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 moreDuring a public event in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh in November 2022, a scuffle broke out when members of an organisation allegedly obstructed the vehicles of visiting officials, injuring a security officer. The appellant, a doctor, was chargesheeted along with others under several IPC provisions and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and though the trial court partly allowed his discharge application, it kept the SC/ST Act charges against him alive; the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld this in appeal. He challenged only the SC/ST Act charges before the Supreme Court, arguing there was no evidence he knew the complainant's caste or used any caste-based slur.
The Supreme Court found that neither the FIR nor any witness statement recorded during investigation specified any caste-based slur or established that the accused knew the complainant belonged to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, an essential ingredient for an SC/ST Act charge, and noted the trial court had itself acquitted other co-accused of similar charges on the very same evidence for lack of such proof. It held that the High Court, sitting as a first appellate court under Section 14-A of the Act, had failed to independently examine this gap and had merely rubber-stamped the trial court's reasoning. Since the material on record, even taken at face value, did not disclose the statutory ingredients of caste-based knowledge or intent, the Court quashed only the SC/ST Act charges against the appellant, while sending the case back to the trial court to proceed on the remaining IPC charges.
A criminal charge, especially one carrying an enhanced punishment such as under the SC/ST Act, cannot be sustained on evidence that lacks even a prima facie basis for its specific legal ingredients (here, knowledge of the victim's caste); courts at the charge-framing and first-appeal stage must independently verify this rather than mechanically affirming a lower court's order.
