Legal Reference Library

Contents Meaning of Evidence Case Laws on Evidence Definition of word “evidence” under the Evidence Act is exhaustive What would be the meaning of the ‘evidence‘ has been elucidated by Hon’ble Constitutional Bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Hardip Singh & Ors vs. State of Punjab and others (2014) 3 SCC 92, wherein it was held as under: For getting free Indian Judgments in your inbox click Subscribe According to Section 3 of the Evidence Act, ‘evidence’ means and includes: (1) all statements which the Court permits or requires to be made before it by witnesses, in relation to matters of fact under inquiry; such statements are called oral evidence; (2) all documents including electronic records produced for the inspection of the Court, such statements are called documentary evidence; # Meaning of Evidence According to Tomlin’s Law Dictionary, Evidence is “the means from which an inference may logically be drawn as to the existence of a fact. It consists of proof by te...

In  Finolex Cables Limited Vs. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., the two companies had entered into a contract and MTNL had invoked BG because of non-delivery. The question before the Delhi High Court was whether the invocation of the BG by MTNL in terms of Clause 7.4 of the PO was justified. The High Court opined - 41. MTNL has no explanation whatsoever for suddenly springing on FCL the unilateral invocation of the BG which it made FCL renew from time to time. There was no loss suffered by MTNL on account of the failure of FCL to supply the cables. Merely because Clause 7.4 of the PO entitles MTNL to seek LD up to a maximum of 10% cannot justify the amount it sought to recover, namely, the entire sum of Rs.36,75,300, which according to the learned Arbitrator was approximately 10% of the contract value. 42. The law in relation to LD has been explained by the Supreme Court in its decision in Kailash Nath Associates v. Delhi Development Authority (supra). In para 43 of the s...

In Chandi Prasad Vs. State, the Himachal Pradesh High Court while deciding on Adverse Possession said that - It is well recognized proposition in law that mere possession however long does not necessarily mean that it is adverse to the true owner. Adverse possession really means the hostile possession which is expressly or impliedly in denial of title of the true owner and in order to constitute adverse possession the possession proved must be adequate in continuity, in publicity and in extent so as to show that it is adverse to the true owner. The classical requirements of acquisition of title by adverse possession are that such possession in denial of the true owner’s title must be peaceful, open and continuous. It is equally settled that a person pleading adverse possession has no equities in his favour and since such a person is trying to defeat the rights of the true owner, it is for him to clearly plead and establish necessary facts to establish his adverse possession. In...

High Court of Delhi Louis Vuitton v. Gaurav Bhatia and Ors. MANU/DE/1443/2017 23.05.2017 Intellectual Property Rights Damages have to be actual and not superfluous, Courts are not supposed to do guess work and grant damages Present suit has been filed by Plaintiff seeking permanent injunction against Defendants, restraining them from infringing its trademark, copyright and also from passing off goods of Plaintiff as that of theirs and for rendition of accounts and damages. It is submitted that, act of Defendant offering counterfeit products of Plaintiff which are identical to product of Plaintiff amounts to infringement of its trademark.  Suit has been filed by a duly authorized person. Various documents showing registration of trademark in favour of Plaintiff proves that, Plaintiff is registered owner of trademark Louis Vuitton and logo "Toile Monogram" pattern. Documents on record also conclusively show that, Defendants 1 and 2 have been indulg...

The Supreme Court in Mrs. Hema Khattar & ANR. Vs. Shiv Khera has held that When an agreement is terminated by one party alleging breach committed by the other, the arbitration clause still survives and continues to be operative. This is particularly so when the contract is revoked by mutual consent and the arbitration clause is framed in general terms. The Supreme Court referred to earlier decisions in Sundaram Finance Limited and Another vs. T. Thankam (2015) 14 SCC 444, where this Court has held as under:- "8. Once there is an agreement between the parties to refer the disputes or differences arising out of the agreement to arbitration, and in case either party, ignoring the terms of the agreement, approaches the civil court and the other party, in terms of Section 8 of the Arbitration Act, moves the court for referring the parties to arbitration before the first statement on the substance of the dispute is filed, in view of the peremptory language of Section 8 of th...

