Real judgements, distilled
Court judgements broken down into the case type, how the decision played out, and the lesson worth remembering, with the full judgement available as a PDF.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1094
An older qualification must still satisfy the eligibility rules governing the appointment sought. Here, the certificate's early date did not secure reinstatement, and rejection of eligibility should not be confused with a conclusive finding that the certificate was forged.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1095
A party benefiting from a conditional stay must meet its deposit requirement or face enforcement. The additional ₹15 crore deposit secures the pending dispute; it does not settle the land's final compensation or amount to an immediate payment to the landowners.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1093
An alleged attempt to kill does not become a lesser offence simply because the victim avoided a fatal injury. Restoring this charge means the accusation must be tried; it does not establish that the accused is guilty.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1090
For the assessment in this case, assistance reducing ordinary manufacturing costs was taxable even though the government wanted to encourage industry. The purpose and actual operation of the particular subsidy mattered more than its general development label.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1091
Proof that someone caused a serious injury does not by itself prove the additional ingredients of robbery. A court can substitute a lesser offence supported by the evidence; the sentencing reduction here depended on Appa's particular circumstances.
Special Leave Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 1092
Someone challenging an election must ensure that the personal-presentation requirement is met and can be proved. Merely entering the court building does not establish compliance, and a filing defect can end the challenge before the election allegations are examined.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1088
An employee who retires on 30 June may be entitled to the increment that falls due on 1 July after completing a year of service. Authorities that delay paying the amounts due must pay interest after the deadline set by the court.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1089
Recruitment must follow the qualifications stated in the advertisement and the governing Recruitment Rules. A court will not override a merit-based eligibility decision made under those rules merely because the candidate concerned was higher in the written test.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8797
A person who occupied property only because of employment has no independent right to remain once the employment and decree end. Even when a petition fails, courts can make practical arrangements to let a person recover personal belongings.
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Log in to see moreThe appellant won the 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election from Koduvally constituency as an independent candidate. Two voters filed an election petition alleging he had made false statements about another candidate: a "corrupt practice" under election law. The appellant sought summary dismissal of the petition, arguing it was filed late (after curing procedural defects) and that the Registry had wrongly allowed those defects, including sealed-cover mobile phones and CDs submitted as evidence, to be fixed after the limitation period.
The Supreme Court examined the High Court's own case record and found the election petition had in fact been presented within the limitation period; only minor, non-material defects (like document tagging and incomplete translations) were later cured under the specific direction of the assigned Judge, not by the Registry acting on its own, which would have been improper. Relying on its own precedent distinguishing fatal defects from minor curable ones, the Court held none of the defects here were of a kind that could void the petition, and that questions about the admissibility of the phone/CD evidence were matters for trial, not threshold dismissal.
Not every procedural irregularity in filing a legal petition is fatal: courts distinguish between defects that are merely clerical or curable and those that go to the substance of a claim, and only genuinely material defects can justify throwing out a case at the outset.
