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, a former Minister in Jharkhand, was convicted for amassing assets worth about Rs. 57 crores against a declared pre-check asset base of roughly Rs. 10.48 lakh, allegedly by floating construction companies in his wife's name, illegally acquiring tribal lands in violation of the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, and securing government contracts through his official position. After his application to suspend his sentence and be released on bail pending appeal was rejected by the Jharkhand High Court, he approached the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court noted that the CBI's case arose from split charge-sheets stemming from the same original FIR, and that many allegations overlapped with an earlier, related disproportionate-assets case in which the appellant had already spent over four years in custody before the Supreme Court itself suspended his sentence and granted him bail. The Court observed that substantial assets (nearly Rs. 18 crores) had already been attached and the tribal land in question confiscated, and that the appellant had already undergone more than 10 months of custody in the present case. Weighing these factors (the overlap with the earlier case, the asset attachment already in place, and the custodial period served) the Court suspended the sentence and granted bail, subject to the appellant filing an undertaking to assist in restoring the tribal land to its original status.
Courts weigh the time already spent in custody, overlapping prosecutions arising from the same set of facts, and whether the state has already secured its interests (such as attaching assets) when deciding whether to grant bail pending an appeal: bail during appeal is not an assessment of guilt but a balancing of these practical factors.
