Justice MM Sundresh to lawyersJustice Sundresh was speaking at the launch of the book Commercial Dispute Resolution- State of the Law in India, edited by Advocate Anirudh Krishnan.

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Future lies in commercial litigation: Justice MM Sundresh to lawyers
Justice Sundresh was speaking at the launch of the book Commercial Dispute Resolution- State of the Law in India, edited by Advocate Anirudh Krishnan.
Book Launch Aniruddh Krishnan
Book Launch Aniruddh Krishnan
Ayesha Arvind
Published on:
03 Sep 2024, 11:56 am
3 min read
The Supreme Court’s Justice MM Sundresh recently said that young lawyers must realise that the legal landscape in the country is shifting from conventional litigation to predominantly commercial litigation.

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Madras High CourtLexisNexisAnirudh KrishnanJustice MM SundreshBook Launch

Litigation News
Bombay High Court overturns order that closed POCSO case against father for sexual assault of daughter
A children’s court had closed the solely on the ground that the victim was 16 years and 4 months old on the day of the alleged incident.
Bombay High Court, Goa Bench
Bombay High Court, Goa Bench
Sahyaja MS
Published on:
17 Sep 2024, 7:53 am
2 min read
The Bombay High Court at Goa recently overturned a children’s court decision that discharged a father accused of sexually assaulting his daughter [State of Goa thr. Women Police Station, Panaji v. M]

The children’s court had closed the solely on the ground that the victim was 16 years and 4 months old on the day of the alleged incident. Under the Goa Children’s Act, in rape cases, a child is any person who has not completed sixteen years of age.

Single-judge Justice Bharat P Deshpande ruled that the children’s court erred in its interpretation of the law by discharging the accused since the victim’s statement revealed that the abuse began when she was in the seventh standard, likely making her under 16 years of age at the time.

Justice Bharat P Deshpande
Justice Bharat P Deshpande
The accused, the father of the victim, was charged for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), 2012 as well as of the Goa Children’s Act, 2003 for sexually assaulting his daughter.

Although she was abused since she was a minor, the offence was not reported until February 14, 2021. A chargesheet too was filed at Women Police Station, Panaji.

However, the children’s court, despite the severity of charges, discharged the accused. Subsequently, the State moved the High Court against the same.

During the hearing, the State argued that the children’s court ignored evidence suggesting that the abuse started before the victim turned 16. The Court agreed that the lower court’s decision failed to consider the victim’s testimony and the legal definition of a child.

“As per the birth certificate, the date of birth of the victim is 30.09.2004. It may be correct that on 14.02.2021 the victim was above 16 years of age. However, that is not the sole incident which the victim has disclosed in the statement. Such overt acts were performed by the accused even prior to 14.02.2021, which are found in the statement of the victim,” the Court stated.

The victim had testified that the abuse began when she was in the seventh standard, which would have made her approximately 12 or 13 years old at the time. She described the ongoing abuse including incidents that occurred prior to the specific date mentioned in the complaint.

“Thus, the observations of the children’s court in the impugned order are found to be perverse and incorrect,” the Court noted.

Hence, the Court set aside the order of discharge and remanded the matter back to the children’s court. The accused was directed to appear before the trial court on September 23.

Additional Public Prosecutor Pravin N Faldessai appeared for the State.

[Read Order]

Attachment
PDF
The State of Goa v. M.pdf
Preview
Bombay High CourtPOCSOGoa Children’s Act

News
Himachal Pradesh High Court rejects objections to Abhishek Manu Singhvi plea against Rajya Sabha election loss
Singhvi was recently appointed to the Upper House of Parliament from Telangana, after a surprising loss from Himachal Pradesh earlier this year.
Abhishek Singhvi
Abhishek Singhvi
Bar & Bench
Bar & Bench
Published on:
16 Sep 2024, 7:48 pm
3 min read
The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday rejected objections raised by BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Harsh Mahajan against maintainability of the petition moved by Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi challenging the former’s election to Rajya Sabha.

Singhvi, who has subsequently been appointed to the Upper House of Parliament from Telangana, had lost the Rajya Sabha election from Himachal Pradesh in February this year after six members of the state legislature, then belonging to Congress, had cross voted in favour of the BJP candidate.

