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The High Court of Kerala, in Margret @Thankam v. Joseph Mathew Chettupuzha [2025: KER:56880], has clarified the conditions under which Indian courts can recognize documents notarized in a foreign country.

The Supreme Court (SC), in Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi v Vidhi Rawal [2025 INSC 734], states that High Courts can quash complaints filed under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (DV Act), in exercise of their inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), now S.528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

The construction made in contravention of the Acts / Rules would be construed as illegal and unauthorized construction, which has to be necessarily demolished and it cannot be legitimized or protected solely under the ruse of the passage of time or citing inaction of the authorities or by taking recourse to the excuse that substantial money has been spent on the said construction, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Rajendra Kumar Barjatya & Another v U P Avas Evam Vikas Parishad & Ors [2024 INSC 990].

A Power of Attorney holder can depose only about the facts within his personal knowledge, but not about those facts which he himself does not know directly, or the person whom he represents alone knows, says the Supreme court (SC) in Manisha Mahendra Gala v Shalini Bhagwan Avatramani [2024 INSC 293].

Suppression of details regarding the illness suffered by the insurance proposer/assured, the previous treatment administered to him including hospitalization, and so on, which are raised as specific queries in the proposal form of the insurance company are material facts, and in the event of any material suppression or furnishing of false information by the proposer/assured regarding the same, the Insurance Company would be entitled to repudiate the policy, says the Kerala High Court in Life Insurance Corporation v Rosamma Varkey.

The terms illegal and unlawful have slight difference in meanings, as per Oxford English dictionary. But nowadays both terms are often used interchangeably. Something that is Illegal is against the law in force such as illegal immigrants, whereas an unlawful act merely contravenes the rules that apply in a particular context such as an unlawful assembly. The term unlawful often implies an act that is done without lawful justification or authority.

The failure of the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) of a Public Authority to provide information to the applicant within the specified period of 30 days under Section 7 (1) of the Right to Information Act (RTI) shall be deemed to be a refusal of request. The Section 7(1) of the RTI provides for disposal of the request for information within 30 days of the request by either providing it or rejecting the application.

The excess payment of emoluments or allowances made to an employee based on a then-interpretation of a service rule is not recoverable when it was subsequently found to be an erroneous one, the Supreme Court (SC) says in its judgement in Thomas Daniel v State of Kerala.

The past service of government employees in statutory corporations, autonomous bodies and government companies cannot be treated as qualifying service for the purpose of Pension and Death cum Retirement Gratuity (DCRG)