Know Your Rights!!

  A Chandigarh Court reminded that just signing a cheque doesn’t automatically mean someone is guilty under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act if it bounces. This interesting case involves a man named Bal Krishan, who was accused of issuing a cheque that was dishonoured due to insufficient funds. The complainant, Rajesh Chauhan, said Bal Krishan was supposed to deliver a property to him. When that didn’t happen, Bal allegedly gave him a cheque to return the money. But when Rajesh presented the cheque at the bank, it bounced. Naturally, Rajesh filed a complaint under the Negotiable Instruments Act, which deals with bounced cheques. Now, Rajesh’s argument was straightforward. He said, that since Bal had signed the cheque, the law assumes it was issued to pay back a valid debt. But Bal’s lawyer told a completely different story. According to him, there was no property deal, no money owed, and no agreement of any kind. He said the cheque in question was a blank cheque Bal ...

The case of Manoj Kumar Sharma v. Union Of India And Another, 2024 (WRIT - C No. - 8197 of 2024), Allahabad High Court highlights the legal rights of a nominee under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the claims of legal heirs under succession laws. After the petitioner’s mother passed away in 2020, the petitioner, the nominee in all her Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) in the Bank of Baroda, asked the bank to release the funds. The bank refused, citing succession issues, even though Section 45ZA of the Banking Regulation Act gives nominees the right to receive such funds after the depositor’s death. The Reserve Bank of India’s Circular No.: RBI 2004-05/490 of June 9, 2005, further directs banks to release funds to nominees without insisting on documents like succession certificates, provided all formalities are completed. Importantly, the Supreme Court, in Ram Chander Talwar v. Devender Kumar Talwar (2010) , clarified that being a nominee doesn’t make you the owner of the money....

  So, there’s this judgment from the Supreme Court in Neelam Gupta and Ors. v. Rajendra Kumar Gupta (2024, Civil Appeal Nos. 3159-3160 of 2019) that answers some important legal questions including the difference between permissive and adverse possession, as well as whether a minor can own immovable property. This case helps clear up some common misunderstandings about property law and whether minors have the legal right to be involved in property transactions As I went through the judgment, it became clear that the apex court highlighted some important parts of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, and the Indian Contract Act, 1872, which are key to understanding this issue Section 6(h) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882: This section says you cannot transfer property to someone who is legally disqualified from receiving it as a transferee. But interestingly, it does not mention that a minor is disqualified from being a transferee. This means minors can receive immovable proper...

In the case of Bima Nagar Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. v. Divisional Joint Registrar & Ors. WP 10768 of 2024 , the Bombay High Court on 23.09.2024 dismissed the society’s petition challenging the membership transfer to Pushpa Morey, a widow, following her husband's death. Initially, Pushpa was granted provisional membership but was later denied full membership by the society. Pushpa applied for full membership after her husband's passing. When the society refused, she sought help from the Deputy Registrar, who ordered that the society admit her as a full member under Section 22(2) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. The society’s appeal to the Divisional Joint Registrar was unsuccessful, prompting the writ petition in the Bombay High Court. The society argued that the "family arrangement" concept under Section 154B-13 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act applies only to a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). Pushpa, however, contended tha...

  The very recent judgements from the Karnataka and Bombay High Courts have left me thinking about the best way to handle family disputes over gift deeds. Both courts dealt with cases where parents transferred property through a gift deed to their children, hoping for care and support in return. However, the conclusions reached by the two courts were surprisingly different! The Karnataka High Court’s stand: Implied Obligations Matter Let’s start with the Karnataka High Court’s decision on July 29, 2024. In the case of Smt. Shoba v. Dr. Anil P. Kumar (Neutral Citation: 2024:KHC-K:5437) , a mother named Shobha transferred her property to her son, Dr. Anil P Kumar. She believed that he would take care of her in her old age. The gift deed didn’t specifically say he had to do so, but it was understood between them. However, things didn’t go as planned. Shobha felt that her son wasn’t keeping his promise. So, she went to court. Justice Suraj Govindaraj decided that even though the gift...

