[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

You have not mentioned about the nature of the order which is not being executed. In any case, there are provisions in the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 1972, for Appeals and Revisions (Chapter 11); you can see this chapter online here. These powers of appeal or revision lie with the Registrar, or the LG (the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi) or the Delhi Cooperative Tribunal. Depending on the nature of the order, you can approach the concerned authority, as laid down in this Chapter. Or else, if no such provision is there, you can try approaching the LG for appropriate action. Of course, you also have the remedy of approaching the High Court by way of a writ petition.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Your question is not clear and is vague. But, what appears is that you are trying to say that the Munsif Court judge (before whom proceedings are pending) is himself involved in perjury, so how to file Application under Section 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

If this is the question, then you can file an Application to the superior court under Section 340 Cr.P.C., i.e., to the Sessions Court if the Munsif Court is subordinate to that court.

This is in view of the fact that under Section 195(1)(b) read with 195(4) of Cr.P.C., a complaint in respect of a perjury offence can also be made by some other court to which that court (where the perjury is committed) is subordinate, and a court is subordinate to the court where appeals ordinarily lie from such former court. Likewise, Section 340(2) of Cr.P.C. also lays down that power under Section 340(1) can also be exercised by the Court to which such former Court is subordinate within the meaning of Section 195(4) of Cr.P.C. These legal provisions are reproduced below.

“195. Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants, for offences against public justice and for offences relating to documents given in evidence.—(1) No Court shall take cognizance—

*** ***

(b) (i) of any offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), namely, Sections 193 to 196 (both inclusive), 199, 200, 205 to 211 (both inclusive) and 228, when such offence is alleged to have been committed in, or in relation to, any proceeding in any Court, or

(ii) of any offence described in Section 463, or punishable under Section 471, Section 475 or Section 476, of the said Code, when such offence is alleged to have been committed in respect of a document produced or given in evidence in a proceeding in any Court, or

(iii) of any criminal conspiracy to commit, or attempt to commit, or the abetment of, any offence specified in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii),

except on the complaint in writing of that Court or by such officer of the Court as that Court may authorise in writing in this behalf, or of some other Court to which that Court is subordinate.

*** ***

(4) For the purposes of clause (b) of sub-section (1), a Court shall be deemed to be subordinate to the Court to which appeals ordinarily lie from the appealable decrees or sentences of such former Court, or in the case of a Civil Court from whose decrees no appeal ordinarily lies, to the principal Court having ordinary original civil jurisdiction within whose local jurisdiction such Civil Court is situate:

Provided that—

(a) where appeals lie to more than one Court, the Appellate Court of inferior jurisdiction shall be the Court to which such Court shall be deemed to be subordinate;

(b) where appeals lie to a Civil and also to a Revenue Court, such Court shall be deemed to be subordinate to the Civil or Revenue Court according to the nature of the case or proceeding in connection with which the offence is alleged to have been committed.”

Section 340: “(2) The power conferred on a Court by sub-section (1) in respect of an offence may, in any case where that Court has neither made a complaint under sub-section (1) in respect of that offence nor rejected an application for the making of such complaint, be exercised by the Court to which such former Court is subordinate within the meaning of sub-section (4) of Section 195.”

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Under the Hindu Marriage Act, divorce is not possible without orders / decree of the Court. Divorce is possible either Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act (with mutual consent) or under Section 13 (a contested divorce, where regular hearing would have taken place).

Any other form of divorce (such as through Panchayat or before Notary or by signing on a stamp papers, etc.) is invalid.

If you say that you never went to court and never signed any papers, then there is a likelihood that your husband might have taken ex parte decree of divorce, by somehow showing that the summons were served on you but you did not remain present in court, or some other method.

