Legal Reference Library

In a significant judgment, the Madras High Court has ruled that litigants can no longer approach the High Court directly if police refuse to act upon their complaints, before exploiting the other available remedies, including moving the jurisdictional judicial magistrate. Justice P.N. Prakash passed directions to this effect on Tuesday while dismissing a batch of criminal original petitions seeking direction to the police to register FIR on their complaints. However, the judge made it clear that the doors of the High Court will not be completely shut. “This court will entertain applications seeking to register an FIR when the police fail to follow the timetable (within six weeks) to take action on a complaint set by the Supreme Court,” the judge said. The issue whether litigants can directly approach the High Court under Section 482 (Inherent powers of the high court) of the Cr.P.C. seeking relief either to file an FIR or to quash one without exhausting the alternative remedies a...

Quashing a family court verdict, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court allowed an Amravati woman to end her marriage by ruling that “suspecting wife’s character is cruelty to her”. The wife, an engineer, had approached the family court for divorce after 13 years of tumultuous marriage citing her husband’s supposed inferiority complex and continual ill-treatment, including bouts of physical abuse. “It is clear husband’s conduct in suspecting wife’s character, physically assaulting and harassing her, as she was coming home late from work due to nature of her job, are the facts duly established amounting to cruelty. Therefore, the wife is entitled to a decree of divorce on same ground,” a bench of Justice Vasanti Naik and Justice Indira Jain held. After entering into matrimony on March 11, 2000, the couple started residing in Wardha in a joint family. Soon cracks appeared in marriage as petitioner’s in-laws were allegedly uncomfortable with her educational qualifications. Though she op...

Government is liable to compensate for death or injury occurring to a vehicle owner during an accident as road tax is levied by them and as coverage is not available to the owner in the insurance provided as per law, says the Kerala High Court. Government can either pay such compensation or assign the burden to insurance companies through appropriate change in legislation, the court said. A division bench comprising justices CT Ravikumar and KP Jyothindranath asked the government to give due attention to the matter after considering an appeal (MACA No. 2102/2013) filed by the wife, children, and mother of Biju of Kottaram Nagar in Kollam who died in a motorcycle accident at around 5.30pm on March 21, 2010. Biju was riding pillion on the motorcycle owned by him and one Gireesh Kumar was riding the bike when it capsized. Biju had obtained a full insurance from National Insurance Co. Ltd but the company declined to grant compensation stating they are liable to pay only a third party and...

The Supreme Court in International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) vs. Aditya Pandey & Ors, has upheld a Delhi High Court order which had held that event organisers need not secure a licence from lyricists and musicians for playing the song in public even after it has paid for the broadcasting of the song to sound recording company. The Supreme Court has upheld the Delhi High Court order in view of the fact that the suit was filed in 2006, before introduction Sub-Section 10 of Section 19 of the Copyright Act.

In a batch of appeals from different states, the Supreme Court ruled that a manufacturing company was not entitled to refund of commercial taxes if benefits under the law are not passed on to the ultimate consumer. Otherwise, there would be unjust enrichment, the court stated while hearing the appeals, led by Commissioner of Central Excise vs Addision & Co. Manufacturers had claimed refunds on taxes paid, invoking discounts such as those on excise and turnover tax. The authorities issued notices asking the firm to show that the duty had not been passed on to buyers.

The Supreme Court in State Bank of India & Ors. Vs. Neelam Nag, has held that pendency of a criminal case against an employee cannot be the sole basis to suspend the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him/her for an indefinite period. In the instant case, a complaint for criminal breach of trust was lodged against a bank employee in February 2007. In September 2008, the competent authority initiated departmental inquiry against her. Contending that Clause 4 of the Memorandum of Settlement, which grants protection to bank employees from facing departmental proceedings until the completion of the trial of the criminal case, the delinquent employee approached the High Court against initiation of disciplinary proceedings. A Single Bench order staying disciplinary proceedings until conclusion of criminal trial was later modified by the Division Bench observing that the authority would be free to proceed further in the disciplinary proceedings as soon as the case from the prosecu...

