Murder--Doctrine of Parity--Appellant submitted that there is a parity between the co-accused persons and while other were convicted under Section 304 Part II IPC he alone has been convicted under Section 302 IPC--However, appellant had given a fatal blow on the neck with aruval and injury caused by such act proved fatal--Plea of parity rejected.

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Unlawful Assembly--Mere presence in an unlawful assembly cannot render a person liable unless there was a common object and he was attracted by that common object is one those set out in Section 141 IPC

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Writ appeal--Dismissal on cryptic grounds--In matters involving constitutionality, it would not be open for High Court to dismiss writ appeals on cryptic grounds.

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Criminal Law--Murder--Common intention--Prosecution case that appellant alongwith other accused murdered the deceased--Evidence of PWs 2 and 3 did not attribute any overt act to the appellant--Mere fact that he was in the company of accused who were armed would not be sufficient to attract Section 34 I.P.C.--It is undisputed that appellant was not armed and he has no animosity with the deceased

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Co-sharer--When a co-sharer sells his share in the joint holding or any portion thereof and puts the vendor into possession of land in his possession what he transfers is his right as a co-sharers in said land and right to remain in its exclusive possession till joint holding is partitioned amongst all co-sharers---Sale of subsequent portion of land out of joint holding by the co-owners is nothing but a sale of a share out of the joint holding and is pre-emptible under Section 15(1)(b) of Act

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Eye-witness--Simply because the eyewitnesses did not make any attempt to save the life of the deceased from the clutches of the accused persons, their abnormal conduct by itself cannot be taken as a ground to disbelieve and discard their testimony.

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Will can be proved by examining at least one witness--Alongwith it has to be shown that it was free from suspicious circumstances--Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Section 3--Evidence Act, 1872, Section 68--Succession Act, 1925, Section 63(c).--It may be true that deprivation of a due share by the natural heir by itself may not be held to be a suspicious circumstance but it is one of the factors which is taken into consideration by the courts

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Accident--Gratuitous passengers--About 30-40 persons were travelling in the tempo truck--All 30-40 persons by no stretch of imagination could have been the representatives of the owners of goods. Insurance company not liable Accident--Ordinarily an allegation made in FIR would not be admissible in evidence per se but tribunal would be entitled to look into same where allegations made in FIR had been made a part of the part of claim petition.

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Contention that prior to the amendment rules, the promotion to the cadre of District Judges was based on the principle of "Seniority-cum-merit" and now as per amended rules pursuant to the directions of Supreme Court, the principle has now been changed to "merit-cum-seniority" and this has seriously affected the rights of the members of the Civil Judges (Senior Division)--Contention rejected

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Mortgage--Whether a document is mortgage by conditional sale or a sale with a condition of repurchase is a vexed question--One of the ingredients for determining the true nature of transaction, therefore, is that the condition of repurchase should be embodied in the document which effects or purports to effect the sale--Indisputably, the said condition is satisfied-- Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Mortgage--In a case where deed of mortgage is executed with a condition of repurchase, the amount of consideration remains the same.

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Eviction--Dispute as to amount of rent--Case remanded back--Tenant directed to pay rent as claimed by landlord during pendency of suit.

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Interest Law--Interest-- Starting Point--Question arises as to from which date interest would be paid--Starting point is on completion of one month from the date on which claim fell due--It cannot be the date of accident--It has to be taken to be the date of adjudication of the claim-- Workman's Compensation Act, 1923, Sections 3, 4A(3)(a).

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Succession Law--Will-- Probate of--A probate when granted binds the whole world--It is a judgment in rem--The Executor, therefore, has to administer the estate of the testator in terms of the Will and not on the basis of the settlement arrived at by and between the parties which would be inconsistent with the terms of the Will--In case of any conflict between the terms of the Will and the settlement, the former will prevail

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Undue Influence—Merely because the parties are related to each other or merely because the executant was old or of weak character, no presumption of undue influence can arise Redemption of Mortgage—High Court has passed a decree for redemption of mortgage simpliciter without following the provisions of CPC—Impugned order set aside-- Muslim Law—Oral Gift—Conditions for making valid oral gift under the Mohammedan law are:- (i) there should be wish or intention on the part of the donor to gift; (ii) acceptance by the donee; and (iii) taking possession of the subject matter of the gift by the donee.

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Right to Dignity—Death Row Prisoner is entitled to have interview with his family and friends; to have discussions with his lawyer and meeting mental health professionals.

