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.
Transfer Petition (Criminal) · 2026 INSC 1060
Where a marriage has irretrievably broken down and the parties reach a genuine, voluntary settlement, including on alimony, the Supreme Court can use its Article 142 powers to grant a mutual-consent divorce and close out all related litigation in one stroke, without requiring the usual statutory waiting period.
Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 1061
In long-running, complex litigation involving apportioned government liabilities across states, the Supreme Court can use a mechanism like a retired-judge committee plus periodic compliance affidavits to bring genuine finality, including firm timelines, transparency obligations, and interest for delayed payment, rather than leaving matters open-ended.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1062
In an "as is where is" liquidation auction, a bidder who voluntarily accepts the auction terms cannot later resile from a forfeiture clause by citing regulatory caps or after-the-fact excuses for non-payment: courts will enforce the auction notice's own conditions.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8338-DB
Once someone is released from custody because the police failed to properly communicate the grounds of arrest, the police cannot simply re-arrest them by adding new charges: a specific, court-supervised procedure with senior-officer accountability must be followed, or the re-arrest itself becomes illegal.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8308
In economic-offence cases, bail can still be granted where the method used to quantify the alleged financial evasion is not adequately justified, and where the apprehension of re-offending is speculative rather than evidence-based.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8323
A parole claim must be backed by a genuine, verifiable application to the competent jail authority: courts will scrutinise irregularities like an incomplete address, an unexplained thumb mark, or reliance on a mere friend's affidavit rather than close family.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8337
Courts can grant short, strictly time-bound interim bail purely on humanitarian/compassionate grounds (such as caring for a seriously ill family member), even while a case remains pending trial and an earlier bail plea has failed.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8312
Courts will not repeatedly re-examine a bail plea already rejected on merits unless the applicant can point to a genuine change in circumstances since the earlier order.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8334
Under the no-fault compensation scheme for railway accidents, a valid ticket-holder injured while attempting to board a train, even carelessly, is generally entitled to compensation unless the railway can show a deliberate, conscious exposure to danger, not mere negligence.
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Legal Case Shots is a searchable database of Supreme Court of India judgments, each broken down into the case type, the court's key holding, and a practical lesson learnt, with the full judgment available as a PDF for citation or deeper reading.
In 2012, the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) invited applications for Lower Division Clerk posts in the Kerala Water Authority, requiring a specific "Certificate in Data Entry and Office Automation." Over a decade of litigation followed as the KPSC repeatedly changed its position: first refusing to accept candidates with a higher qualification (a Diploma in Computer Applications) instead of the notified certificate, then later including such candidates in its selection list, prompting certificate-holders to challenge that inclusion. The dispute reached the Supreme Court after Kerala High Court rulings went against the candidates with higher/alternate qualifications.
The Supreme Court held that the recruitment rules only allowed equivalence for the issuing institution, not for the qualification itself, and that KPSC had never conducted any real assessment showing that a computer diploma or degree actually covered the same practical data-entry training as the required certificate. The Court was critical of KPSC for repeatedly reversing its own sworn positions across years of litigation without justification, noting that a public authority must be consistent and cannot blow hot and cold to the detriment of citizens who rely on its representations. It upheld the High Court's ruling excluding candidates who lacked the specific prescribed certificate, dismissing the appeals of KPSC and the candidates with alternate qualifications.
In public recruitment, having a "higher" or seemingly related qualification does not automatically substitute for a specifically prescribed certificate unless the recruiting authority can show it actually covers the same skill and training, and government bodies are expected to maintain a consistent, honest position throughout litigation rather than changing their stance to suit convenience.
