Principles of Natural Justice VIII / The Revival of Ray XCI

RBI has been issuing ‘Master Directions’ on diverse issues since 2016. Every proceeding which involves civil consequences or adversely affects a citizen should be in accordance with Principles of Natural Justice. Erusian Equipment & Chemicals Ltd. v. State of West Bengal, (1975) 1 SCC 70 held, since blacklisting affects privileges of a blacklisted person, fundamentals […]

SC Resolves Conflict Between NI Act & IBC

Rainbow Papers Limited sought loans from Tourism Finance Corporation of India Limited and issued post-dated cheques which stood dishonoured. Criminal Complaint was filed before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Saket Courts, New Delhi. Neeraj Paper Agencies Limited requested initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process against Rainbow Papers Limited. The scope of nature of proceedings are quite different. […]

Drugs & Cosmetics

It was permissible for Registered Medical Practitioner-S. Athilakshmi to practice medicine when not performing her duty as an Associate Professor and Head of Dermatology Department in Government Omandurar Medical College, Chennai. Drugs Inspector sought to prosecute S. Athilakshmi under Section 18(c) of The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. S. Athilakshmi had not ‘stocked’ medicines for […]

Compassionate Appointment VI

Lindsay Petroleum Co. v. Prosper Armstrong, (1874) 3 PC 221; Sushma Gosain v. Union of India, (1989) 4 SCC 468; Umesh Kumar Nagpal v. State of Haryana, (1994) 4 SCC 138; Jagdish Prasad v. State of Bihar, (1996) 1 SCC 301; Haryana State Electricity Board v. Hakim Singh, (1997) 8 SCC 85; State of Haryana […]

Sun Stroke in Election Duty

Deval Ravidas-Constable [Shivhar District Force]-Member [Static Armed Force], posted at Booth No. 67-Primary School, Mathura Sultanpur-Police Station: Bidupur-District: Vaishali, died due to a sun stroke/heat stroke while performing election duty for Bihar Legislative Assembly. A proximate causal relationship between an accident and a body injury is necessary [Alka Shukla v. Life Insurance Corporation of India, […]

Rana Ayyub

The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 provides for a two-pronged approach, one for dealing with ‘proceeds of crime’ and other for dealing with persons guilty of offence of money-laundering. As articulated in Kaushik Chatterjee v. State of Haryana, (2020) 10 SCC 92 jurisdiction of a Criminal Court is determined by (i) offence and/or (ii) offender. […]

The Nature of Judicial Power: Hon’ble Justice B.V. Nagarathna

Tirath Ram Rajindra Nath, Lucknow v. State of U.P., AIR 1973 SC 405 held, there is a distinction between encroachment on judicial power and nullification of effect of a judicial decision by changing law retrospectively. The former is outside competence of Legislature. The latter is within its permissible limits. It would be permissible for Legislature […]

Unchartered Ocean of Policy Decision VI

R.K. Garg v. Union of India, (1981) 4 SCC 675 laid down, laws relating to economic activities should be viewed with greater latitude than laws touching civil rights such as freedom of speech, religion, et cetera. Bhavesh D. Parish v. Union of India, (2000) 5 SCC 471 observed, while dealing with economic legislation, Court would […]

Comparative Advertising III

‘GLUCON-D TANGY ORANGE’ v. ‘DABUR GLUCOPLUS-C ORANGE’ The TV commercial identifies ‘orange glucose’ as ‘product category’. But, is it disparaging in nature? Disparagement is an act of belittling someone’s goods or services with a misleading remark. The TV Commercial does not disparage any ‘orange glucose’ drink. Disparagement cannot be a far-fetched inference. It would […]

Design Piracy / No Bottle, Just Bottle II

Plaintiffs allege infringement by Defendant of their Registered Design No. 306577 which was the subject matter of Diageo Brands B.V. v. Great Galleon Ventures Limited, 2022 SCC OnLine Del 2350 [‘Great Galleon’] as well. Senior Advocate, Amit Sibal points out, Section 22 of The Designs Act, 2000 identifies ‘obvious’ and ‘fraudulent’ imitation as the test. […]

