List of Current Affairs

Source: Karnataka High Court 

Why in News? 

Justice Anant Ramnath Hegde of the Karnataka High Court (Dharwad bench) in the case of Shri Mohammadrafi and Anr. v/s Bandenawaz and Others (2025) held that amendment of plaint under Order VI Rule 17 of CPC is permitted even after commencement of trial despite non-fulfilment of due diligence test, clarifying that the test does not have universal application. 

What was the Background of Shri Mohammadrafi and Anr. v/s Bandenawaz and Others (2025) Case? 

• The petitioners (plaintiffs) filed a suit seeking declaration that a sale deed dated 24.04.2009 executed by petitioner no. 1's father in favor of the defendants be cancelled. 
• They also sought to restrain the defendants from interfering with their possession of the property. 
• After evidence of Plaintiff's witness no. 2, the petitioners filed an application to amend the plaint approximately 10 years after the presentation of the original plaint and after commencement of trial. 
• The amendment sought to incorporate a plea that they were dispossessed from the property on 29.03.2022 during the pendency of the suit. 
• The petitioners also sought to include a prayer for possession in the amended plaint. 
• The Trial Court dismissed the amendment application on the ground that petitioners did not satisfy the due diligence test required under proviso to Order VI Rule 17 CPC. 
• The Trial Court noted that the plea was filed 10 years after institution of the suit and was therefore belated. 
• The petitioners challenged the Trial Court's order before the Karnataka High Court.

What were the Court's Observations? 

Main Holding: 

• The due diligence test under Order VI Rule 17 CPC does not have universal application to every amendment sought after trial commencement. 
• Whether to allow amendment post-trial should depend on the "nature of amendment sought" rather than rigidly applying the due diligence test. 

Key Principles: 

• Purpose of 2002 Amendment:  
  • The proviso was introduced to prevent misuse and delay tactics. 
  • However, liberal construction still applies to avoid multiplicity of litigation. 
• "At Any Stage of Proceedings":  
  • Parliament retained this phrase in 2002, indicating flexibility. 
  • If rigid tests were intended for all post-trial amendments, this phrase would likely have been removed. 
• Amendments Allowed Without Due Diligence Test:  
  • Correcting typographical errors in dates, documents. 
  • Correcting property details or boundary descriptions. 
  • Inserting post-filing events affecting the decision. 
  • Adding prayers based on subsequent events during suit pendency. 
  • Adding facts supporting already claimed relief. 
  • Seeking alternative or lesser relief. 
  • Seeking ancillary relief based on existing pleadings. 
• Application to This Case:  
  • The 10-year gap alone cannot justify dismissal. 
  • Application was within limitation under Articles 64/65 of Limitation Act. 
  • Not every amendment nullifying an admission is impermissible. 
  • Trial Court erred by focusing on the time gap rather than nature of amendment.

What is Order VI of CPC? 

• Order VI of the Code of Civil Procedure deals with pleadings in civil cases. Pleadings refer to the plaint filed by the plaintiff and the written statement filed by the defendant in response to the plaint. 
• Pleadings are written statements that each party files to inform the court and the opposite party about their case and the facts they intend to prove during trial. These documents must contain all material facts and necessary details so that each side knows what case they need to answer. 
• It is a fundamental requirement that all material facts and necessary particulars must be clearly stated in the pleadings, and courts cannot decide cases based on facts or grounds that are not mentioned in the pleadings. 

What is Rule 17 of Order VI? 

• Rule 17 of Order VI deals specifically with the amendment or alteration of pleadings after they have been filed in court. 
• This rule grants discretionary power to the court to allow either party to alter or amend their pleadings at any stage of the proceedings, provided such amendment is just and necessary for determining the real issues in dispute between the parties. 
• The court may permit amendments to pleadings in such manner and on such terms as it considers fair, ensuring that all necessary amendments are made to resolve the actual questions of controversy between the parties. 
• However, there is an important restriction that no application for amendment shall be allowed after the trial has commenced, unless the court is satisfied that despite exercising due diligence, the party could not have raised the matter before the trial began. 
• Due diligence means that the party must show they made reasonable efforts and conducted proper investigation but still could not have discovered or raised the matter earlier through no fault of their own. 
• The primary objective of Rule 17 is to reduce litigation, minimize delays in court proceedings, and prevent the need for multiple separate lawsuits by allowing parties to properly present their complete case in one proceeding. 
• This rule balances the need for finality in legal proceedings with the principle that justice should be done based on complete facts and real issues between the parties. 

Source: Supreme Court

Why in News? 

The bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe in the case of VIRAJ IMPEX PVT. LTD. v. Union of India & Anr. (2025) ruled that subordinate legislation does not become binding unless it is published in the Official Gazette, and it is the date of such Gazette publication, not the mere date of issuance of the notification, which renders it binding.

What was the Background of VIRAJ IMPEX PVT. LTD. v. Union of India & Anr. (2025) Case? 