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Second Complaint—There is no provision in the Criminal Procedure Code or any other statute which debars a complainant from making a second complaint on the same allegations, when the first complaint did not lead to conviction, acquittal or discharge Second Complaint—The failure to mention the first complaint in the subsequent one is inconsequential—Mentioning of reasons for withdrawal of an earlier complaint is also not a condition precedent for maintaining a second complaint.

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Contempt—Willful Disobedience—Contempt jurisdiction cannot be invoked on the basis of impressions, in absence of specific directions or orders.

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Framing of Charge—Complainant sustained injuries on the nose and fracture of the nasal bone was found—Held; that the case may fall within the grievous hurt, hut it cannot be said that even, prima facie, a case is made out for the offence under Section 307 of the IPC

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Attempt to Murder—Compromise between Parties—Despite any settlement between the complainant and the accused, the criminal proceedings under Section 307 IPC cannot be quashed, as the offence is a non-compoundable offence

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Service Law—Re-employment—Regularization of any employee already in service does not give any right to retrenched employee for claiming re-employment in the services

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Ownership—Documents like several permissions of the municipality and tax receipts might imply possession but they cannot be relied to confer title of immovable property upon the holder of such documents

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Dishonour of Cheque—Death of Complainant—Legal heir of a person aggrieved is competent to continue a criminal complaint

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Accident—Personal Expenses—Where the family of the bachelor is large and dependent on the income of the deceased, his personal and living expenses maybe restricted to one-third, as contribution to the family will be taken as two-third. Accident—Just Compensation—More than claimed—Court is duty bound and entitled to award "just compensation", irrespective of whether any plea in that behalf was raised by the claimant or not. Accident—Filial Consortium—It is the right of the parents to compensation in the case of an accidental death of a child—An accident leading to the death of a child causes great shock and agony to the parents and family of the deceased. Accident—Interest on Compensation—Deceased was aged 24 years and his income assessed as that of unskilled worker—Compensation awarded with 12% interest p.a. from date of filing claim petition.

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Landlord & Tenant—Eviction—Change of User—In rent agreement there was no restriction on tenant to run business only relating to the saw mill-­Tenant was given liberty to carry on any other business as well—Tenant changed his business from saw mill to manufacturing of grills—Eviction petition ground of change of user dismissed

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Corruption—Criminal Conspiracy—Accused and Co-accused were acquitted under S.120-B IPC—Co-accused was also acquitted under Corruption Act—Accused also entitled for his clean acquittal under Corruption Act.

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Agreement to Sell—Readiness and Willingness—Purchaser could not produce any document to show that he had the balance sale consideration with him on the relevant date—Subsequent deposit of sale consideration in appeal is of no consequence—Suit dismissed

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Consumer Complaint—Arbitration Clause in agreement cannot oust the jurisdiction of consumer courts even after the amendments made in 2015 in Section 8 of Arbitration Act. Arbitration—Amendment of 2015—Scope of—Judicial authority can refuse reference to arbitration only on the ground that it prima facie finds that no valid arbitration agreement exists.

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Murder—Identification of Accused—Specific identification of the four accused, from a group of 200- to 300 rioters, with 100% perfection; without a mention of any distinguishing marks seems highly improbable—Accused acquitted. Murder—Test Identification Parade—No reasonable explanation provided for such an inordinate delay of 55 days in conducting the TIP— Accused acquitted Murder—Gunshot Injury—Both the Post -Mortem report and the F.S.L. report are incompatible with each other with regard to exit wound and recovery of bullet—Accused acquitted. Murder—Benefit of doubt arising out of inefficient/defective investigation must be bestowed upon the accused.

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Maintenance—Woman who is not legally wedded wife can claim maintenance under Domestic Violence Act if not entitled to maintenance under S.125Cr.P.C

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Identity of victim of sexual offences—Directions issued that no person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc. the name of the victim or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large.

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Cheating—Merely because the accused has not paid the amount due and payable under the agreement; no offence u/s 406 & 420 IPC is made out—Dispute is of civil nature—Complaint quashed.

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Arbitration—Interest on Award—In an international commercial arbitration, in the absence of an agreement between the parties on interest, the rate of interest awarded would be governed by the law of the seat of arbitration Arbitration—Interest on Award—International commercial agreement--When the parties do not operate in the same currency, a uniform rate of interest for both the currencies would not be justified

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Indian Penal Code, 1860, S. 306-Abetment to Suicide--Quashing--Mens rea--High Court ought not to have gone into whether there was requisite mental element or intention on part of accused during the pendency of investigation and pendency of filing of charge sheet

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Service Law—Appointment—Judicial Officer—Acquittal in criminal case involving moral turpitude cannot be a ground to deny appointment.