When I wrote the article about how a woman can outrage another woman's modesty (Link: Outraging Woman's Modesty - Equality in Gender  ) in December 2022, it highlighted how the law adapts to new social issues. A recent Bombay High Court judgment reinforces this by showing that outraging modesty can occur in both physical and digital spaces. In simple terms, an obscene or vulgar email can be seen as an insult to a woman’s modesty. Case Citation: Joseph Paul de Sousa v. The State & Ors. (CrWP 3480 of 2011, Bom) dated 21 st August 2024 Facts of the Case: Joseph Paul de Sousa (petitioner) and Ms Zinnia (respondent no. 2 – an 80-year-old widow), residents of a posh Mumbai cooperative society, had known each other since 1980. Tensions arose when de Sousa allegedly usurped the role of Chairman, previously held by Zinnia's elderly mother, without being elected. The dispute worsened when, on February 7, 2009, Zinnia received an email from de Sousa’s email ID which contained a...

If you're planning to sell a residential property that you've held for more than 24 months, you'll need to be aware of the recent changes introduced in the Union Budget 2024 regarding long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. Here’s what you need to know, explained in simple terms. New Tax Rules on Property Sales 1. Reduced Tax Rate: The tax rate on long-term capital gains from selling a property has been reduced from 20% to 12.5%. This sounds like good news, right? But there’s a catch. 2. No More Indexation Benefit: Previously, we could adjust the purchase cost of the property for inflation, thanks to the indexation benefit. This adjustment helped reduce our taxable gains and, in turn, the tax we had to pay. But now, this benefit has been removed. 3. An Important Option: After hearing concerns from many, the government decided to offer some relief. Now, we can choose between two tax options: 12.5% tax rate without indexation 20% tax rate with indexation This choice is availab...

In what can only be described as a case of forum shopping (trying to find the friendliest court), an apartment owner in Shiv Vihar CHS, Dombivali (East), took his complaints on a legal tour. The petitioner, Vilas Gopal Dongare member of the society was unhappy. Why? Because his water supply was cut off. The reason? He had not paid his maintenance bills, which had piled up to a whopping Rs. 7 Lakhs! Despite making several complaints about the alleged harassment by the society and even a water tank causing structural issues in his building, his cries were heard and promptly dismissed. The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission looked into his case and, on 05.02.2020, decided it was not a human rights violation. They said, “Pay your bills first.” The society initiated proceedings under Section 101 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (MCS Act) to recover arrears and got a Recovery Certificate issued in its favour. When the petitioner’s appeal against this certificate wa...

As a lawyer, I've seen many cases of cheating and deception. Recently, I've been following news about the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam paper leak and an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) probationary officer falsely presenting herself as an Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidate for her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. These events made me think about which legal provisions would apply to such cases. Are these covered under the new Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) (भारतीय न्याय संहिता), 2023, formerly the IPC (Indian Penal Code), 1860? Absolutely — they fall under the category of cheating… I explored the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and found Section 318 (formerly Section 420 of IPC). It’s like the all-new “cheating watchdog” (pardon my chartered accountant lingo...) on duty, keeping a sharp lookout for tricksters and making sure they don’t slip through the cracks! What is Cheating? Section 318 of BNS defines cheating as: Deception: Tricking or deceivin...

Hello – "Can you hear me now?" or "Sorry, I missed that, could you repeat?" Call drops and poor signal strength are frustrating. So, when mobile towers started popping up on building terraces, many of us thought, "Finally, better reception!" But, have you ever wondered if these towers are safe? Let us see what happened in the Lake View Co-Operative Housing Society vs. The Municipal Corporation Of Greater Mumbai & Ors (WP. 1382 of 2016)  case. The court tackled the heated debate by combining three other writ petitions (WP. 2152 of 2014, WP. 2800 of 2015, WP. 2060 of 2016) over mobile towers and their potential health risks. The case decided on January 23, 2019, revolved around whether these towers, known as Telecom Cell Sites/Base Stations (TCS/BS), should be allowed on building terraces given the concerns about electromagnetic fields (EMF) radiation.   Health vs. Connectivity In 2016, residents of Lake View Co-Operative Housing Society (the peti...