Important Landmark Judgments of 2022 | Current Affairs & General Knowledge - CLAT PDF Download

1. Monirul Molla v. The State of West Bengal

• This case was related to Section 53 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. In this case, the Calcutta High Court issued a directive to trial courts in West Bengal stipulating that a sentence of life imprisonment till death, without any scope of remission, can only be passed in rape cases.
• The Court observed that such a sentence of life imprisonment till one’s death can only be imposed by the higher judiciary that is the Supreme Court or the High Court when commuting sentences.

2. Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt. Ltd. v. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

• This recent case was concerned with Section 31(7)(a) Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 i.e. Power of the arbitral tribunal to award interest if parties are subject to an agreement on the same. In this case, the issue which was raised was Can an arbitral tribunal award interest if the parties have agreed otherwise? In answer to this the Supreme Court held that when the parties have an agreement between themselves that governs the issue of interest, the arbitrator would lose its discretion and will be guided by the agreement between the parties.

3. Jacob Pulivel v. Union of India

• In this case, it was held that, as no substantial data has been produced on record to show that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 virus from the unvaccinated persons is higher than from vaccinated persons, vaccine mandates imposed by various state governments and other authorities in the context of COVID-19 pandemic are “not proportionate” when the raised issue was whether the policy of the Union and State Government on COVID-19 vaccination policy is a reasonable restriction to the right to bodily integrity of a person under Article 21.

4. Mahesh Lal N.Y. v. State of Kerala

• In the following case, the Kerala High Court has ruled that the consent of an accused is not necessary to acquire their voice sample for the purpose of comparison, since it has already been established obtaining that voice samples of the accused do not infringe Article 20 (3) of the Constitution of India.
• While dismissing a petition alleging that the accused was not given an opportunity of being heard before being directed to produce his voice sample, Justice R. Narayana Pisharadi held that the accused had no right of option in the matter.

5. The Secretary of Govt. of Kerala Irrigation Department and Ors. v. James Varghese and Ors.

• This case was related to the Constitutional validity of the Kerala Revocation of Arbitration Clauses and Reopening of Awards Act, 1998 in which the main issue was whether the Kerala state legislature is competent to enact the Kerala Revocation of Arbitration Clauses and Reopening of Awards Act, 1998, and whether its state legislature violated and encroached judicial power.
• In this regard, the Supreme Court held the Kerala Revocation of Arbitration Clauses and Reopening of Awards Act, 1998 to be unconstitutional as it had the effect of annulling the awards passed by the arbitrators and the judgments and decrees passed by the courts.

6. Basant v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors

• In this case, a crucial question came up before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh whether hearsay statements made contemporaneously with the acts or immediately thereafter will be admissible in the evidence as per the provisions of Section 6 of the Evidence Act.
• The Hon’ble court held that the statement made by the deceased contemporaneously with the act or immediately thereafter would be admissible as a dying declaration under Section 32 of the Indian Evidence Act. (Rule of res gestae). Herein the related provision was Section 6 of the Indian Evidence Act Relevancy of facts forming part of the same transaction.

7. Periyakaruppan v. The Principal Secretary to Govt. and Anr.

• In this case, a petition was filed by a former Taluk Tahsildar to quash the Govt. The order imposing compulsory retirement and a penalty of reduction of 1/3rd pension and other retirement benefits for colluding with other officers and granting Patta in forest lands to private individuals and the issue that came forward was whether penalty be imposed on the petitioner, in case the punishment of co-delinquent was quashed or dropped and the entries’ land records were also modified and pattas canceled.
• The Kerala High Court opined that since the land in question was classified as “Forest Land” necessary intervention was needed. The court modified the order of compulsory retirement as a stoppage of increment for six months without cumulative effect.
• The Court also observed that nature shall have fundamental rights/legal rights and constitutional rights for its survival, safety and sustenance, and resurgence in order to maintain its status and also to promote its health and wellbeing. The court also directed the State Government and the Central Government to take appropriate steps to protect the mother earth in all possible ways.

8. Sunil Kumar Maity v. State Bank of India

• This case dealt with Section 5 of the limitation act that does not apply to the institution of the civil suit in the Civil Court, the supreme court said in a judgment on 21st January 2022. The court observed thus while setting aside judgment a passed by the NCDRC in which it observed that the complainant would be at liberty to seek remedy in the competent Civil Court.
• The Commission further observed that if he chooses to bring an action in a Civil Court, he is free to file an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963. The commission also recorded the statement of the council for the SBI that it will not press the issue of limitation affection as brought by the complainant in a Civil Court.

9. Haryana Urban Development Authority, Karnal v. M/s. Mehta Construction Company and another

This case was in relation to section 34 of the arbitration and conciliation act of 1996. According to Section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996-

• an application for setting aside an award is to be made within three months from the date on which a party filing objections under sub-section (1) to Section 34 has received the arbitral award proviso court may condone the delay of a period up to thirty days in filing of the objections if it is satisfied that the applicant is prevented by sufficient cause from making an application under Section 34(1) of the Act – there were only eight days’ delay – the reason was provided – inter alia, it took time to get sanction from the concerned authorities – Courts below ought to have condoned the delay.

Section 34(2)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 provides that an arbitral award can be set aside by the Court if the Court finds the award is vitiated by patent illegality appearing on the face of the award – proviso – the award shall not be set aside merely on the ground of erroneous application of law or by misappreciation of evidence.

10. Noel Harper and Ors. v. Union of India

• This case was related to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010. In this case, the Court upheld the 2020 amendments made to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act restrictions in the handling of foreign contributions organizations in India.
• The Court interpreted that the payment to third-party agencies in furtherance of the purposes of the recipient would be a case of “utilization” and not “transfer”. “Transfer” within the meaning of Section 7 would be transferred to third parties for acts beyond the purposes for which the FCRA approval has been granted. Based on this interpretation the court said that section 7 was intra-vires.

11. Sulaxani & Anr v. Sattar Ali & Ors

In this interesting case, a question was raised whether a Mohammedan person can execute his will for more than 1/3rd share of his property without the consent of all legal heirs? In which the Chattisgarh High Court held that Mahommedan can’t execute a will for more than 1/3rd share of his property without the consent of all legal heirs. The Court further observed that the following conditions must be filled up for a valid will to be executed by Mohammedan:

• A bequest may be executed by any Muslim to another, including an institution and a class of people; 
• The persons entitled to make or take a will must have the capacity to make or take a will; 
• A bequest must be made of some subject; 
• Formalities of making a will must be fulfilled; 
• Only one-third of property can be bequeathed; 
• Bequest to heirs is restricted; 
• Conditional contingent and future bequests are void.