The Supreme Court in Sandhya Rani Debbarma & Ors. Vs. The National Insurance Company Ltd. & Anr, has observed that determining the compensation under different heads such as loss of estate, funeral expenses, loss of consortium etc. is crucial while computing award of compensation due to dependants of the deceased in motor accidents. In the instant case, the husband of the appellant Sadhya Rani died in an accident in Baramur in 2003, following which she filed a suit before the Agartala Motor Accident Claims Tribunal seeking a compensation of Rs 33.45 lakh. The Tribunal in 2005, by way of judgment, said Rs 32,52,700 be given to the deceased’s family. The National Insurance Company challenged the Tribunal verdict in Gauhati High Court, which modified the award and reduced it to Rs 20.40 lakh in 2006. An apex court Bench comprising Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said it disagreed with the view adopted by the Gauhati High Court, which had modified the Tribunal ...

Explaining the difference between Sections 301 and 302 CrPC, the Court said that the legislative intention is manifestly clear that prosecution in a Sessions Court cannot be conducted by anyone other than the public prosecutor. It is because the legislature reminds the State that the policy must strictly conform to fairness in the trial of an accused in a Sessions Court, however, as far as Section 302 CrPC is concerned, power is conferred on the Magistrate to grant permission to the complainant to conduct the prosecution independently. It was further clarified that the role of the informant or the private party is limited during the prosecution of a case in a Court of Session and the counsel engaged by him is required to act under the directions of public prosecutor. The bench of Dipak Misra and A.K. Goel, JJ also clarified that the said provision applies to every stage including the stage of framing charge inasmuch as the complainant is permitted by the Magistrate to conduct the pros...

The Supreme Court in Delhi Development Authority vs. Sukhbir Singh & Ors., has observed that persons whose property is expropriated by the state need to be paid immediately so as to enable them to rehabilitate. This observation was made by a Bench comprising Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice RF Nariman while dismissing an appeal by the Delhi Development Corporation seeking a revisit to the dictum laid down in Pune Municipal Corporation vs. HM Solanki. In Pune Municipal Corporation case, the Supreme Court had held that acquisition would be deemed to have lapsed and would be covered under the 2013 law entitling the landowners to higher compensation, if compensation for land acquired under the 1894 Act has not been paid to the land owner or deposited with a competent court and retained in the treasury. Read the said judgment and Live Law report here. Refusing to revisit the said judgment, the court observed: “It is important to note that a notice of award under Section 12(2) to person...

The Supreme Court in Pankaj vs. State of Rajasthan, has observed that though motive is not sine qua non for the conviction of the accused, the effect of not proving motive raises a suspicion in the mind. The main contention of the appellant before the apex court in this case was that there was no motive behind the killing and it is beyond imagination that a person without any provocation, motive or instigation will straight away open fire. The accused had challenged his conviction under Section 302 IPC by the High Court of Rajasthan. Setting aside the conviction and sentence, the Bench comprising Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice R.K. Agrawal held: “Moreover, the prosecution is not able to prove the motive clearly. Though motive is not sine qua non for the conviction of the appellant-accused, the effect of not proving motive raises a suspicion in the mind. In the present case, it appears that the theory behind motive has been given after much thought process.” Giving the benefit of d...

The Supreme Court on Monday termed a High Court order which convicted a person for civil contempt, as “deplorable”. A three-judge Bench comprising Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice L. Nageswara Rao also observed that it would not be fair on the part of a court to give a direction to do something which is impossible and if a person has been asked to do something which is impossible and if he fails to do so, he cannot be held guilty of contempt. In 1985, Gyani Chand, on behalf of his mother had applied for return of some documents which were submitted before the court. Those documents were returned to him on an undertaking to the court that the said documents would be produced by him as and when the same would be required by the court. He transferred these documents to his mother. In 2001, these documents were required in connection with an interim application. Gyani Chand submitted before the court that he had already handed over the said documents to his mother...

