Supreme Court Daily Digest [26 September 2025]
Dhannalal Alias Dhanraj (D) . vs Nasir Khan 2025 INSC 1177 - LRs Right To Claim Compensation
Motor Accident Compensation - The right to claim compensation for the injuries caused in a motor vehicle accident survives on the legal representatives of the injured even if the injured dies in the course of the proceedings for reasons not relatable to or having any nexus with the injuries sustained. (Para 7)
Motor Accident Compensation - What is awarded to an injured in a claim petition is just compensation and as held by this Court it cannot lead to a windfall for the injured claimant or his legal heirs - The multiplier is applied on the assessment of the normal life span where an injured or deceased in a motor accident would have worked and earned to support himself and his family. (Para 11)
SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation v. GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd. 2025 INSC 1171 - Natural Justice - S.34 Arbitration Act
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996- Section 34, 18 - Audi alteram partem as a fundamental juristic principle- When a party is unable to analyse, comment or argue on a contention raised by the other party, it will certainly be deemed as a breach of natural justice and thereby, also a violation of the most fundamental notions of justice - Such arbitral award is required to be set aside by the courts. (Para 105) The principles of natural justice, and the public policy of India are paramount and cannot be ignored or sidelined in an attempt not to frustrate the patent or latent commercial wisdom of the parties to seek an alternative means of dispute resolution. Such issues attack the root of the Indian legal system and the courts cannot be made a mere spectator to such gross violations. (Para 112)
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996- Section 34, 37 - a court under Section 37 of the 1996 Act can only determine as to whether the concerned court under Section 34 has not travelled beyond the parameters of the scope therein. No independent evaluation is permitted on the merits of the award- (Para 71) While the initial probe is initiated during a recourse under Section 34 , and if it further affirms the award, a court exercising the mandate of Section 37 ought to employ caution and reluctance to alter with the concurrent findings. (Para 72)
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996- Section 20- In the absence of the express or implied choice of law, it is the law that has the closest as well as the most real connection with the arbitration agreement, that is applicable. when a seat of arbitration is India, it would only be the courts of India that would have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any disputes pertaining to the process of arbitration thereof - The parties to a dispute are always at liberty to choose the substantive law, procedural law, and the law of the arbitration agreement so applicable - The principle of party autonomy does not vest absolutely. Although the parties have a great deal of discretion in choosing the governing law, their choices cannot conflict with the mandatory provisions in the jurisdiction of the seat of the concerned arbitration. (Para 76-82)
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996- Section 34- It is the interpretation of an arbitral award which determines whether a contract or a specific provision thereof is considered part of the award or not. If a clear reliance is placed by the arbitrator on the contract, a presumption arises in favour of the incorporation, while a vague or general reference opposes such a presumption. (Para 98)
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 - An arbitrator lacks the power to deviate from or to reinterpret the terms of the contract while making an award. The awards must be within the parameters of the agreement entered between the parties. (Para 91)
State of Uttarakhand v. Anil 2025 INSC 1170 - CrPC - Criminal Appeal
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 -Section 374(2) - As the first appellate court, the High Court is expected to evaluate the evidence including the medical evidence, statement of the victim, statements of the witnesses and the defence version with due care. While the judgment need not be excessively lengthy, it must reflect a proper application of mind to crucial evidence. Albeit the High Court does not have the advantage to examine the witnesses directly, the High Court should, as an appellate Court, re-assess the facts, evidence on record and findings to arrive at a just conclusion in deciding whether the Trial Court was justified in convicting the accused or not -Large pendency of cases cannot come in the way of the Court’s solemn duty, particularly, when a person's liberty is at stake. (Para 8-10)
Sanjay D. Jain vs State of Maharashtra 2025 INSC 1168 - S.498A IPC - S.482 CrPC - Cruelty
Indian Penal Code 1860 - Section 498A - The requirement is that there has to be cruelty inflicted against the victim which either drives her to commit suicide or cause grave injury to herself or lead to such conduct that would cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health. The latter part of the provision refers to harassment with a view to satisfy an unlawful demand for any property or valuable security raised by the husband or his relatives. (Para 9) The cruelty caused by the husband and his family members should be of such nature that it is inflicted with the intention to cause grave injury or drive the victim to commit suicide or inflict grave injury to herself. (Para 10)
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 482 - If the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint, even when taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out any case against the accused, quashing of the proceedings would be justified. Vague and general allegations cannot lead to forming of a prima facie case. (Para 9)
Kalyani Transco vs Bhushan Power and Steel Limited 2025 INSC 1164 -S.62 IBC- Resolution Plan
