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 moreA charitable trust that owned a large plot of land in Malad, Mumbai, built one residential building (A-1) on part of it and sold flats to purchasers decades ago. The flat purchasers later sued the trust, seeking a formal conveyance of land in their favour, but asked for far more land (about 2700 sq. meters) than the building they actually occupied was built on. The Bombay High Court, and separately a Cooperative Societies Registrar, directed the trust to convey a larger area (2700 and 2593.70 sq. meters respectively) than the footprint of the purchasers' own building. The trust appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that flat purchasers (or their housing society) are entitled to a conveyance only of the land corresponding to the built-up area of the specific building they actually purchased flats in, here, 1009.70 sq. meters, not the larger plot area the Trust owned or any area beyond what the purchasers themselves had pleaded in their original suit. It also held that the High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction by granting the purchasers more land than the trial court's decree, since there was no cross-appeal or cross-objection by the purchasers seeking that enlargement. Both the High Court's orders and the Registrar's deemed-conveyance order were quashed, and the deemed conveyance was reduced/modified to cover only the 1009.70 sq. meters built-up area of the purchasers' building.
When seeking a "deemed conveyance" of land, flat purchasers/housing societies are legally entitled only to land proportionate to the built-up area of their own building, not the developer's entire landholding, and courts cannot award a party more relief than it originally pleaded unless the other side specifically appealed for it.