The Supreme Court on Monday held the dishonour of a post-dated cheque given for repayment of loan installment, which is also described as “security” in the loan agreement, is covered by Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The Division Bench of Justice Dipak Mishra and Justice A.K. Goel has dismissed an appeal filed by the director of a company against the order of the Delhi High Court by which the court dismissed his petition to quash criminal complaints filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, against him and the company. Vide the loan agreement dated 15th March, 2001, the respondent agreed to advance loan of Rs 11.50 crore for setting up of 4.00-MW biomass-based power project in Andhra Pradesh. The agreement recorded that post-dated cheque leaves towards payment of installment of loan (principal and interest) were given by way of security. The cheque leaves carried different dates depending on the dates when the installments were due and upon dishono...

The Allahabad High Court in Abhishek Mishra vs State Of U.P. has held that the Chief Judicial Magistrate exercising jurisdiction in non-metropolitan area in exercise of powers conferred on by Section 14 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002, can assist a secured creditor in taking possession of the secured asset and pass an order in the creditor’s favour for the purpose. A Division Bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar and Justice Krishna Murari, differing with the contrary view by a Full Bench of the Madras High Court in K. Arockiyaraj Vs. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srivilliputhur & Anr., observed that the nomenclature ‘Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’ used by legislature in Section 14 of the Act includes Chief Judicial Magistrate functioning in non-metropolitan area and shall have jurisdiction to entertain an application made under Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act, 2002. The Bench observed: “It is clea...

The High Court of Calcutta, in a decision pertaining to framing of charge in a corruption case, has said that absence of written charge is a curable defect when there is no proof that any prejudice is caused to the accused. The argument, fortified by the earlier decisions of the Supreme Court that written charge is a must, advanced by the counsel for the petitioner was repelled by the Court on finding that no prejudice to the petitioner was caused. The factual background of the case was that the petitioner was charge-sheeted by the CBI along with the others and the Special Court has framed charges, but not in writing, against them in the year 2010 and later, in the year 2014, the court has filled up the form of written charges, during this interregnum one of the accused has expired. The argument raised by the counsel that the framing of charge in the year 2014 would not stand in view of the demise of a co-accused. The observed that: Thus, the only point involved in this criminal revisi...

The Patna High Court in Rajesh Kumar vs. Pushpa Rani, considered the sustainability of a decree for judicial separation. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Nilu Agrawal dealt with the effect on a person, who having received a decree of judicial separation and later a divorce decree, proceeds to remarry and father children. In this case, the petitioner husband had filed for a decree of dissolution of marriage under section 13(1)(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which was granted to him in an ex parte proceeding against the wife who failed to attend the proceedings despite having transferred the case from Patna to Allahabad, after a year had elapsed since the decree for separation. Once the decree was granted and the limitation period for filing an appeal against the dissolution granted had expired, the petitioner remarried and fathered two children from the second marriage. The first wife (respondent herein), however, filed an application to review ...

Humayun Suleman Merchant vs. CCIT The Income-Tax (I-T) Act provides for exemption from long-term capital gains where the sale proceeds of the original asset are invested in a new residential property. The Bombay high court, in a recent order, has held that such an exemption will be available only to the extent to which the amount has been actually utilized by the taxpayer, before the due date of filing his I-T return. If a taxpayer has only partly utilized proceeds of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) by making payments to the builder and has not deposited the balance unutilized amount in a specified bank account, then only the actual payments will be considered for computing capital gains exempt under Section 54F of the I-T Act, the HC held. The taxable component of LTCG is arrived at after taking into consideration the exemption available under Section 54F. This order will reduce the quantum that can be claimed as exempt from LTGC, consequently there will be a higher I-T payout ...

The Supreme Court of India Today in Youth Bar Association of India Vs Union of India and Others has issued 10 important Guidelines on First Information Report. The Bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra and C.Nagappan has issued the following Guidelines (a) An accused is entitled to get a copy of the First Information Report at an earlier stage than as prescribed under Section 207 of the Cr.P.C. (b) An accused who has reasons to suspect that he has been roped in a criminal case and his name may be finding place in a First Information Report can submit an application through his representative/agent/parokar for grant of a certified copy before the concerned police officer or to the Superintendent of Police on payment of such fee which is payable for obtaining such a copy from the Court. On such application being made, the copy shall be supplied within twenty-four hours. (c) Once the First Information Report is forwarded by the police station to the concerned Magistrate or any Spec...