Referred to Larger Bench XXXIII: K. Meghachandra, (2020) 5 SCC 689

With greatest respect to Hon’ble Bench [R. Banumathi, A.S. Bopanna & Hrishikesh Roy JJ] which dealt with K. Meghachandra Singh v. Ningam Siro, 2020 5 SCC 689, we find, attention was not invited to binding decisions of Coordinate Bench in M. Subba Reddy v. A.P. State Road Transport Corporation, (2004) 6 SCC 729 and Constitution […]

Honourable Acquittal V

Pramod applied for the post of a Police Constable. He disclosed, he had been tried for an offence under Section 498A, IPC. As he was involved in a criminal case earlier, though acquitted, his candidature was rejected. As such there was no suppression. Pramod was acquitted 7 years before he applied for the post […]

The Case of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan alleges violation of his ‘publicity rights as a celebrity’ as has also been recognized by this Court in Titan Industries Ltd. v. Ramkumar Jewellers, 2012 SCC OnLine Del 2382. It cannot seriously be disputed, Amitabh Bachchan is a well-known personality and is also represented in various advertisements. Amitabh Bachchan is aggrieved by unauthorized […]

Writ Jurisdiction in Contractual Arena II / The Revival of Ray LXXXVIII

In Banchhanidhi Rath v. State of Orissa, (1972) 4 SCC 781 this Court declared, if a right is claimed in terms of a contract such a right cannot be enforced in a Writ Petition. In Har Shankar v. Dy. Excise and Taxation Commr., (1975) 1 SCC 737 a Constitution Bench of this Court observed, Writ […]

Contract of Agency

The ambit of a contract of agency has been elaborated upon lucidly by this Court on various occasions. As averted to in Lakshminarayan Ram Gopal & Son Ltd. v. Government of Hyderabad, (1955) 1 SCR 393 a contract of agency does not entail control over minutiae of agent’s actions. Such a level of oversight would […]

The Doctrine of Blue Pencil

An insurance contract by its very nature mandates disclosure of all ‘material facts’ by both parties. Manmohan Nanda v. United Insurance, (2022) 4 SCC 582 summarizes same. A contract meant to cover a shop situated in a basement had an exclusion clause which specified, the contract did not cover the basement. Tata AIG General Insurance […]

Promissory Estoppel X

Motilal Padampat Sugar Mills, (1979) 2 SCC 409 was authored by Bhagwati J for a Two-Judge Bench. Within 2 years, Kailasam J for a Two-Judge Bench in Jit Ram Shiv Kumar, (1981) 1 SCC 11 found fault in Motilal Padampat Sugar Mills and held, observations made were not in tune with Judgments of Constitution Benches […]

No Turn

It is evident, Plaintiff has a registered trade mark – ‘NO TURN’. Plaintiff has been in continuous use of this trade mark since 15.01.2008. Defendant is the prior user of the mark since 2007. The use of the mark by Defendant is intermittent and not voluminous so as to establish the defence under Section 34 […]

One Mark, One Source, One Proprietor

‘Classic Trinity Test’ of ‘Goodwill, Misrepresentation and Damages’ [Reckitt and Colman Products Ltd. v. Borden Inc, [1990] 1 All ER 873] – Satisfied. _____ Both parties claim proprietary rights and utilize the mark ‘GeoCrete’ in respect of identical goods. To permit concurrent use, in factual situation noted, would cause public confusion and result in violation […]

Ex Debito Justitiae II

The principle of ‘ex debito justitiae‘ has been emphasized. No man should suffer because of mistakes of Court. To err is human and Courts including Apex Court are no exception. It has been held, rules of procedure are handmaidens of justice and not mistresses of justice. The principle of ‘ex debito justitiae‘ cannot be given […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Contract Law