Succession Law - Indian Succession Act 1925 - Section 247 - Status of Administrator Pendente Lite - An Administrator under Section 247 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 is appointed by the Court and is thus an officer of the Court, subject to the immediate…

Tax Law - Burden of Proof - Onus on Taxing Authority - [...] in matters of classification of goods, the burden of proof rests on the shoulders of the Revenue. [...] The burden of proof is on the taxing authorities to show that the particular case or item…

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 482 - Quashing to prevent abuse of process - While quashing an FIR, SC observed: Where there is a decree of a civil court in favour of the accused and against the complainant, which has been satisfied, and the complainant…

Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 - Section 138 - Factual Foundation for Liability - The complainant must lay a proper factual foundation regarding the underlying transaction and the criminal liability under Section 138 cannot rest upon vague assertions or…

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 - Resolution Plan - Clean Slate Principle - The Successful Resolution Applicant, who stepped into the shoes of the Corporate Debtor, cannot be fastened with the past liabilities of the corporate debtor which did not form…

Constitution of India, 1950 – Articles 309 and 311 read with Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 – Sections 2, 3(q) and 14 – Railway servants are as much persons having locus standi to move the Central Administrative Tribunal as Government servants governed…

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 173(8) — The requirement of seeking prior leave of the Magistrate to conduct “further investigation” and/or to file a “supplementary report” has, by judicial development and consistent practice, evolved into a necessary…

Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Section 149 — Once the common object of the unlawful assembly stands established, every member thereof becomes vicariously liable for acts committed in prosecution of such common object; the liability contemplated under Section 149…

If a High Court, while reversing an acquittal, convicts the accused for the first time, can it send the case back to the trial court only for hearing on sentence and imposing sentence?

Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Sections 53 and 45; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 433-A — When a sentence of life imprisonment is imposed, the meaning is that it is till the natural life subject to the right of claiming remission, and hence modifying…

Constitution of India - Article 324 ; Representation of the People Act, 1950 - Section 21(3) - The Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision of the Bihar electoral roll, holding that it was validly traceable to Section…

Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023- Section 63(4) - Constitutional Validity - The issuance of a standard-form certificate prescribed in the Schedule which inter alia requires the disclosure of hash value of the electronic/digital record along with a further…

Summary: This miscellaneous application sought clarification/modification of the Supreme Court’s earlier judgment concerning clubbing of FIR No. 30/2019 (EOW, Delhi) and FIR No. 439/2024 (PS Sector 65, Gurugram, Haryana). The Court noted that its reasoning…

Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Section 302 (Murder – Death sentence) — Capital punishment can be only be awarded when the alternative of life imprisonment is unquestionably foreclosed. Te exercise requires a careful and individualized balancing of the aggravating…

Notes On Supreme Court Judgments

Constitution of India - Article 265, 366(28) - Until and unless the statute provides for the imposition of tax which may include impost, no tax can be levied or collected from any person - Tax and Fee - Distinction between “tax” and “fee” having been blurred…

Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - In a case resting entirely on circumstantial evidence, each incriminating circumstance must be firmly proved, and the chain of circumstances must be so complete as to unerringly point towards the guilt of the accused…

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 311 — The power conferred under Section 311 of the CrPC is undoubtedly wide; however, such power is required to be exercised sparingly and in judicious manner, and not arbitrarily. (Para 13) The stage at which the…

Sanyasi - Sanyas is the fourth and final stage in the traditional Hindu system of life stages, typically characterized by renunciation of material desires, family ties and worldly ambitions. [Context: The applicant, a self‑professed Sanyasi, repeatedly approached…

Constitution of India, 1950 – Articles 226 and 227  ; Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 – Sections 5, 16 and 34 - If the enactment besides providing for a statutory remedy [herein, Section 34] also expects minimal judicial interference prior to the culmination…

Motor Accident Compensation - Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 – Section 166 ; Haryana Compassionate Assistance to the Dependents of Deceased Government Employees Rules, 2006 — Under social welfare legislations, the paramount consideration is awarding just and adequate…