Madras High Court has recently directed the Trial Courts to treat victims and witnesses as Court’s Guests. Justice Dr.P.Devadass was considering applications under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure filed by Accused persons in a corruption Case, challenging the Order of Special Judge by which he dismissed their Petitions to re-call the witnesses for cross examination. The Counsel for the Applicants has submitted that under Section 311 of Code of Criminal Procedure, power has been given to the Court to recall a witness, who has been already examined or to summon a fresh witness. It is intended to bring forth relevant evidence to the notice of the Court to enable it to render a correct finding. When it is essential to recall, the Court is bound to recall it. Need of balance Approach: The Court has observed that too much insistence on the right of the accused, forgetting the plight of the victim is not a correct approach. “On the one hand there is right of defence constitutionally ...

The Allahabad High Court, in Dr. Kuldeep Kaushik vs. State of UP, has held that a magistrate has the authority to interfere in a case investigation if it is not going on in a proper or fair manner. In the instant case, a magistrate had dismissed a surrender application filed by a doctor, accused of medical negligence, on the ground that any interference in the investigation cannot be done. In the surrender application, it was requested that various papers, along with surrender application, be sent to the Investigating Officer and after taking into consideration the papers, a report may be called for from the Investigating Officer. After the magistrate rejected the surrender application, the accused approached the High Court. Justice Abhai Kumar said: “The magistrate while passing the impugned order observed that the court cannot interfere in the investigation. The observation of the magistrate can be correct up to a certain extent, but what ‘interfere’ means is entirely dependent upon ...

The Calcutta High Court, in M.K. Products vs. Blue Ocean Exports (P) Ltd. & Ors., has said that a complainant cannot challenge the order of acquittal before the Sessions Court under the proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in a case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The judgement delivered by Justice Sankar Acharyya dealt with the question of whether an acquittal in a case of dishonour of cheque, instituted on a complaint, could be challenged at Sessions Court without the grant of special leave by the High Court. Relying on the Kerala High Court decision in Omana Jose vs. State of Kerala and Others (which in turn discusses the principles in case Subhash Chand vs. State (Delhi Administration), the court reached the decision to uphold the impugned order. The relevant observations from the Kerala High Court’s judgement in that matter which the Calcutta High Court relied upon were: After the introduction of the definition of ‘victim’ in Secti...

The Delhi High Court through Justice Vibhu Bakhru struck down a ‘non compete‘ clause in M/s Stellar Information Technology Private Ltd. Vs. Rakesh Kumar & Ors and decided in favour of the ex-employees who were restrained from carrying on their own business. The plaintiff is a private company engaged in the business of providing data recovery, data migration and data erasure solutions to its clients in India and abroad. They claimed that three of their former employees were stealing their confidential data, information, trade secrets and know how, and are now using the same for securing business from the plaintiff’s clients to run their own company called Techchef and contended that it was in breach of the “Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement” and “Employee Confidentiality Agreement” entered into by the ex-employees with the plaintiff. Article referred: http://www.livelaw.in/guise-confidentiality-clause-employer-cant-restrain-trade-delhi-hc/

Citizens can claim compensation from the state if their complaints about noise pollution have gone unheard, the Bombay High Court (HC) said . A division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice Amjad Sayed said the failure of law enforcement agencies in implementing noise pollution rules was a violation of a citizen’s fundamental right. The order, issued on August 16, was published on the court’s website on September 5. The court will hear the matter again on October 4 to discuss details about the compensation citizens can claim. “We hold that any breach of the Noise Pollution Rules shall amount infringement of fundamental right of citizens under the Article 21 of the Constitution of India and apart from the other remedies available, the citizens will have right to seek compensation from the state within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India on account of breach of fundamental rights,” read the order. The court gave the order while hearing a group of petitions that ra...

 A professionally qualified woman should be able to take care of herself, the Delhi high court has said, denying maintenance demanded by a chartered accountant from her estranged husband. "The appellant/wife, who is a qualified chartered accountant and has been in the profession since 2003, need not be granted interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act," a bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani observed while rejecting her plea. The wife had appealed against a trial court order that awarded her Rs 22,900 a month towards maintenance of her two children but declined to award an interim maintenance to her, pointing out that she was a chartered accountant with sufficient means to maintain herself. According to the woman's petition, the duo had got married in 2005 in Delhi. The estranged husband, an electrical engineer, runs his own business. He filed for divorce owing to "differences". The wife had sought an interim maintenance...