You should check the details from the court, and then take necessary legal action. If you were not aware of the divorce, or if it was obtained by fraud, then it may perhaps be possible to challenge it in court. But, you should first collect details about the divorce, who ordered it and when. You can try to get details from your husband too, by giving him a notice (or otherwise approaching him) of the illegality of the second marriage. In reply, he may perhaps give you a copy of the decree of divorce.

Once you get details of the divorce order, thereafter you can think of next possible action. Consult some local lawyer at your place with full details for a more accurate advice.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

The subsistence allowance is meant for the subsistence of a suspended Government servant and his family during the period he is not allowed to perform any duty and thereby earn a salary. Therefore, the subsistence allowance is required to be paid promptly and regularly. There are Government instructions in this regard. You can approach the appropriate authority / court / tribunal for action in this regard, if necessary.

In the case of Ghanshyam Das Srivastava v. State of M.P., (1973) 1 SCC 656 : AIR 1973 SC 1183, the Supreme Court had observed that where a Government servant under suspension had expressed his inability to attend the inquiry on account of financial stringency caused by the non-payment of subsistence allowance to him, the proceedings conducted against him ex parte would be in violation of the provisions of Article 311(2) of the Constitution as the person concerned did not receive a reasonable opportunity of defending himself in the disciplinary proceedings. Though this judgment of the Supreme Court was in a case where the inquiry was being conducted against him at a place which was 500 miles away from his place of posting, it may have some relevance to the question raised by you. In fact, Government of India [vide OM No. 11012/10/76-Estt.(A) dated 6th October, 1976] directed all authorities to keep this judgment in view before invoking provision relating to ex parte inquiry, and also directed prompt payment of subsistence allowance to the suspended government employees.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

As far as my understanding goes, the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015, under which commercial courts have been set up, does not change the court fee structure. This Act basically deals with the issue which courts will decide a commercial dispute. Therefore, the same court fee rules should continue to apply.

However, I may point out that Section 12 of this Act lays down how the “specified value” of the commercial dispute is to be determined. This section is reproduced in full at the end of this answer. So, the specified value of the dispute in a suit, appeal or application may have to be calculated in accordance with this section. For example, this section shows that the specified value of a movable property shall be the market value of such property as on the date of filing of the suit, appeal or application, as the case may be. Same principle applies for immovable property, under this section. For example, if the dispute relates to shares of a company, their market value may have to be considered. Therefore, even though the court fee law of a state does not provide for valuation to be on ad-valorem basis based on market value, the Commercial Courts Act provides for method of valuation laid down in Section 12 above for deciding as to whether a dispute would be of a specified value for deciding the jurisdiction of courts.

With regard to your second query, I may point out that the commercial courts are empowered to decide the commercial disputes. The expression “commercial dispute” is defined in Section 2(c) of the above Commercial Courts Act. The relevant part of this definition for the purposes of your query is a dispute arising out of “ordinary transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents, including enforcement and interpretation of such documents”. Now, the question is where the loan application has been rejected, whether it amounts to an ordinary transaction of a banker / trader, etc. My personal opinion is that it is doubtful whether such rejection of loan application would be included within the expression “commercial dispute” in view of the above clause. It may perhaps have to be examined in more detail, which is beyond the scope of this answer.

Section 12 of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015, is as under:

“12. Determination of Specified Value.— (1) The Specified Value of the subject-matter of the commercial dispute in a suit, appeal or application shall be determined in the following manner—

(a) where the relief sought in a suit or application is for recovery of money, the money sought to be recovered in the suit or application inclusive of interest, if any, computed up to the date of filing of the suit or application, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for determining such specified value;

(b) where the relief sought in a suit, appeal or application relates to movable property or to a right therein, the market value of the movable property as on the date of filing of the suit, appeal or application, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for determining such specified value;

(c) where the relief sought in a suit, appeal or application relates to immovable property or to a right therein, the market value of the immovable property, as on the date of filing of the suit, appeal or application, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for determining specified value;

(d) where the relief sought in a suit, appeal or application relates to any other intangible right, the market value of the said rights as estimated by the plaintiff shall be taken into account for determining specified value; and

(e) where the counter-claim is raised in any suit, appeal or application, the value of the subject-matter of the commercial dispute in such counter-claim as on the date of the counter-claim shall be taken into account.

