"Excess Pension Was Paid From Public Money": Patna High Court Denies Widow's Plea, Upholds Bank's Recovery Of Overpaid Pension

The Patna High Court recently ruled in favour of the State Bank of India's right to recover an excess amount of Rs. 8.63 Lakhs that was mistakenly paid to a widow pensioner over several years. The woman's late husband had retired as an Auditor in 1998, and she had been receiving an enhanced family pension since his death in 2002. The State Bank of India (SBI) later discovered that she...

Patna High Court E-Committee Launches Six New E-Initiatives For Bilingual Judgment Access, Enhanced Court Operations, Data Handling, Etc

The Patna High Court's e-Committee launched six new applications on Monday, aimed at streamlining and improving court operations. These initiatives were introduced during an inauguration ceremony attended by Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran, Justice Ashutosh Kumar, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi.The six applications – e-Indian Law Report (Patna Series), e-PHCR (Patna High Court Law Reports),...

Artificial Intelligence May Not Be Fruitful In Writing Judgments, Human Element Critical: Patna High Court CJ Vinod Chandran

Patna High Court Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran on Monday expressed scepticism about the use of Artificial Intelligence for writing judgments.While speaking at the launch of six new applications developed by the Patna High Court's e-Committee for technological advancement of the legal system, the CJ remarked,“Essentially what we have to realise when we go into computerization, is that there...

Source Of Promotion No Grounds To Deny Benefits To Employee Similarly Situated With Other Employees Upon Regularization: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court on Tuesday (Sep.3) observed that a source of promotion cannot be a factor in discriminating amongst the employees who were promoted to a new cadre or regularized in the service. “At the outset, it is trite that when an employee is promoted to a new cadre or regularized in the services; there cannot be any discrimination on the basis of the source from which the...

'Prosecution Case Not Supported By Medical & Forensic Evidence': Patna HC Upholds Acquittal Of Accused Charged For Raping Minor

The Patna High Court today (Sept 3) upheld the acquittal of the accused who was charged with committing an offence of rape on the 14 years old female child after the prosecution case was not able to prove the accusations beyond the reasonable doubt.It was the case of the prosecution that the accused had entered into the courtyard of the victim and forcibly took her to the room. When she...

S.133 CrPC | Proceedings For Removal Of Nuisance Cannot Be Initiated Unless Public At Large Is Affected: Patna High Court

Recently, the Patna High Court set aside the conditional order issued by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) under Section 133 of Cr. P.C. to remove the obstruction/encroachment from the land in question. The Court said that since the public at large was not affected by the obstruction, no proceedings can be initiated under Section 133 Cr. P.C. for the removal of the encroachment causing...

'Dismissal From Service Not Based On Evidence': Patna High Court Reinstates Police Constable Dismissed For Celebrating Birthday With Lady Constable

The Patna High Court on Wednesday (Aug. 21) upheld the reinstatement of the Police Constable who was dismissed from the service on account of allegation of celebrating a birthday party with a Probationer Lady Constable. The Police Constable was dismissed for the alleged misconduct from the service by the enquiry officer without leading evidence. The dismissal was solely based on the...

Liquidator Never Informed Of Reassessment Proceedings, Patna High Court Quashes Order

The Patna High Court has quashed the order as the liquidator was not informed of the reassessment proceedings.The bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy has observed that the liquidator should be noticed and participate in the reassessment proceedings. The notices were all issued to the email of the assessee after the liquidator was appointed, which makes it clear...

Patna High Court Terms Excess Appointments Of Chowkidar Adjusted To Reserved Category As 'Illegal'

Recently, the Patna High Court termed the appointments of Chowkidars by the East Champaran District Administration in violation of the Rules of the Roster of Reservation, as illegal.The Court said that no appointment could be made without following the reservation roster, and making appointments over the roster would be impermissible. The case relates to the appointments of chowkidars where...

Patna High Court Acquits Ex-RJD MLA Anant Kumar Singh Booked In Arms Act Case For Alleged Possession Of Rifles, Magazines

The Patna High Court on Wednesday (August 14) acquitted the former RJD MLA Anant Kumar Singh in a high-profile Arms Act case after finding that the prosecution was not able to establish the guilt of Singh beyond reasonable doubt. Initially, Singh was booked for the offences under the Arms Act, 1959 after the Patna Police recovered an AK-47 assault rifle, and other unlicensed items from...

'No Sufficient Cause Was Shown Before Passing Detention Order': Patna High Court Orders Release Of Detenue Arrested Under PITNDPS Act

The Patna High Court on Wednesday (August 14) ordered the release of a detenue who was detained pursuant to the order passed by the Joint Secretary, Government of India, under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (“PITNDPS”). The release was ordered because the opinion of the advisory board recommending the detention of...

AO Not Empowered To Summarily Reject Section 197 Application: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that a demand pending against the assessee would not clothe the Assessing Officer with the power to summarily reject an application under Section 197 of the Income Tax Act. The bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy has observed that Section 197 only clothes the Assessing Officer with the power to satisfy himself that the total income...