The Bombay high court has said it is inaccurate to suggest that merely viewing an illicit copy of a film is a punishable offence under the Copyright Act. "The offence is not in viewing, but in making a prejudicial distribution, a public exhibition or letting for sale or hire without appropriate permission copyright-protected material," Justice Gautam Patel said. He asked Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to drop the line "'viewing, downloading, exhibiting or duplicating' a particular film is a penal offence" from the 'error message' and directed them to display a more generic message on URLS to be blocked for infringement of copyright. He made the observation in an order last month when it was pointed out that an ISP had displayed a message that had sent viewers in a tizzy. The HC had recently directed ISPs to block several URLs on a plea by producers of the film Dishoom+ against piracy. The court also directed ISPs to place an 'error message...

Even if witnesses to a crime belong to a political faction that is opposed to the accused, their testimonies need not be discarded for that reason alone if otherwise acceptable, says the Kerala High Court. Justice B Sudheendra Kumar gave the ruling while upholding the life imprisonments imposed on 8 CPI(M) activists who were convicted for murdering an RSS leader, Vattappara Shaji, on November 17, 2002. Of the three eye witnesses (occurrence witnesses) relied upon by the prosecution, one was an RSS activist and the others were RSS sympathizers, it was alleged in the appeals. The counsel representing the convicted CPI(M) men argued at the high court that they were interested and partisan witnesses who maintain hostile animus against the appellants and that their testimonies cannot be relied upon. While deciding to accept their testimonies, the high court said in cases where the witnesses belong to the opposite political faction of the accused, the court has to be vigilant and cautiou...

The Supreme Court in M/s. INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION & INVESTMENT CORPORATION OF ORISSA LTD. VS. NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD. & ANR. has reiterated that Contract of Insurance should be construed strictly and it is only when there is any ambiguity or doubt the clause in the Policy, it should be interpreted in favour of the insured. In the instant case, the insurance policy provided cover against loss or damage by Burglary or House breaking i.e. (theft following an actual, forcible and violent entry of and/or exit from the premises). The Insurance Company rejected the claim of a company, stating that there is no forcible and violent entry. The insured company had preferred a complaint before MRTP commission, which rejected it. The company preferred appeal. The Apex Court bench comprising of Justices Anil R. Dave and L. Nageswara Rao upholding the order of MRTP commission observed that as per the Insurance contract forcible entry is required for a claim to be allowed under the pol...

The Supreme Court in M/S PARK STREET PROPERTIES (PVT) LTD.  VS. DIPAK KUMAR SINGH & ANR has held that the phrase ‘contract to the contrary’ in Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act means a ‘valid contract’ and it cannot be read to mean that the parties are free to contract out of the express provisions of the law, thereby defeating its very intent. Apex Court Bench comprising of Justices V. Gopala Gowda and Adarsh Kumar Goel restored the Judgment of Trial Court which had decreed the suit of Landlords for recovery and Khas possession. As per the agreement, the landlord was entitled to terminate the tenancy only in case there was a breach of the terms of the agreement or in case of non-payment of rent for three consecutive months and the tenants failed to remedy the same within a period of thirty days of the receipt of the notice. The notice issued by Landlord requiring it to vacate the premises was contested by the Tenants terming it as illegal. This contention, though ini...

Supreme Court:  Deciding the question as to whether an employee of a Public Sector Undertaking can be considered to be ‘Public servant’ under Section 197 CrPC, the bench of Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh, JJ held that the protection by way of sanction under Section 197 CrPC is not applicable to the officers of Government Companies or the public undertakings even when such public undertakings are ‘State’ within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution on account of deep and pervasive control of the government. In the present case, the respondent, who was convicted for offences punishable under Section 409/467/468/471 IPC, had contended that he being an employee of the appellant Corporation was a public servant and the trial had commenced without obtaining sanction under Section 197 CrPC and hence, the trial in entirety was invalid and as a result the conviction and sentence deserved to be set aside. The Court rejected the aforesaid contention and held that the responden...

