Supreme Court refers the question of validity of unstamped arbitration agreements to Seven-Judge Bench SC while hearing a curative petition has decided to re-examine the validity of a recently pronounced five judge constitution bench decision - NN Global Mercantile v. Indo Unique Flame2023 KLT OnLine 1429 (SC) wherein it was held that an arbitration agreement which attracts stamp duty and which is not stamped or insufficiently stamped cannot be acted upon. M/s Bhaskar Raju and Brothers and Anr ...

Balancing custody battles: Kerala High Court explains ‘paramount interest’ in child custody matters when parents relocate to foreign destinations. The Court observed that merely because there is a parental battle for custody, it cannot be said that one should remain locally available forever. In this case the mother relocated to New Zealand for better job opportunities. If the relocation is for better fortune, that cannot be held against her from claiming custody, provided that the ...

Eligibility of a divorced daughter of a freedom fighter for freedom fighters’ pension must be assessed based on facts and not on patriarchal assumptions. –– Kerala High Court The petitioner herein contests the denial of Freedom Fighters' Pension based on her status as a dependent divorced daughter, arguing against the assumption of financial support from her well-off brothers.The Court interpreting Rule 11A highlights that the benefit under the Kerala Freedom Fighters Pens...

Withholding mutual consent in a failed marriage is nothing but cruelty. –– Kerala High Court The Court noted that many sunsets have re-dawn, but life is yet to reset and the context of this observation was many failed attempts at reaching a settlement in a matrimonial case of divorce.Mutual consent for divorce failed due to unmet expectations in negotiations, and the court emphasized its role in resolving genuine disputes rather than facilitating ego battles. The concept of no-faul...

Mere acquittal in a criminal case would not automatically entitle a candidate for being declared fit for appointment to the post of a law enforcement agency. – Supreme Court The Court explains that the yardstick to be applied in cases where the appointment sought relates to a Law Enforcement Agency, ought to be much more stringent than those applied to a routine vacancy for the simple reason that possession of a higher moral conduct is one of the basic requirements for appointment to a po...