In awarding tenders, the technical experience of a subsidiary company can be taken into account and the parent company cannot be ousted only because it has no experience on its own, the Supreme Court  said while upholding the award of a Metro rail project to a Chinese government company. In this judgment, Consortium of Titagarh Firema Adler SPA vs Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation, the contract for 69 passenger cars and training of personnel was awarded to the Chinese company, though its bid was only marginally lower than that of the consortium.  Therefore, it moved the Bombay High Court where the writ petition was dismissed. The Supreme Court held that there is no bar, whatsoever, express or implied, in the tender document to treat the parent company along with its 100% wholly owned subsidiaries as one entity. Therefore, the scope of judicial review should be limited in adjudging the decision taken by R 1 in the best interest of the project, and thereby, the public. the conce...

In Prerna Dewan Vs. IREO Fiveriver, the Opposite Party has stated that possession of the plot, in question, could not be offered to the complainant, within the period stipulated in the Agreement for want of development work at the site, on account of the reasons beyond its control i.e. on account of force majeure circumstances like delay in sanction of layout plans by the Competent Authorities; delay in grant of NOC from the Irrigation Department; delay in clearance and delayed grant of licence for additional land measuring 10.594 acres plus 18.343 acres, by the Competent Authorities, as the area was situated in a squatted small pockets; delay in approvals for environment clearance by the Competent Authorities; and also stay on construction on the land, in question, granted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The State Consumer Dispute Resolution Commission rejected the above contention by stating It was the bounden duty of the opposite party, to get approved the final la...

The Karnataka High Court, in the case of M/s Uttam Industrial Engineering Ltd vs M/s Shree Basaveshwar Sugars Ltd, has held that a winding-up petition has serious ramifications on the financial standing of a company and cannot be used in cases where there is a bona fide dispute regarding the amount owed by one party to the other and in such cases the company court should relegate the matter either to the civil court or arbitral tribunal. In this case, Uttam Industrial Ltd entered into a contract with Basaveshwar Sugars Ltd to provide machinery and equipment for a sugar plant. The petitioner fulfilled part of its obligation and demanded payment for the same. There was a dispute regarding the amount to be paid by the respondent company to the petitioner company. However, though the respondent company had initially agreed to pay a specified amount upon reconciliation of their accounts, they subsequently refused to pay the same. Therefore, a winding-up petition was filed before the h...

In Majestic Properties Vs. Arun Dhandhania, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has held that It is the duty of the complainants to prove that the booking done by them was not for a commercial purpose and that, they fall within the definition of ‘Consumer’ under the Act. The facts involved in these cases show that the main person in the whole episode is Arun Dhandhania who booked one residential flat for himself, one for his son and three other flats in the names of various companies, which were operating through him only, as Director. Although booking in three cases has been made in the name of three different companies, it has not been made clear anywhere in the evidence produced by the complainants that the said property was required for residential purpose in any manner. During arguments, it was stated that the residential property was required for the purpose of housing various directors/employees from time to time. It has nowhere been stated, however, that the p...

In H.P. State Cooperative Bank Ltd. Vs. State of H.P., the Himachal Pradesh High Court held that dues to the State shall have priority. Referring to various judgments, the court said - “126. While enacting the DRT Act and the Securitisation Act, Parliament was aware of the law laid down by this Court wherein priority of the State dues was recognised. If Parliament intended to create first charge in favour of banks, financial institutions or other secured creditors on the property of the borrower, then it would have incorporated a provision like Section 529-A of the Companies Act or Section 11(2) of the EPF Act and ensured that notwithstanding series of judicial pronouncements, dues of banks, financial institutions and other secured creditors should have priority over the State’s statutory first charge in the matter of recovery of the dues of sales tax, etc. However, the fact of the matter is that no such provision has been incorporated in either of these enactments despite conf...

The credibility of a witness cannot be judged merely on the basis of his close relation with the deceased and as such cannot be a ground to discard his testimony, if it otherwise inspires confidence and, particularly so, when it is corroborated by the evidence of independent and injured witnesses. While appreciating the evidence of the witnesses related to the deceased, having strained relations with the accused party, their evidence cannot be discarded solely on that basis, but the court is required to carefully scrutinize it and find out if there is scope for taking view whereby the court can reach to the conclusion that it is a case of false implication. 1. Masalti v. The State of Uttar Praadesh, AIR 1965 SC 202 Speaking for a 5-Judge Bench P.B.Gajendragadkar, C.J. Said : “…There is no doubt that when a criminal Court has to appreciate evidence given by witnesses who are partisan or interest, it has to be very careful in weighing such evidence. Whether or not there are discrep...