Madras High Court:  Setting aside the decision of the Court of Special Judge under the Prevention of Corruption Act, refusing the petitioner accused the right to recall an important witness for cross-examination, the Bench of Dr. P. Devadass, J., allowed the petitioners to recall the witness for cross-examination cautioning that the cross-examination should be completed as soon as possible and that deferring the same would not be permitted. However, taking the opportunity to ponder upon the conflict between an accused person’s constitutionally guaranteed right of defense, the duty of the State to punish the offenders and the plight of the victims/witnesses due to prolonged trials, the Court observed that a court should be magnanimous in protecting the rights of the accused, however it must ensure that this magnanimity does not become a headache for the victims of the offences and the witnesses, thereby resulting in failure of justice. The petitioners  were charged for the o...

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission:  An insurance company can reject an insurance claim of a stolen vehicle on the ground that the vehicle was not duly registered, observed NCDRC while allowing a revision petition of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. vide which the Company challenged the order of Himachal Pradesh State Consumer Commission granting compensation to vehicle owner. This order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has its origin in the theft of a vehicle owned by the complainant, and the rejection of his claim by the insurance company on the ground that the vehicle was not registered at the time of theft. The vehicle, Mahindra Bolero SLX, purchased on June 14, 2008 for Rs 5,94,000  had been insured covering the period from 19.06.2008 to 18.07.2009. Six months later, on December 27, 2008, the vehicle unfortunately was stolen, giving rise to a claim. The insurance company however repudiated the claim on the ground that the vehicle had no va...

Appellate Tribunal for Electricity Kochi Salem Pipeline Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. v. Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board MANU/ET/0097/2016 02.09.2016 Commercial  Unless there is fraud of beneficiary or irretrievable harm or injury, Courts are not to interfere with encashment of Bank Guarantees Appellant No. 1 a Joint Venture Company formed for specific purpose of constituting, commissioning and operating Kochi-Coimbatore-Erode-Salem LPG Pipeline. A consortium of Appellant No. 2 ("Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. - BPCL") and Appellant No. 3 ("Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.-IOCL") with Appellant No. 2 as lead partner has been selected by Respondent Board for grant of authorization for said Pipeline. Letter of Intent issued by Respondent-Board in term of which Appellant No. 2 was directed to submit Performance Bond/Bank. Pursuant thereto Respondent Board issued a Letter of Authorisation ("LOA"). One of conditions in said LOA was that, entity was...

High Court of Delhi Make My Trip (India) Pvt. Ltd v. Union Of India & Ors. MANU/DE/2284/2016 01.09.2016 Service Tax Power of arrest is to be used with great circumspection and not casually Present writ Petitions filed by two entities operating on-line platforms/web portals raise important questions involving powers of Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) of arrest, investigation and assessment of service tax under provisions of the Finance Act, 1994. In both writ petitions, applications were filed for interim directions to restrain DGCEI from taking any coercive steps against the entities and their officers. Scheme of provisions of Finance Act 1994 (FA), do not permit DGCEI or for that matter Service Tax Department (ST Department) to by-pass procedure as set out in Section 73A (3) and (4) of Act before going ahead with arrest of a person under Sections 90 and 91 of Act. Power of arrest is to be used with great circumspection and not casually. It...

Willers v. Joyce and another United Kingdom 20.07.2016 Tort A person who suffers damage as a result of malicious prosecution of a civil suit against him is entitled to recover that damage Principal issue in instant appeal is relating to prosecution of civil proceedings in tort of malicious prosecution. Instant appeal is from a decision striking out a claim brought by Mr Peter Willers against Mr Albert Gubay as disclosing no cause of action known to English law. Mr Willers was Mr Gubay’s right hand man for over 20 years until he was dismissed in the summer of 2009. Mr Willers was a director of Langstone Leisure Ltd. In 2010 Langstone sued Mr Willers for alleged breach of contractual and fiduciary duties in causing it to incur costs in pursuing the Aqua directors. Mr Willers defended the action, and issued a third party claim for an indemnity against Mr Gubay, on grounds that he had acted under Mr Gubay’s directions in the prosecution of the Aqua claim. It is Mr Willers’ case ...