#Letters Patent Appeal

The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that the Senior Citizens Act, 2007 cannot be invoked to evict an estranged daughter-in-law with a right to reside in the shared household, confirming the plea was filed at the son's behest to settle matrimonial scores. The ruling safeguards a daughter-in-law's residence rights against the misuse of senior citizen maintenance law as a proxy for matrimonial disputes.

Patna HC held that the 20% and 30% extra pension increments apply only after a pensioner actually turns 80 or 85, not from the start of those years. Bihar must recalculate payouts and the benefit period is narrowed. All pensioners under the state’s old-age scheme are affected.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that substituted rules under the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act operate retrospectively, validating land resumption applications filed within the extended limitation period. Tenants are estopped from raising belated objections to procedural defects, reinforcing legal certainty for landowners and revenue authorities relying on amended procedural timelines.

Patna High Court holds that the repeal of pre-emption rights under the Bihar Land Reforms Act does not affect vested rights in already concluded proceedings, including executed sale deeds and mutations. The ruling protects pre-emptors from retrospective deprivation of rights, reinforcing the principle that statutory repeals cannot unsettle finalized transactions.

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court ruled that orders passed under Section 104 of the J&K Constitution-exercising superintendence over civil courts-cannot be challenged via Letters Patent Appeal. This holding reinforces the exclusivity of superintendence jurisdiction, barring appellate remedies against such orders and impacting land acquisition disputes and other civil court proceedings in the region.