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 woman filed an FIR alleging that a much younger man (a 23-year-old agriculture student who was her tenant-neighbour) had repeated sexual relations with her over about 13 months on a false promise of marriage, after she obtained a "Khulanama" (divorce) from her first husband. The Bombay High Court had refused to quash the FIR and chargesheet, and the accused appealed to the Supreme Court seeking quashing under Section 482 of the CrPC.
The Supreme Court quashed the FIR, chargesheet and all proceedings, and discharged the accused. It found the complainant's own conduct (a prolonged, continuing, evidently consensual relationship spanning over a year with repeated meetings) was inconsistent with her claim that consent was obtained only through a false promise of marriage; it also noted she was still legally married to her first husband when the relationship began, making any promise of marriage by the accused legally unenforceable from the outset, and found no evidence of coercion or threat. Applying the Supreme Court's own guidelines from State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal on when courts may quash criminal proceedings to prevent abuse of process, the bench held this was a case of a consensual relationship turning sour rather than a genuine false promise to marry, and reiterated its earlier warnings against treating every failed relationship as an offence under Section 376 IPC.
Not every broken relationship or failed promise of marriage amounts to the criminal offence of rape; courts will examine whether consent was genuinely obtained by deception from the outset, and can quash such prosecutions at the threshold where continuing them would amount to misuse of the criminal process.