The Delhi High Court, in the case of Poonam Jain vs Union of India & Ors, noted that a person being prosecuted against has a right to be provided with all the material relied upon by the prosecuting agency to prosecute her/ him. In the instant case, a search was conducted at the residences of the petitioners and their statements were recorded and several documents were seized. They were issued show cause notices under Section 276 C(1) and Section 277 of the Income Tax Act, Section 181 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 50 and 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act. They sought to be provided with a copy of their statements and the documents seised. However, the same was denied to them. A bench comprising Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Anil Kumar Chawla noted that a person against whom a prosecution is being initiated cannot be denied a copy of the material relied upon to prosecute her/ him. “9. …The basic principle o...

The Supreme Court, in Anjan Kumar Sarma vs State of Assam, has reiterated that “last seen together” along with “absence of satisfactory explanation” cannot be made the sole basis of conviction, when the other circumstances could not be proved. The high court, in the instant case, had convicted the accused holding that the onus was on the accused to explain and exculpate themselves when the ‘last seen theory’ was established and in the absence of any satisfactory explanation, the presumption would suggest the guilt of the accused. The accused were charged with offences of murder and rape. The Trial Court had returned an order of acquittal which was later challenged before the High Court. Referring to various decisions on the aspect of ‘last seen together’, the bench comprising Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Navin Sinha observed that where the other links have been satisfactorily made out and the circumstances point to the guilt of the accused, the circumstance of last seen toge...

The fact that the witness may be related to the deceased by marriage, cannot be sufficient reason to classify him as a related and interested witness to reject his testimony, the Supreme Court has observed while dismissing the appeals in a murder case (Chandrasekar vs State). The wife of the deceased and her relatives were prime witnesses in this case and they had deposed seeing the murderous assault on the deceased by the accused. The trial court had convicted the accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment and the high court had upheld the verdict. “It may only call for greater scrutiny and caution in consideration of the evidence,” the court observed, while rejecting the contention that these witnesses were interested witnessed and their testimony be rejected. With regard to deposition by the wife, the bench observed: “Being the wife of the deceased, we find no reason why she would not be speaking the truth with regard to the real assailants instead of shielding them by fa...

Central Information Commission Kalyan Kumar Ganguly v. PIO, ESIC, Kolkata MANU/CI/0314/2017 11.05.2017 Right to Information Information relating to wages of employees has to be voluntarily disclosed by public authority Appellant sought information regarding M/s. Laxmi Distribution. Specifically, he sought relationship between one Mr. H.B. Singhvi and M/s. Laxmi Distribution; return of contribution filed for relevant period and whether it was certified by chartered accountants or not; total number of employees working in said establishment etc. through eight points. CPIO denied on grounds that, information sought was relating to third party. Being dissatisfied by Order given by FAA who upheld decision of CPIO, Appellant approached this Commission. Appellant submitted that, PF amount was deducted for period 1986 to 1988 but it was not deposited, and no benefits were given from 1986 to 2016. PF account is not like any other individual private bank account where all his perso...

Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal Sobha Developers Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, LTU, Bangalore MANU/CB/0070/2017 15.05.2017 Excise Refund claim cannot be converted into rebate claim without following prescribed procedure In facts of present case, Appellants are engaged in manufacture of excisable goods falling under Chapter Heading 7308 90 90 of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. Appellants have filed an application for refund of Rs. 10,48,313/- being duty paid on goods cleared to Infosys Technologies Ltd., Chandigarh. Infosys Technologies Ltd., Chandigarh was declared as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) unit by Development Commissioner, Noida, Special Economic Zone, Ministry of Commerce and Industries vide letter No. 5/5/2006-Chg.SEZ/8797 dated 16th June, 2006. Appellant cleared goods on payment of duty even after receipt of approval by M/s. Infosys Technologies Ltd. as SEZ. Duty thus, paid for supplies made from 17th June, 2006 to 16th November, 200...

High Court of Rajasthan Pinki v. State of Rajasthan and Ors. MANU/RH/0319/2017 12.05.2017 Criminal Court has power to direct further investigation in interest of complete and fair investigation Present criminal misc. petition under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.) has been preferred for quashing of FIR registered as well as proceedings in furtherance thereof for offences under Sections 191, 192, 196, 197, 200, 420, 467, 468, 471, 474 and 120B  of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). Matter pertains to contest of election by Petitioner as a member of Panchayat Samiti, Jaswantpura. It is alleged in FIR that, alongwith nomination paper, a certificate of Gujarat Higher Secondary Education Board, Gandhi Nagar, Examination Wing, Vadodara was submitted by contestant, present petitioner. Petitioner was elected as member of Panchayat Samiti, and thereafter, again filed a nomination paper for election of Pradhan, Panchayat Samiti, Jaswantpura on 07th February, ...

