A representative selection of matters argued by Dhruv Chawla before the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court.
PIL on Aadhaar being insisted upon for COVID-19 Vaccination
Public interest litigation; Supreme Court sought the Centre's reply on the plea claiming Aadhaar was being insisted on for COVID-19 vaccination.
Diamond Entertainment Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. Religare Finvest Limited
On a Section 11(6) petition under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996, the Court held that the SARFAESI Act and the Arbitration Act operate in independent and complementary fields. Action under Section 13 SARFAESI does not oust the arbitrability of contractual disputes under the underlying loan agreement.
2022 SCC OnLine Del 3357
Surjeet Kaur v. Sardar Raja Singh Oberoi
Order I Rule 10 CPC application for impleadment of the secured creditor in a partition suit dismissed. Reaffirming United Bank of India v. Satyawati Tandon, the Court held SARFAESI proceedings are independent and the secured creditor is neither a necessary nor proper party to a partition action.
2022 SCC OnLine Del 3447
Baljit Singh Bhatia v. Union of India
Writ under Article 226 dismissed: where a homebuyer issues a specific written disbursal request, he cannot subsequently allege contravention of RBI circulars on construction-linked disbursal. The doctrine of approbate and reprobate bars a stay on EMIs while simultaneously pursuing the builder before the NCLT.
2022 SCC OnLine Del 5028
Saudan Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh
Binding institutional protocol laid down on the Allahabad High Court for considering bail in long-pending criminal appeals — placement before the U.P. Prisoners Release on Probation Rules Board after 14 years' custody, and bail ordinarily at one go after 10 years. A significant ruling on the intersection of Article 21 and chronic appellate delay.
(2023) 17 SCC 446 : 2022 SCC OnLine SC 697
Utpala Mukherjee v. Aeromarine Logistics
Commercial dispute concerning liability of an international logistics provider; judgement reported in SCC OnLine.
2022 SCC OnLine Del 1718
Gaurav & Ors. v. State & Anr.
Petition under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court; favourable order secured for the petitioners.
Court has no jurisdiction to review an order passed under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act
A reported ruling clarifying that a Court exercising jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 has no power of review. The Court held that a subsequent overruling of a precedent relied upon does not, by itself, amount to an error apparent on the face of the record warranting review.
Reported on LiveLaw
Diamond Entertainment Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. Religare Finvest Limited (Review)
On a review petition considered post Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corporation, the Court held that mere reliance on the subsequently overruled HDFC Bank v. Satpal Singh Bakshi did not constitute an error apparent on the face of the record, and accordingly dismissed the review. The Court further reaffirmed the fourfold non-arbitrability test and clarified that a Court exercising jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act has no power of review — a ruling routinely cited by practitioners on the Section 11 / SARFAESI interface.
2023 SCC OnLine Del 95
Supertech Urban Home Buyers Association (SUHA) Foundation v. Union of India
Batch of 300+ writs by subvention-scheme homebuyers dismissed. The Court drew the critical distinction between 'maintainability' and 'entertainability' of a writ under Article 226, holding that no writ lies to enforce pure private contract where statutory remedies exist under RERA, the Consumer Protection Act, IBC and SARFAESI. A leading authority on the limits of writ jurisdiction in commercial homebuyer disputes.
(2023) 6 HCC (Del) 624 : 2023 SCC OnLine Del 1589
PIL on Depleting Groundwater in Punjab
PIL challenging Punjab's guidelines on groundwater extraction; High Court issued notice on the rapidly depleting water table.
PIL on Illegal Export of Life-Saving Drugs
Public interest litigation seeking action against the unauthorised export of life-saving drugs; notice issued to the Centre and regulatory agencies.
