Civil law

If a property, unfit for being included, is wrongly included in the Data Bank constituted as per the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland, 2008 then the aggrieved person is at liberty to file an application for removal of the property from the data bank on the ground of wrong inclusion. This is what Kerala High Court of Kerala ( HC) says in RDO v Poothotta Resorts Pvt Ltd [ 2023(1) KLT 155].

Defamation is making or publishing any Imputation to harm the reputation of a person or body. It is a dishonest false statement to discredit or put disrepute on a person or body. In Indian law, defamation is both a civil wrong and a criminal offence. But this write up focuses on it as a civil wrong, even though its definition in Indian Penal Code (IPC) is given to clarify the concept behind it.

In urgent cases of imminent danger to property and consequent public nuisance, the District Magistrate (DM) or a Sub-Divisional Magistrate or any Executive Magistrate can exercise a ready procedure and issue a conditional order to remove public nuisance or such activities, under Section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC).

In the judgement delivered on 4th November 2022 in the EPFO v B Sunil Kumar & Connected Cases, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the Employees' Pension (Amendment) Scheme 2014. The 2014 amendment fixed the maximum salary for joining the EPF Pension Scheme to be Rs 15,000 per month with effect from 1st September 2014.

The period of limitation for filing a suit to cancel or set aside an instrument or decree or for rescission of a contract is 3 years as per Article 59 of the Limitation Act, the High Court of Kerala reasserts in its judgement in Cheriyan T Tharakan & Others v Saramma Cheriyan @Ammini & Others.

The rectification of an instrument is the process of making changes to it. The grounds on which rectification can be sought are fraud and mutual mistake of the parties. Relief of rectification can be sought for contracts or any written instrument.

The teachers of the Colleges in Kerala have no right to get additional payment for evaluating examination answer sheets of students, in addition to their salary and allowances, says the High Court of Kerala in Dr K Sankar v State of Kerala.

Two kinds of permissions are required to carry on any religious activities in a building in Kerala. One is prior permission from the Collector of that District and the other is the permission from the Secretary of the local body in that area under the state’s building rules.

Correction of any entry in the Birth Register is permissible if any factual error in any entry is revealed and brought before the Registrar based on an application by a concerned party. The Registrar has ample powers to make such correction, as per some judgements of the High Court of Kerala.

The time limit for filing of the written statement under Order VIII Rule 1 of Code of Civil Procedure is not mandatory except in commercial suits, the Supreme Court (SC) reiterates it in Bharat Kalra v Raj Kishan Chabra. The SC relied on the judgement in Kailash v Nankhu & Ors.[ (2005) 4 SCC 480]. Therefore, the delay in filing of the written statement could very well be compensated with costs but denying the benefit of filing of the written statement is unreasonable.