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC) - Section 61 – An appeal against an order approving a Resolution Plan would be available before the NCLAT only when it is found that the approved resolution plan is in contravention of the provisions of any law for the time being in force or there has been any material irregularity in exercise of powers by the resolution professional during the corporate insolvency resolution period or that the debts owed to OCs of the Corporate Debtor have not been provided for in the resolution plan in the manner specified by the Board or that the insolvency resolution process costs have not been provided for repayment in priority to all other debts or the resolution plan does not comply with any other criteria specified by the Board. (Para 90-91)When a concurrent view has been taken by two adjudicating authorities provided under the special statute, unless it is found that such a view was in ignorance of the mandatory statutory provisions or was based on extraneous consideration or was ex-facie arbitrary or illegal, an interference would not be warranted. (Para 94)
IBC - Section 62 – The locus of the erstwhile promoters of the Corporate Debtor - As the Resolution Plan also affects the rights of the guarantors, SC rejected the contention that appeals at the instance of the erstwhile promoters would not be maintainable. (Para 63)
IBC - Section 31- Once a Resolution Plan is duly approved by the Adjudicating Authority under sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the IBC, the claims as provided in the Resolution Plan shall stand frozen and will be binding on the Corporate Debtor, its employees, members, creditors including the Central Government etc. (Para 167)
IBBI (CIRP) Regulation - Explanation to clause 2 of Regulation 18 - CoC continues to exist till the Resolution Plan is implemented or an order of liquidation is passed under Section 33 of the IBC- The cloud of uncertainty exists till a finality is given by this Court in the proceedings under Section 62 of the IBC. (Para 85)
Convertible Debentures -“Convertible Debentures” stand on a different footing than other types of debentures- Since CCDs do not involve any repayment and have to be mandatorily converted into equity shares at the time of maturity, they must be treated as Equity Instruments. (Para 146) If a CCD is to be compulsorily converted at the time of maturity, without any obligation of repayment of a debt - It must be treated the same as an equity instrument. (Para 148)
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 -Section 49 - A foreign award would not be automatically enforceable in India. For it to be enforceable in India, the court is required to be satisfied that such an award is enforceable under Part-II Chapter-I of the Arbitration Act. (Para 176)
IBC - Payments made to creditors relating to the pre – CIRP dues must be done only in accordance with the Resolution Plan and with the express agreement of the CoC. (Para 184)
Singamasetty Bhagavath Guptha v. Allam Karibasappa (D) 2025 INSC 1159 - CPC - First Appeal - Provincial Insolvency Act
Code of Civil Procedure 1908 - Section 96 - Important duty that an appellate court exercises, particularly when it seeks to reverse the judgment of the Trial Court -Quoted from Santosh Hazari v. Purushottam Tiwari: Firstly, the findings of fact based on conflicting evidence arrived at by the trial court must weigh with the appellate court, more so when the findings are based on oral evidence recorded by the same Presiding Judge who authors the judgment. This certainly does not mean that when an appeal lies on facts, the appellate court is not competent to reverse a finding of fact arrived at by the trial Judge. As a matter of law if the appraisal of the evidence by the trial Court suffers from a material irregularity or is based on inadmissible evidence or on conjectures and surmises, the appellate court is entitled to interfere with the finding of fact. The rule is — and it is nothing more than a rule of practice — that when there is conflict of oral evidence of the parties on any matter in issue and the decision hinges upon the credibility of witnesses, then unless there is some special feature about the evidence of a particular witness which has escaped the trial Judge's notice or there is a sufficient balance of improbability to displace his opinion as to where the credibility lie, the appellate court should not interfere with the finding of the trial Judge on a question of fact. Secondly, while reversing a finding of fact the appellate court must come into close quarters with the reasoning assigned by the trial court and then assign its own reasons for arriving at a different finding.
Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 - Section 37 - It is only upon a conclusion that the transactions and orders of the court and the receiver are valid and attained finality that the property shall not revert to the debtor upon annulment of adjudication under Section 37 of the Act - For operation of Section 37, it is fundamental that there must in fact be a finality of transactions. In other words, there must be conclusion of sales, dispositions of property and/or the payments made in that regard. Section 37 proceedings cannot partake the character of a civil court deciding a suit for specific performance of an agreement. (Para 17,18, 22)
Jagdish Godara v. State of Rajasthan - S.482 CrPC - Recall/Review
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 482 [Section 528 BNSS] - High Court becomes functus officio when it dismissed the original petition under Section 482 CrPC- It does not have any power or jurisdiction to entertain an application seeking review/recall of the said order- The said application cannot be considered to be a fresh case by the High Court. (Para 25)
Jagdish Bhimshi Gangar v. Economic Offences Wing - CrPC/BNSS - Scope Of Discharge
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 227 - The scope of inquiry in discharge application is limited and no document which is not a part of the charge-sheet can be considered at that stage. (Para 4)