The Congress leader had then moved the High Court challenging the procedure adopted by the Returning Officer to declare Mahajan successful when both of them had secured 34 votes each.

Mahajan had moved an application seeking rejection of Singhvi’s petition on the ground that Singhvi had not disclosed that he consented to the procedure and the declaration of the result after the draw of lots.

Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua today rejected Mahajan’s application and said Singhvi’s case does not revolve under agreeing or consenting to the procedure.

“The case set up by the petitioner in the election petition is entirely different. Petitioner’s case is that some other provisions of the R.P. Act 1951 were required to be applied and not the Rules, which were actually applied,” the Court said.

Singhvi’s election petition has primarily challenged the Returning Officer’s decision to hold a draw of lot and apply Rule 75(4) and Rule 81(3) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, after both the candidates secured equal votes.

The rules allow the authority to hold draw of lot and declare one candidate winner when two candidates have equal votes.

“The returning officer shall decide by lot which of them shall be excluded; and after excluding him in the manner aforesaid, declare the other candidate to be elected,” Rule 81(3) states.

Singhvi’s argument is that Section 65 of the Representation of the People Act should have been followed instead.

The provision states that:

“If, after the counting of the votes is completed, an equality of votes is found to exist between any candidates, and the addition of one vote will entitle any of those candidates to be declared elected, the returning officer shall forthwith decide between those candidates by lot, and proceed as if the candidate on whom the lot falls had received an additional vote.”

The Court in the ruling today said whether Singhvi’s signatures on proceedings for counting of votes would amount to his consent or not and acceptance or otherwise of the procedure adopted during counting of votes, are the aspects to be considered, deliberated upon and interpreted at an appropriate stage of the petition.

“The petition disclosed all material facts, upon which the petitioner relies, both positive and negative. The ‘consent’ on part of the petitioner is not a fact on which the petitioner relies, but is a fact projected by the respondent. It cannot be said that the petition is liable to be rejected on the ground of nondisclosure of material facts,” the bench said.

The Court also examined whether Singhvi had a cause of action to challenge Mahajan’s action.

In this regard, it opined that in view of the interplay of Rules 75 and 81, Section 65 and other provisions of the statute and the rules invoked by the parties, it cannot be said that there is no cause of action available to him.

The Court added that the contentions regarding it also need to be gone at the appropriate stage of the petition.

“The case projected by the petitioner, viz. noncompliance of the provisions of the R.P. Act 1951 and/or completely flawed invocation of Rule 75(4) & 81(3) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 by the RO, if ultimately found to be correct & legitimate, would definitely materially affect the result of election as in that situation, The case projected by the petitioner, viz. noncompliance of the provisions of the R.P. Act 1951 and/or completely flawed invocation of Rule 75(4) & 81(3) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 by the RO, if ultimately found to be correct & legitimate, would definitely materially affect the result of election as in that situation,” said the Court.

Senior Advocates P Chidambaram and Prashanto Chandra Sen argued for Singhvi along with Senior Advocate Neeraj Gupta. The senior counsel were assisted by advocates Ajeet Pal Jaswal, Aman Panwar, Mudit Gupta, Vedant Ranta and Yash Johivi.

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh with advocates Vikrant Thakur, Virbahadur Verma, Prabhas Bajaj, Ramgasaran Mohan, Shriyek Sarda, Shubham Guleria and Ankit Dhiman represented Mahajan.

[Read Judgment]

Attachment
PDF
Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi vs Harsh Mahajan.pdf
Preview
Abhishek Manu SinghviHimachal Pradesh High CourtRajay Sabha
News
Karnataka High Court directs State to act against police officers who falsely implicated students in drug case
In an order passed on September 10, Justice M Nagaprasanna directed the State to submit an action taken report against three officers within 12 weeks.
Karnataka High Court
Karnataka High Court
Ayesha Arvind
Published on:
16 Sep 2024, 7:20 pm
3 min read
The Karnataka High Court recently directed the State government to conduct a departmental inquiry against three officers of Bengaluru police after it realised that the officers had falsely implicated two students in a case of possession of psychotropic drugs and filed a chargesheet against them.

In an order passed on September 10, Justice M Nagaprasanna directed the State to submit an action taken report against the three officers within 12 weeks.