(2) The aggregate value of the claim and counter-claim, if any, as set out in the statement of claim and the counter-claim, if any, in an arbitration of a commercial dispute shall be the basis for determining whether such arbitration is subject to the jurisdiction of a Commercial Division, Commercial Appellate Division or Commercial Court, as the case may be.

(3) No appeal or civil revision application under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as the case may be, shall lie from an order of a Commercial Division or Commercial Court finding that it has jurisdiction to hear a commercial dispute under this Act.”

 

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

In general, the court fee is not refunded when a suit is withdrawn, subject to the exceptions mentioned below.

In the case of Devender Pratap Singh v. s Land Mark Infracon Pvt. Ltd. [IA No.5920/06 in CS(OS) No.1356/05], decided on 12 February 2008, Delhi high court had held as under (see here):

“There is no provision in law for refund of Court fee where plaintiff seeks to withdraw the suit. It is settled law that a person who files the suit, must be careful and vigil. The suit must be filed only if there is a cause of action and a right has accrued in favour of the plaintiff. If the suit is filed without cause of action and without there being any right in the plaintiff, the suit is liable to be dismissed. The plaintiff in such a case is not entitled for refund of Court fee. The very purpose of the Court Fee Act is to see that frivolous suits are not filed in the Court and those who file claim must first ascertain their rights carefully and then only levy Court fee. If some one files claim casually without ascertaining his rights, he is bound to suffer the loss of Court fee .”

It is pertinent to point out that the Court Fees Act, 1870, lays down the circumstances under which court fee can be refunded. In general, there is no specific clause for refund of court fee on withdrawal of a suit. A relevant provision in this regard is Section 16 of the said Act, which is as under:

“16. Refund of fee.—Where the court refers the parties to the suit to any one of the mode of settlement of dispute referred to in Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 the plaintiff shall be entitled to a certificate from the court authorising him to receive back from the collector, the full amount of the fee paid in respect of such plaint.”

However, this provision is also not applicable for withdrawal of a suit in general.

I may also point out in the year 2010 (i.e., after the aforesaid Delhi High Court judgment of 2008), the said Court Fees Act, 1870, was amended by Delhi legislature, in so far as it applies to Delhi, by inserting a new Section 16-A (see here). As per this provision, on disposal of a suit at the initial stage before the hearing on the basis of the agreement between the parties, 50% of the court fee can be refunded, subject to the conditions mentioned in that provision. However, even this legal provision, which is applicable only to Delhi (and not to other areas in India), does not apply to withdrawal of suits in general.

This is the legal position of refund of court fee on withdrawal of a civil suit.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Sorry. We don’t have any information about the RBI Rules relating to reimbursement of medical expenses incurred by those getting family pension. We tried checking this information online, however this information was not easily available. You may have to contact concerned RBI office for clarification on this issue as to whether such reimbursement is available for medical expenses, and if so, then up to what limit and subject to what conditions. If needed, you can file an RTI application with the concerned RBI (Reserve Bank of India) authorities.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

As I have mentioned in a previous answer, Section 21(2) of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, lays down that every award made by a Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties to the dispute, and no appeal shall lie to any court against the award; but, while no regular appeal, suit, review, etc., can be filed against award of the Lok Adalat, it can be challenged under Article 226 / 227 of the Constitution before the high court on certain limited grounds.

However, from your question it appears that both parties want to settle the matter by way of compromise / agreement, in spite of the award of the Lok Adalat. You have used the word “cancel” for the award, which may be equivalent to the words “set aside”. While an award can be set aside only by a competent court, it may still be possible for both the parties to render the award unenforceable or redundant by agreeing not to get it executed.