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Re-assessment--Police Training--Deficiency, if any, in not allotting proper marks by authorities cannot deprive them of the benefit which they have already obtained.

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Limitation--Under Section 28 of Contract Act, parties are entitled to provide a period of limitation shorter than that prescribed under Limitation Act.

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Insurance Contract--An apprentice is not an employee in common parlance.

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Cost--Award of cost in Civil Suit--Both the parties did not come to Court with clean hands--High Court directed each party to pay cost of Rs. One lakh--Order upheld.

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Accident Law--Permanent disability--Earning capacity--Appellant was aged 15 years when he met with an accident on 14.9.1998 as a result whereof he sustained serious injuries and suffered permanent disability to the extent of 70% of his left lower limb which had to be amputated--Loss of earning capacity should be treated as 60% of the monthly income--His annual income assessed at Rs. 21,600/

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Family Pension--Dependents of the deceased ad hoc appointees are not entitled to grant of 'family pension' in terms of the provisions of Punjab Civil Services Rules.

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Murder--Suspension of sentence--Bail during pendency of appeal--Accused charged for mercilessly assaulting deceased--High Court granted bail during pendency of appeal--Held; Appellate court is duty-bound to objectively assess the matter and to record reasons for the conclusion that the case warrants suspension of execution of sentence and grant of bail

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Will--Will is required to be attested and therefore, it cannot be used as evidence until at least one of attesting witness is called for the purpose of providing its executions provided such attesting witness is alive and subject to the process of Court and capable of giving evidence. Pleading--Non filing of Replication--Mere non filing of a replication does not and could not mean that there has been admission of facts pleaded in written statement.

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Evidence Law--May presume and shall presume--Difference between--In the former case the Court has an option to raise the presumption or not, but in the latter case, the Court must necessarily raise the presumption--If in a case the Court has an option to raise the presumption and raises the presumption, the distinction between the two categories of presumptions ceases and the fact is presumed, unless and until it is disproved--Evidence Act, 1872, Section 4.

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Narcotics—Recovery of bulk of manufactured drugs without any valid authorization—Accused to be tried under NDPS Act and not under Drugs and Cosmetics Act merely because recovered substance was “manufactured drugs”

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Infringement of Trademark-Passing of-Division Bench of High Court held that substitution of letter 'T' for letter 'O' would create confusion on the ground of deceptive similarity—Reputation of plaintiffs Trademark has been established and there is likelihood of its damage—Findings of Division bench upheld

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Remand of Case—After allowing the application for additional evidence in appeal High Court not justified in remanding the case to trial court for recording of the evidence—It can be done by competently by first Appellate Court Additional evidence of appellate stage—Allowing of application does not mean that document are to be directly exhibited as record on file—Such documents are required to be proved as per law before being considered

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Medical Evidence--Ocular Evidence—Variance between—Oral evidence has to get primacy as the medical evidence is basically opinionative

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High Court gave finding that the Rent Appellate Tribunal allowed the appellant's (landlady's) appeal with a casual approach and failed to record any categorical finding on the plea of bona fide need—However, High Court neither remanded the case nor decided the appeal on merits—This approach of the High Court caused prejudice to the appellant (landlady) because there was no factual finding recorded either by the first appellate Court or the High Court on the question of bona fide need—Matter remanded back to Rent Appellate Tribunal

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Quashing—Remand of Case—High Court dismissed the petition for quashing without referring to facts of the case with a view to appreciate factual controversy and to appreciates why such grounds are not made out under S.482 Cr.P.C-Matter remanded hack to High Court to be decided afresh—Impugned order set aside

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Murder—Death Penalty—Every brutal murder does not fall within category of rarest of rare case to warrant death sentence

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Execution of decree—Objections—Revisionary Court is under legal obligation to decide the legality and correctness of the findings recorded by the executing court on its merits rather than remanding it to executing court Execution of Decree—Objections—Revision—Additional evidence by way of documents not to be placed in revision against dismissal of objections by executing court

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Auction Sale—Deposit of Bid amount—An amount of bid in which the decree holder is a purchaser can be set off—In present case, respondent-corporation is not only auction purchaser but also decree holder, there is no question of deposit of the auction amount as there was no other prospective buyer to offence bid.

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Exparte decree—Setting aside of—Delay of about 4 years in filing application condoned—Keeping in view that appellant did not follow up the matter due to pendency of the appeal. in High Court against the grant of interim injunction

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