Glass ceiling

The UP Sales Tax Act grants exemption from sales tax to “glass or glassware including optical glass in all forms but excluding ornamental or cut-glass bangles”. A company that manufactured toughened safety glass including windscreens, however, was not granted total exemption by the assessing authorities and appealed. When the matter reached the high court, it confirmed the view of the assessing officer that the terms “glass and glassware” did not include the articles produced by the company. The company then preferred an appeal before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that the view of the high court was erroneous because there was no dispute that the articles were made of glass and, according to the Act, glass “in all forms” is exempt from sales tax (Trutuf Safety Glass Industries vs Commissioner of Sales Tax).

House that

A landlord petitioned for eviction of his tenants but it was rejected as he had not specifically mentioned that he was not in occupation of his own building, the provision under which the petition was filed. The Madras High Court held that where the parties are aware of the main issue, the application could not be dismissed merely due to lack of pleading. The landlord had specifically mentioned that he was staying with his daughter and his son-in-law, a fact that was not denied by the tenants. Further, the landlord suffered from filaria and could not use the stairs in case there was a powercut. So, the court directed the tenant to vacate the premises (Ravindra Rao vs Raman).

Divorce drama

The trial court dismissed a decree of divorce filed by the husband on grounds of cruelty and desertion, holding that there was no evidence that the wife had treated the husband cruelly. The petitioner appealed to the high court. Granting the decree of divorce, the Madras High Court held that where the parties have been living separately for more than 16 years, it was evident that the marriage had broken down irretrievably. It is better to get a decree of divorce than to continue in a bad marriage, the court held (N. Subramani vs T. Shantha).

SOLON