Therefore, if both parties arrive at a compromise by way of an agreement and if they decide that the award of the Lok Adalat will not be executed or enforced, then they can do so and simply allow the award to become redundant by not enforcing it or not executing it.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

It is not clear from your question what is the purpose or the remedy for which the civil suit has been filed in the civil court. But, generally speaking, a civil case and a criminal case can be conducted simultaneously. A criminal case is for punishing the accused for the offence committed, whereas the civil case is for the civil remedy, such as recovery of money, etc.

Therefore, generally speaking, if there is an offence committed in the transaction mentioned by you, then FIR can be filed and investigation can be conducted even though a civil suit may be pending in the same matter, for example, for recovery of money. Both can be possible.

However, if there is a stay granted by any competent court on the FIR or on the investigation by police, then, of course, it may not be possible to continue FIR or investigation.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

It depends on the relevant rules and other details. For example, Rule 67 of the SBI Officers Service Rules states that: “Without prejudice of any other provisions contained in these rules, any one or more of the following penalties may be imposed on an officer, for an act of misconduct or for any other good and sufficient reason…”.

This rule indicates that more than one penalties may be imposed.

However, it may be pointed out that, generally, in the case of proceedings relating to recovery of pecuniary losses caused to the organization, the penalty of recovery can be imposed only when it is established that the concerned officer was responsible for a particular act or acts of negligence or breach of orders or rules and that such negligence or breach caused the loss.

It may also be pointed out that the penalty of recovery from pay or other amount due is a special type of penalty which cannot be awarded in all types of misconduct. For example, as per Rule 67 of the SBI Officers Service Rules, the penalty of recovery is laid down in the following terms: “recovery from pay or such other amount as may be due to him of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to the Bank by negligence or breach of orders”. Therefore, it can be imposed only when any pecuniary loss has been caused to the bank by negligence of breach or orders.

You may need to check the relevant rules applicable to your bank. You may also need to check whether there is a rule permitting recovery from the terminal benefits of the employee or the rule permits recovery only from the pay (which means, only during the service period).

Also note that even though it may be presumed that the rules do not permit two punishments simultaneously, the bank may still be in a position to file a suit in the civil court to recover the loss caused by the employee by his negligence or breach of orders.

Therefore, it is difficult to give an accurate reply to your answer and it would depend on the relevant rules and the actual facts of your case, and also on whether a specific charge was levelled specifying the amount of loss caused to bank by way of negligence or breach of rules and what specific details were given in the charges. It may be advisable for you to consult some local expert or lawyer, along with relevant rules and full facts.

 

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

You can definitely approach the higher authorities in the police department, such as the Superintendent of Police of the district or the Deputy Commissioner of Police or Commissioner of Police, as the case may be. In fact, you should approach them if the police at the police station level is not taking keen interest in the case.

If you suspect that you sister might have been kidnapped / abducted by someone (known or unknown) or that some other offence might have been committed, in that case, police should have registered FIR and investigated the case. In such a situation, if the FIR is not registered, then you may approach the Magistrate court under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code to direct the police to investigate the case.

If need be, you may even approach the High Court by filing a writ petition, to seek directions to police to properly conduct investigation / enquiry in the case.

You can also request for transfer of the case to the CID / Crime Branch, etc. This can be done by requesting the senior police officers, or by filing a petition in the High Court.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

As I have explained in a previous answer, generally speaking, the law does not prescribe any maximum time period for completion of investigation and filing of charge sheet. Please read that answer for more details.

The answer to your question would be the same. Even if the FIR was registered as per the order of the Supreme Court, the law remains the same with regard to completion of investigation and filing of the charge sheet.

However, at the same time, if the Supreme Court itself has directed the investigating agency to complete the investigation within any specific time period, then the investigating agency will have to comply with such direction. And, if the agency cannot complete the investigation within that specified period, if any, then it may have to seek extension of time period to complete the investigation, from the Supreme Court.