High Court of Punjab and Haryana Satnam Kaur v. Gurjeet Singh MANU/PH/0385/2017 12.05.2017 Family Power to transfer a case must be exercised with due care, caution and circumspection Applicant-wife, by way of instant transfer application under Section 24 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), seeks transfer of a petition under Section 9 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 titled as Gurjeet Singh v. Satnam Kaur filed by respondent-husband from SAS Nagar (Mohali) to Moga. It is relevant to note that, Applicant-wife, along with her minor child, is living with her parents at Moga. Since, Applicant-wife is not working, she is dependent on her parents. Respondent-husband is not paying any amount of maintenance either for Applicant-wife or for minor child. Distance between Mohali and Moga is more than 150 kilometers. Other litigations between the parties, at instance of Applicant-wife, are also pending at Moga. In view of undisputed fact situation of case, Present Court concluded that,...

High Court of Tripura Kalpana Majumder and Ors. v. Sankar Debnath and Ors. MANU/TR/0077/2017 08.05.2017 Motor Vehicles FIR is not a substantive piece of evidence; it can be used only for purposes of corroboration or contradiction of maker only Aggrieved by nil award passed by learned Member, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, present appeal is preferred by appellant-claimants. Appellant claimed that, accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving of driver of said Mahindra Maxx. Police registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) against driver of offending vehicle. Appellants, therefore, filed claim petition claiming a compensation of Rs. 26,44,000/- for death of deceased. Deceased was stated to be a fisherman at time of accident and was earning Rs. 9,000/- per month as an income. He was also stated to be 50 years of age, when he met the accident. Claim petition was opposed by owner of vehicle, who is Respondent No. 1 herein, by filin...

High Court of Delhi Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Ltd. v. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited and Ors. MANU/DE/1260/2017 08.05.2017 Commercial Public interest or change in policy may be sufficient to negate concept of legitimate expectation. Petitioner, a public limited company, engaged in providing oil and gas rigs on rent with related services, claim that a direction should be issued to ONGC to consider its bid for a tender bearing No. P26AC16006 dated 05th December, 2016 and also seeks a direction restraining ONGC from awarding letter of intent to M/s. Globe Ecologistic Private Limited for said tender. Second Respondent herein owns 100% share holding in Petitioner company and is its ultimate holding company for all practical purposes, including financial criteria mentioned in tender. It is urged that, no other corporate entity holds any share in Petitioner-Company other than second respondent. ONGC had issued a tender for hire of services for 2D seismic data ac...

High Court of Allahabad Boney Kapoor and Ors. v. State of U.P. and Ors. MANU/UP/1018/2017 08.05.2017 Criminal Affidavit could only be considered as piece of evidence, when statute permits so Applications under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.PC) have been filed with prayer to quash proceedings of Criminal Complaint Case pending before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, under Section 51 read with Section 63 of Indian Copyright Act, 1957 and Section 403 read with Section 120-B of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), and summoning order as well as bailable warrant issued and non-bailable warrant passed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. Complaint was filed on basis of infringement of copy right. As was evident in instant matter, script "Raja Bhai IPS" is said to be prepared by opposite party No. 2, (complainant) and same is said to have been sent to Applicants for filmisation. Case of complainant is that, Applicants did not make film, when op...

International Cases Levingston v. Levingston Australia 11.05.2017 Civil Contract be constituted by an offer and acceptance when putative offer reveal an intention to give rise, upon acceptance, to an obligation Robert Ian Edwin Partridge died on 6 October 2008. By his will made on 29 December 1995, he appointed Appellant, Mrs. Lola Levingston, as his executrix and left his estate to his only son, Mr. Rhys Partridge, second Respondent. Late Mr. Partridge and Mrs. Levingston lived together as husband and wife for 12 years prior to his death. Mrs. Levingston appeals against dismissal of her action in which she claimed that, late Mr. Partridge agreed to leave her his entire estate or, alternatively, his personal estate. Appellant’s primary claim was in contract and based on a letter dated 13 April 2005 that, she and Ian signed and sent to their solicitor. Mrs. Levingston claimed that, letter constituted an agreement in writing between Ian and Mrs. Levingston, terms of which wer...