LATEST SUPREME COURT NEWS ROUND-UP – July 09, 2024

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has set aside an order of the Bombay High Court in an arbitration case between the Bombay Slum Redevelopment Corporation Private Limited and one Samir Narain Bhojwani while remanding the case back to the High Court for fresh consideration. The apex court expressed its “serious concerns” over the practice of arbitral proceedings having become synonymous with very bulky pleadings and evidence and very long, time­consuming submissions, leading to very lengthy awards and a tendency to rely upon a large number of precedents, relevant or irrelevant.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court allowed the appeal of a husband seeking divorce from his wife on the ground of desertion, dissolving the marriage between the appellant-husband (X) and respondent-wife (Y) under Section 13(1)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Court, however, clarified that the divorce decree will come into effect only after the husband pays Rs. 30 lakhs as a one-time lump sum alimony in a full and final settlement to the wife.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court today struck down the arbitrary cancellation of a tender by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) for the maintenance of two underpasses and advertisement rights

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has set aside the orders of the Jharkhand High Court and the First Appellate Court, restoring the trial court's decree in favor of the plaintiff-appellant, late Har Narayan Tewari, represented by his legal representatives. The apex court held that Tewari had successfully proved his ownership rights over the disputed 0.30 acres of land in Ramgarh Cantonment.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has held that Mysore Sales International Ltd., a Karnataka government undertaking engaged in manufacturing arrack (local alcoholic beverage), is not liable to collect income tax at source (TDS) from arrack vendors under Section 206C of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Prabodhak Service Rules, 2008, which govern the recruitment and service conditions for the post of 'Prabodhak' (teacher) in Rajasthan. The Top Court dismissed a batch of 47 appeals filed by candidates challenging various provisions of the Rules.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has struck down two bail conditions imposed on a foreign national charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, including real-time location on Google Maps with the authorities, holding them to be violative of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction a man for the murder of a person attempting to persuade the public to give up drinking alcohol and bring thriving trade in liquor to a grinding hault in Kerala in 1999, observing that there was a definite motive for the accused persons including the appellant to throttle the voice of the victim.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has acquitted a man who was convicted for murder by the Sessions Court and sentenced to life imprisonment, observing that there was no evidence connecting the appellant-convict with the murder of the deceased. The conviction was earlier upheld by the High Court.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has dismissed the criminal appeals filed by three men convicted for murder, holding that their presence with the other co-accused amounted to an unlawful assembly which is sufficient for conviction, even if they may have not actively participated in the commission of the crime.

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has quashed a criminal complaint filed against the trustees of Sardar Bahadur Sir Inder Singh (Personal Estate) Trust, labelling the continuation of the case an "abuse of the process of law".

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the State of Punjab against an order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a corruption case involving a doctor, Partap Singh Verka.