Moreover, I may also point out that even if no such time period has been specified by the Supreme Court for completion of the investigation, usually the investigating agency would be more alert and would give priority to the investigation, if the FIR was directed to be registered by the Supreme Court. If the investigating agency is taking unusually long period of time to complete investigation (depending on the nature and complexity of the case), the person concerned can approach the Supreme Court for expeditious investigation if it was an important case.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

If such fake / wrong address has been given intentionally by the accused persons and/or the surety, such false information may amount to an offence under Section 193 of the IPC or under other relevant sections of the IPC, depending on detailed facts of your case. For this purpose, you may consider initiating proceedings under Section 340 Cr.P.C., depending on detailed facts of your case.

Moreover, in such situation, you can also apply for cancellation of bail bonds of the accused persons, because a fake or false bail bond is not a proper “bail bond” in the eyes of law as required under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court may cancel the bail bonds, and may either direct them to furnish fresh bail bonds or take them into custody.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Partnership Act of 1932 deals with partnership firms. Under this Act (see Section 58), it is not mandatory to register a partnership firm. It is optional. However, registration of a firm may have some advantages, such as – it may formalise the relationship and may create more certainty for the partners and those who deal with them.

There are also certain disadvantages of non-registration of the partnership firm. For example, Section 69 of the Partnership Act, inter alia, lays down that no suit to enforce a right arising from a contract or conferred by that Act shall be instituted in any Court by or on behalf of any person suing as a partner in a firm against the firm or any person alleged to be or to have been a partner in the firm unless the firm is registered and the person suing is or has been shown in the Register of Firms as a partner in the firm. Likewise, no suits to enforce a right arising from a contract shall be instituted in any Court by or on behalf of a firm against any third party unless the firm is registered and the persons suing are or have been shown in the Register of Firms as partners in the firm.

Therefore, while it is not mandatory to register the partnership firm, it is generally desirable to register it.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

You have not mentioned to which department or service you belong, i.e., whether you are working in the central government or a state government or some PSU. This is because every organisation may have different rules relating to sealed cover. You have to examine the relevant rules / guidelines applicable to you for sealed cover procedure.

However, generally speaking, guidelines relating to sealed cover procedure are mostly similar for most governments. For example, for the IAS officers, the sealed cover procedure is laid down in No. 20011/4/92-AIS-II dated 28.03.2000 of the Government of India. Relevant portion of these guidelines relating to “Sealed Cover Procedure” is reproduced as under:

“11.1 At the time of consideration of the cases of officers for promotion, details of such officers in the zone of consideration falling under the following categories should be specifically brought to the notice of the concerned Screening Committees:-

(a) Officers under suspension;

(b) Officers in respect of whom a charge-sheet has been issued and disciplinary proceedings are pending;

(c) Officers in respect of whom prosecution for criminal charge is pending.”

The said Guidelines further state that:

“In the case of an officer recommended for promotion by the Screening Committee where any of the circumstances mentioned in para 11 above arise before actual promotion, sealed cover procedure would be followed. The subsequent Committee shall assess the suitability of such officers along with other eligible candidates and place their assessment in sealed cover. The sealed cover/covers will be opened on conclusion of the disciplinary case/criminal prosecution. In case the officer is completely exonerated, he would be promoted as per the procedure outlined in para 18 above and the question of grant of arrears would also be decided accordingly. If any penalty is imposed upon him as a result of the disciplinary proceedings or if he is found guilty in the criminal prosecution against him, the findings of the sealed cover shall not be acted upon, as outlined in para 18.2 above.”

From the above guidelines, it may appear that the competent authority may have to wait for the conclusion of the departmental inquiry as well as the completion of the criminal case, both.

You’ll have to examine the relevant guidelines applicable to you and see what exactly is the legal position with regard to sealed cover procedure in your case.

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

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