant the present is a fit case where we ought to give the benefit of doubt to the respondent and leave her election untouched — Appeal fails and is hereby dismissed...

Human and Civil Rights — Reservation in Civil Services — Disabilities Act, 1995 — S. 33 — Reservation of 3% of the total vacancies — Visually handicapped person who suffers from 100% blindness — Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC — Reservation is not dependent on identification, as urged on behalf of the Union of India, though a duty has been cast upon the appropriate Government to make appointments in the number of posts reserved for the three categories — In fact, a situation has also been noticed where on account of non-availability of candidates some of the reserved posts could remain vacant in a given year — For meeting such eventualities, provision was made to carry forward such vacancies for two years after which they would lapse — Since in the instant case such a situation did not arise and posts were not reserved under S. 33 of the Disabilities Act, 1995, the question of carrying forward of vacancies or lapse thereof, does not arise — Appeal dismissed — Costs of Rs 20,000 to Respondent...