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 […]

Pension is Not a Bounty IV

Rule 54(14)(b) of The Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 requires, ‘family’ member of a deceased Government Servant must have a close nexus with the deceased Government Servant. Therefore, a son or daughter adopted by a widow of a deceased Government Servant, after death of the Government Servant, could not be included within definition of […]

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 […]

Morality of Constitutional Tort

Needless to say, no one can either be taxed or penalized for holding an opinion which is not in conformity with constitutional values. It is only when an opinion gets translated into action and such action results in injury or harm or loss, an action in tort will lie. Courts cannot turn a blind […]

Unchartered Ocean of Policy Decision V / The Demonetization Recommendation

Shri P. Chidambaram submits, result of demonetization was disastrous. But, if Notification No. 3407(E) [08.11.2016] had a nexus with objectives to be achieved, Notification No. 3407(E) [08.11.2016] would not be bad in law merely because some citizens suffered through hardships. It will not be proper for Court to enter into an area which should be […]

The Revival of Ray XC

Constitution Bench in Sukhdev Singh v. Bhagatram Sardar Singh Raghuvanshi, (1975) 1 SCC 421 held, the words ‘rules’ and ‘regulations’ are used in an Act to limit powers of a statutory authority; any action of such bodies in excess of their power or in violation of restrictions placed is ultra vires; statutory bodies cannot use […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Compensatory Discrimination / The Revival of Ray LXXXVII

Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 55 of 2019 As laid down by this Court, just as equals cannot be treated unequally, unequals also cannot be treated equally. Treating economically weaker sections of citizens as a separate class would be a reasonable classification and could not be termed as an […]

Simplicity in Invention

Windsurfing International Inc. v. Tabur Marine Ltd., [1985] RPC 59; England and Wales Court of Appeals in Pozzoli Spa v. BDMO SA, [2006] EWHC 1398 (Ch); F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. v. Cipla Ltd., 2016 (65) PTC 1 (DEL); Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company v. BDR Pharmaceuticals International Pvt. Ltd., (2020) SCC OnLine Del 1700; […]

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 […]

Honourable Acquittal IV

Union Territory, Chandigarh Administration v. Pradeep Kumar, (2018) 1 SCC 797: whether it was an ‘honourable acquittal’ or only an extension of benefit of doubt, are aspects to be considered. State of Rajasthan v. Love Kush Meena, (2021) 8 SCC 774: mere fact of an acquittal would not suffice. Union of India v. Methu Meda, […]

Bills of Lading

In 1968, Hague-Visby Rules introduced a modified version of International Convention for Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading [Hague Rules, 1924]. Hague-Visby Rules are enacted into English law by Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1971. Hague/Hague-Visby Rules were widely adopted internationally. Hamburg Rules were not accepted and Rotterdam Rules […]

Uno Minda v. Minda Uto

Plaintiffs cannot seek a restraint against Defendants from using their registered trademark ‘MINDA UTO’ for Plaintiffs do not have registration for said goods under Class 04 while Defendants do. In view of Section 31 of The Trade Marks Act, 1999 registration of the trademark is prima facie evidence of its validity in favor of Defendants. […]

White Lace v. Wild Lake

Plaintiff has ‘WHITE LACE’ gin, ‘WHITE LACE’ vodka et cetera. It is submitted, on account of long, continuous and extensive use of the trade mark ‘WHITE LACE’ in relation to alcoholic beverages, Plaintiff has attained immense goodwill and reputation. It is submitted, Defendant has been selling identical products under the impugned mark: ‘WILD LAKE’. […]

Honourable Acquittal III

Phool Singh had entered Rajasthan Police Service as a Constable in 1987. He was posted at Police Station: Mania, District: Dholpur (Rajasthan). The question before this Court is only to see whether Phool Singh can be reinstated for he has been acquitted by a Criminal Court. There should be no ambiguity in law on this […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Labour Law