Supreme Selections: Yearly Digest 2024, PART-II

06 December, 2024

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Part-II: March and April

March

The Supreme Court (SC) of India delivered a total of 94 Judgments in March 2024 including approximately 65 Reportable Judgments which are listed as follows:

Can MPs/MLAs claim immunity from prosecution on a charge of bribery

Judgment Name: Sita Soren vs. Union of India (March 04, 2024)

Bench: Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice A.S. Bopanna, Justice M.M. Sundresh, Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice Manoj Misra

Brief: The seven-judge bench of the SC held that the MPs and MLPs cannot claim immunity under Articles 105(2) and 194(2) of the Constitution for receiving bribes in contemplation of a vote or speech in the legislature. In this case, the bench analyzed the reasoning of the bench in the PV Narasimha Rao v. State case. Disposing of the appeals, the bench said, “The offence of bribery is complete at the point in time when the legislator accepts the bribe.”

Adani Power

Judgment Name: Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited vs. Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd. (March 18, 2024)

Bench: Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sanjay Kumar

Brief: The Supreme Court bench imposed a cost of Rs. 50,000 on Adani stating that filing a miscellaneous application was not an appropriate legal course to demand LPS (Late Payment Surcharge). It said, “A miscellaneous application is not the proper legal course to make a demand on that count. A relief of this nature cannot be asked for in a miscellaneous application which was described in the course of hearing as an application for clarification.” In this case, the SC was hearing a miscellaneous application filed by Adani Power seeking over Rs. 1,300 crore as LPS from the Rajasthan government-owned power distribution firm, Jaipur Vidyut Nigam Limited.

Other Important Judgments of March Month

April

A total of 100 Judgments including around 69 Reportable Judgments were pronounced by the Supreme Court in April 2024. Click on the below links for detailed judgments and Headnotes.

Voter’s Right to Know

Judgment Name: Karikho Kri vs. Nuney Tayang and another (April 09, 2024)

Bench: Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sanjay Kumar

Brief: The bench upheld the 2019 election of MLA Karikho Kri observing that the voters have no absolute right to know every moveable property owned by the candidates contesting elections. It said, “...we are not inclined to accept the blanket proposition that a candidate is required to lay his life out threadbare for examination by the electorate.”

Promotional Trailers, Not Unfair and Deceptive Practice

Judgment Name: Yash Raj Film Private Limited vs. Afreen Fatima Zaidi (April 22, 2024)

Bench: Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Aravind Kumar

Brief: In this case, the bench held that “promotional trailers are unilateral and do not qualify as offers eliciting acceptance, and as such they do not transform into promises, much less agreements enforceable by law.” It added, “The promotional trailer does not fall under any of the instances of “unfair method or unfair and deceptive practice” contained in clause (1) of Section 2(1)(r) that pertains to unfair trade practice in the promotion of goods and services. Nor does it make any false statement or intend to mislead the viewers.”