Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Ss. 11 & 8 and 16 r/w S. 7: Law clarified on harmonious construction of Arbitration Act, Stamp Act and Contract Act. Unstamped/Improperly stamped agreement does not amount to a void agreement. Examination/Impounding of unstamped/under-stamped instrument at the stage of reference under S. 11 or S. 8 A&C Act, 1996, impermissible, [Interplay Between Arbitration Agreements under A&C Act, 1996 & Stamp Act, 1899, In re, (2024) 6 SCC 1]
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — S. 389 — Grant of bail by suspending sentence: Cancellation of bail, by considering subsequent conduct, when Warranted, explained, [Jadunath Singh v. Arvind Kumar, (2024) 6 SCC 125]
Easements Act, 1882 — S. 15 — Easementary right — Acquisition by prescription: Law summarized re requirements of acquisition by prescription and specific pleadings that are necessary. When there is no specific claim that right of way/path in dispute being used for last 20 yrs, merely pleading for “last many years”, held, not enough, [Manisha Mahendra Gala v. Shalini Bhagwan Avatramani, (2024) 6 SCC 130]
Evidence Act, 1872 — Ss. 40 to 43 — Criminal and civil proceedings in respect of the same subject-matter — Maintainability and disposal of: There is neither any statutory provision nor any legal principle that the findings recorded in one proceeding may be treated as final. There is no hard-and-fast rule either, as to which proceeding should be given primacy, or when one will preclude the other. Special considerations obtaining in any particular case might make some other course more expedient and just in another case, [Prem Raj v. Poonamma Menon, (2024) 6 SCC 143]
Information Technology Act, 2000 — S. 67 — “Obscene material in electronic form”, “obscenity”: Meaning, test and standard of judging of “obscene material in electronic form”, “obscenity”, under the IT Act, is the same as judicially laid down for S. 292 IPC. Material containing abusive, vulgar language may not arouse sexual and lustful thoughts and may not be per se obscene, [Apoorva Arora v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2024) 6 SCC 181]
Insurance — Payment of Claim or Repudiation of Claim/Termination/Remedies/Relief — Rescission/Repudiation of Insurance Claim/Policy/Breach of terms and conditions: Refund of insurance premium and repudiation of claim, post death of insured is invalid when insurance process otherwise complete and all mandatory requirements met. Deferring of insurance process by back dated letter on unfounded medical reason, after death of insured, strongly deprecated, [Gokal Chand v. Axis Bank Ltd., (2024) 6 SCC 154]
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — S. 166 — Compensation — Enhancement of: In absence of any contra evidence, held, non-acceptance of medical evidence as to extent of disability, held, was an illegality and therefore, compensation so granted, enhanced, [Aabid Khan v. Dinesh, (2024) 6 SCC 149]
Service Law — Recruitment Process — Eligibility criteria/conditions — Change in eligibility conditions: Deviation from statutory rules and advertisement, issued after assessment is not permissible. “No change in rule midway”, held, integral part of service jurisprudence, [Sushil Kumar Pandey v. High Court of Jharkhand, (2024) 6 SCC 162]