Justice M Nagaprasanna
Justice M Nagaprasanna
“The Station House Officer who was summoned admits that there was a mistake. For the mistake committed by the Station House Officer or the Investigating Officer who have deliberately and wantonly filed the charge sheet against these petitioners, the careers of the petitioners are put to jeopardy. They have suffered ignominy for 5 years in a case concerning narcotics. It is averred in the petition that they have lost several job opportunities on the score that these proceedings are pending for the last 5 years,” the High Court said.

The Court also said that it had come across several cases where the police had been violating Sections 50 and 52 A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) that pertain to the conditions under which searches can be conducted on persons.

Justice Nagaprasanna accordingly directed that the Director General of Police or the Inspector General of the Karnataka Police or the State Home Department must issue a circular notifying all empowered officers to mandatorily follow the guidelines under Sections 50 and 52A of the Act.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by the two students in 2019 seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against them by the Varthur police. The police had alleged that the two had been smoking ganja by mixing it with cigarette powder in a smoking pipe.

However, the petitioners denied the allegation. They also pointed out that when their blood samples checked by the FSL, it did not show any trace of psychotropic substance.

While the police and the State claimed before the Court that 15 grams of Ganja had been seized when the two had been searched, the Court noted there was noting on record to show that the police had indeed seized anything from the two accused students. It also noted that the forensic report did not show the presence of any contraband substance in the blood samples of the two accused.

“In the case at hand, as observed, the learned Additional State Public Prosecutor projects a bleak contention of 15 grams of ganja being seized from the body of the petitioners. Where is the sample is a mystery,” the High Court said.

The Court went on to observe that it was apparent that the present case was a fabricated one. It further said that the policemen must not be let off the hook and accordingly directed the State to initiate the departmental inquiry against the officers concerned.

“The maliciousness is apparent on the face of the record. The report of FSL in unequivocal terms indicates that blood samples did not contain any contraband substance or even its derivatives, but the police filed the chargesheet recording that FSL report has confirmed the presence of a contraband substance,” the High Court said.

Advocate Shashi Kiran V appeared for the petitioner students.

Additional Special Public Prosecutor Jagadeesha BN appeared for the State government and the Karnataka police.

Karnataka High CourtNDPS ActNarcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances ActJustice M Nagaprasanna
News
Arbitration Bar of India, Bombay Bar Association to host Arbitration event on September 21
Chief Justice DK Upadhyay, and Justices AS Chandurkar and GS Kulkarni of the Bombay High Court, the Attorney General for India and the Solicitor General of India are among those slated to speak at the event.
ABI
ABI
Bar & Bench
Bar & Bench
Published on:
16 Sep 2024, 7:06 pm
2 min read
The Arbitration Bar of India in association with the Bombay Bar Association is hosting its maiden conference on “Judicial Support and Role of Courts in Arbitration” on September 21, 2024.

The event is being organised at YB Chavan Auditorium, Mumbai from 9 AM to 2 PM, followed by lunch.

The inaugural session will feature remarks Vyapak Desai, Vice President, Arbitration Bar India; Nitin Thakker, Senior Advocate and President, Bombay Bar Association; Gourab Banerji, Senior Advocate and President, Arbitration Bar India; Birendra Saraf, Senior Advocate and Advocate General of Maharashtra; Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India; R Venkataramani, Senior Advocate and Attorney General for India; and Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay of the Bombay High Court. Advocate Farhan Dubash will give the closing remarks for the inaugural session.

This will be followed by a session on “Effective Strategies for Arbitration Advocacy”, which will be flagged off by Justice AS Chandurkar of the Bombay High Court.

Speakers for the panel discussion, moderated by Raj Panchmatia, Executive Committee Member of the ABI are as follows:

Justice Bharati Dangre, Judge, Bombay High Court;

Justice RD Dhanuka, Former Chief Justice Bombay High Court;

Darius Khambata, Senior Advocate, Member Advisory Board, Arbitration Bar India;

Venkatesh Dhond, Senior Advocate and Vice President, Bombay Bar Association.

The second panel discussion on the “Role of Arbitration Bar in Modern Arbitration” will start with an address by Justice GS Kulkarni of the Bombay High Court.

