Uncrystallized Damages From Breach of Contract Not Operational Debt Under IBC: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court set aside admission of an insolvency case against a power-project owner, ruling that while milestone payments due under an EPC contract count as operational debt, claims for suspension, idling and demobilization charges are damages that only become operational debt once crystallized by a court or arbitral tribunal. It also found the claim time-barred, having crystallized back in 2012, and left the contractor to pursue arbitration instead. Read more
Bribe Demand Must Be Proved Before Section 20 Presumption Can Apply: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court acquitted a Talati-cum-Mantri and a Peon convicted for allegedly demanding a ₹120 bribe, holding the prosecution failed to prove the demand beyond reasonable doubt so the statutory presumption under Section 20 of the Prevention of Corruption Act never arose. It also found the prosecution sanction invalid, having been granted by an officer without the competence to do so. Read more
FIR Can Be Registered Even After Magistrate Rejects Section 156(3) CrPC Application: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court held that a Magistrate's rejection of a Section 156(3) application doesn't bar police from later registering an FIR on the same allegations, since such rejection isn't a merits adjudication and doesn't attract res judicata. It relied on its recent ruling in S.C. Garg to draw the line between orders that decide merits and those that merely regulate the start of investigation. Read more
Caste Abuse Inside Closed Room Not "Public View" Under SC/ST Act: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court quashed SC/ST Act charges against a school manager, holding that alleged caste-based abuse occurring inside an enclosed room with no members of the public present or able to witness it doesn't meet the statutory "public view" threshold. It also noted neither the FIR nor the complainant's statement specified any actual caste-based words used. Read more
Tribunals Under Senior Citizens Act Can Order Eviction To Protect Elderly Parents: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court restored an eviction order against a son who had allegedly forced his elderly mother out of her own home, holding that tribunals under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 do have implied power to order eviction where necessary to protect a senior citizen even though the Act doesn't say so expressly. Read more
Exemption From Attachment of Judgment-Debtor's House Does Not Extend to Legal Heirs: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court held that the CPC exemption protecting a judgment-debtor's residential house from attachment (Section 60(1)(ccc)) is personal to the debtor and cannot be claimed by legal heirs after his death. It set aside a High Court order that had remitted a decades-old bank recovery execution for fresh inquiry, allowing the auction-purchaser's and bank's appeals. Read more
Black Money In Elections Compromises Democracy's Core : Supreme Court
Hearing an appeal over a quashed IR involving cash allegedly meant for bribing voters, the Supreme Court held that unaccounted cash used to influence elections corrodes the democratic process itself, and issued a detailed set of directions on 24-hour reporting of cash seizures, one-year investigation timelines, and High Court approval before withdrawing election-related prosecutions. Read more
Children Entitled to Parental Consortium Along With Spousal Consortium in Motor Accident Claims : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court enhanced compensation for a pedestrian's widow and three children, holding the children had been wrongly denied parental consortium by both the Tribunal and High Court. It awarded each of the four dependents wife and children alike ₹48,400 under consortium, raising the total award from ₹11 lakh to about ₹12.47 lakh. Read more
Electricity Boards Face Strict, Not Absolute Liability For Electrocution Deaths : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court set aside two writ-based compensation awards against a state power utility, holding that electricity boards are liable under strict liability which allows recognised defences like contributory negligence rather than the exception-free absolute liability standard. Since both cases involved disputed facts, the claimants were left to pursue the civil courts instead. Read more
llegal Absorption Cannot Be Validated By Long Service : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court set aside the deputation and absorption of four Haryana Development and Panchayat Department officers into the PW(B&R) Department as Assistant Engineers, holding that an illegal appointment is void from inception and cannot be cured merely by long years of service. It rejected the High Court's "sympathetic" approach of letting the officers stay on while denying them seniority, and directed their outright repatriation to their parent department. Read more