• The appellants were steel importers who had entered into contracts with foreign suppliers between 29 January 2016 and 4 February 2016. 
• The appellants opened irrevocable Letters of Credit (LCs) on 5 February 2016. 
• On the same day (5 February 2016), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) uploaded a Minimum Import Price (MIP) notification on its website, bearing the endorsement "To be published in the Official Gazette." 
• The notification was eventually published in the Gazette of India on 11 February 2016. 
• Paragraph 2 of the notification provided exemption to imports under irrevocable LCs opened before "the date of this notification," subject to Para 1.05(b) of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). 
• Para 1.05(b) of the FTP protects contracts concluded before the imposition of any new restriction. 
• The authorities treated 5 February 2016 (the date of website upload) as the "date of notification" and denied exemption to the appellants. 
• The authorities contended that since the LCs were opened on the same day as the website upload, they did not qualify for protection under the exemption provision. 
• The Delhi High Court upheld the Respondent authority's decision to deny the appellants exemption from the Minimum Import Price (MIP). 
• Aggrieved by the Delhi High Court's decision, the steel importers moved to the Supreme Court.

What were the Court's Observations? 

• The Court observed that "Once the legislature has prescribed the specified mode of promulgation, the executive cannot introduce an alternative mode and attribute legal consequences to it." 
• The bench emphasized that "A Notification cannot operate in a fragmented manner. In law, it is born only upon publication in the Official Gazette, and it is from that date alone that rights may be curtailed or obligations imposed." 
• The Court stated that "To hold otherwise, would permit unpublished delegated legislation to burden citizens, a proposition expressly rejected by this Court in long line of decisions." 
• The Court explained that delegated legislation, unlike plenary legislation enacted by the Parliament, is framed in the executive chambers without open legislative debate. 
• The Court noted that the requirement of publication in the Gazette serves a dual constitutional purpose: (a) it ensures accessibility and notice to those governed by the law, and (b) it ensures accountability and solemnity in the exercise of delegated legislative power. 
• The bench emphasized that "The requirement of publication in the Gazette, is therefore not an empty formality. It is an act by which an executive decision is transformed into law." 
• The Court noted that it has been settled in a long line of precedents that "the true test of the effective commencement of a statutory order or subordinate legislation is whether it has been published in a manner reasonably calculated to bring it to the notice of all persons who may be affected by it." 
• The bench clarified that "The expression 'date of this Notification' must necessarily mean the date of such publication." 
• Since the appellants had invoked the letter of credit before the date of publication (11 February 2016), the Court found there was no reason for the Respondent authorities to deny them the benefit of the exemption under the FTP. 
• The Court observed that "The appellants having opened irrevocable Letters of Credit prior to 11.02.2016 and having complied with procedural requirements under para 1.05(b) of the FTP are clearly entitled to the benefit of transitional provision contained therein." 
• The Supreme Court set aside the Delhi High Court's decision and allowed the appeal, entitling the appellants to the protection under the FTP. 

What is Subordinate Legislation? 

Definition and Nature: 

• Subordinate legislation is the legislation made by an authority subordinate to the legislature, proceeding from any authority other than the sovereign power and dependent for its continued existence and validity on some superior or supreme authority. 
• Most enactments provide powers for making rules, regulations, bye-laws or other statutory instruments which are exercised by specified subordinate authorities within the framework of powers delegated by the legislature. 
• Subordinate legislation is also known as delegated legislation and includes rules, regulations, bye-laws, schemes, and other statutory instruments. 
• 'Subordinateness' in subordinate legislation refers not merely to the level of the authority making it but also to the nature of the legislation itself. 
• Delegated legislation under such delegated powers is ancillary and cannot, by its very nature, replace or modify the parent law nor can it lay down details akin to substantive law. 

Necessity for Subordinate Legislation: 

• Modern socio-economic legislations passed by the legislature lay down guiding principles and legislative policy, but legislatures, because of time limitations, hardly go into matters of detail. 
• Provision is made for delegated legislation to obtain flexibility, elasticity, expedition and opportunity for experimentation in a modern welfare state. 
• In modern times, law-making has become increasingly complicated and technical, making it impossible for legislatures to make laws providing every detail. 
• The legislature lays down the policy and purpose of legislation and leaves it to the executive, experts and technocrats to provide working details within the framework of the enactment. 
• Delegated legislation is increasingly assuming an important role in the process of law-making, comprising an important component of legislation. 
• Powers have been conferred under various provisions of the Constitution of India on different functionaries to frame rules, regulations or schemes dealing with various aspects. 

Control of Legislature on Delegated Legislation: 

• While subordinate legislation has become an important constituent element of legislation, it is equally important to reconcile this process with democratic principles and parliamentary control. 
• Legislation is an inherent and inalienable right of Parliament and it must be ensured that this power is not usurped nor transgressed under the guise of subordinate legislation. 
• The most important mechanism evolved by the legislature to exercise control over delegated legislation is the constitution of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation. 
• The Committee examines if powers conferred by the Constitution or delegated under an Act have been duly exercised and are within the conferment or delegation, and not beyond. 
• The Committee ensures that delegated legislation does not transgress into areas not prescribed for it and does not intrude into the sphere which is the sole concern of the legislature itself. 
• There are instances where pieces of subordinate legislation which tended to replace or modify provisions of the basic law or attempted to lay down new law by themselves had been struck down as ultra vires.