The panel discussion, moderated by Naresh Thacker, Joint Secretary Western Region, ABI will feature the following panellists:

Janak Dwarkadas, Senior Advocate;

Ketan Parikh, Senior Advocate;

Madhavi Diwan, Senior Advocate and Vice President, Arbitration Bar India

Tejas Karia, Partner, SAM and Co., and Vice President, Arbitration Bar India will be delivering closing remarks.

Advocates, Arbitrators and in-house counsel are invited to attend the invite by registering here.

RSVP – rsvpbbaevents@gmail.com

[Read event brochure]

Attachment
PDF
ABI-BBA arbiration event.pdf
Preview
Bombay Bar AssociationArbitration in IndiaJustice GS KulkarniJustice AS ChandurkarChief Justice Devendra Kumar UpadhyayaArbitration Bar of India
News
Insurance company liable in motor accident case even when transfer of ownership not done: Allahabad High Court
The Court was hearing a case where the insurance company said it was not liable for an accident involving a truck in respect of which there was an agreement to transfer ownership.
Motor vehicle accident (For representation only).
Motor vehicle accident (For representation only).
Bar & Bench
Bar & Bench
Published on:
16 Sep 2024, 7:03 pm
3 min read
The Allahabad High Court recently held that an insurance company would remain liable in a motor accident case even when a transfer of ownership has not been recorded with the transport authorities [The New India Assurance Company vs Permanent Lok Adalat and Another].

Justice Subhash Vidyarthi noted that Section 157 of the Motor Vehicles Act (MV Act) provides that upon transfer of ownership of a vehicle, the certificate of insurance and the insurance policy shall be deemed to have been transferred in favor of the person to whom the motor vehicle is transferred with effect from the date of its transfer.

“The deeming fiction provided by the statute means that even if the insurance policy is not transferred in fact, the insurance company would become liable under the policy to the transferee of the vehicle. Therefore, the intention of the legislature is to make the insurance company liable immediately, in spite the transfer having not been recorded in the records of the transport office. The intention of the legislation is to include the transferees liberally and not to exclude them strictly,” the Court said.

Justice Subhash Vidyarthi
Justice Subhash Vidyarthi
The Court was hearing a petition filed by the New India Assurance Company Limited against the decision of a Permanent Lok Adalat in a motor accident case involving a truck.

Govind Gupta, the registered owner of the truck, had submitted an insurance claim after the repair of the vehicle. However, the insurance company rejected it on the ground that the vehicle already had been transferred to another person Sanjeev Kumar, subject to the condition that the new buyer would pay the bank’s installments.

The insurance company said the vehicle was being driven by Kumar’s (buyer) driver when it met with the accident and was not in Gupta’s (original registered owner) possession.

The vehicle had not been officially transferred but there was an agreement to sell between Gupta and Kumar

The Lok Adalat held that such an agreement would not affect the adjudication of the dispute and ruled in Gupta’s favor.

The insurance company then moved the High Court, arguing that Gupta was not entitled to make any insurance claim in respect of the transferred vehicle.

However, the Court said Gupta had merely entered into an agreement for the transfer of ownership at a future point in time, after repayment of the entire loan taken for purchase of the vehicle.

Section 157 of the MV Act is attracted when the owner of the vehicle transfers the ownership of the motor vehicle, the Court said although it noted that the same was yet to happen in the present case.

The Court then took note of a Supreme Court decision in which an insurance company had been held liable to indemnify the transferee even though the insurance policy had not been transferred in their name.

Taking note of the fact that Gupta continued to remain registered owner of the truck and had a contract of insurance for it, the Court said,

“In the absence of the ownership of the vehicle having been transferred, the petitioner (insurance company) would continue to be liable under the contract of insurance entered between the appellant and the registered owner (Gupta) of the vehicle.”

Thus, the Court upheld the decision of the Lok Adalat to allow Gupta’s claim.

Advocate Asit Srivastava represented the New India Assurance Company.

Advocate Ashok Kumar represented the opposite party, Govind Gupta.

[Read Judgment]

Attachment
PDF
The New India Assurance Company Limited, Lakhimpur Kheri vs Permanent Lok Adalat, Lakhimpur Kheri And Another.pdf
Preview
Allahabad High CourtMotor Vehicles ActMotor Accident
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