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 moreActing on a tip, police intercepted a man near a railway crossing and recovered about 2.5 kg of "Charas" (cannabis resin) from his body after he gave written consent to be searched by the police party itself. He was convicted under Section 20 of the NDPS Act and sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and a Rs. 1 lakh fine; both the trial court and the Uttarakhand High Court upheld the conviction. He appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the police never informed him of his right to be searched before a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer, as required by law.
The Supreme Court held that Section 50 of the NDPS Act imposes a mandatory duty on police to inform a suspect of his right to be searched in the presence of a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer, following the Constitution Bench rulings in State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh and Vijaysinh Chandubha Jadeja. The evidence of all five prosecution witnesses failed to show the search was conducted in the presence of any Magistrate or Gazetted Officer, nor that one was ever offered to the accused as the law requires: merely obtaining the accused's "consent" to be searched by the raiding party itself did not satisfy the statute. Since this mandatory safeguard was not followed, the recovery of contraband was held illegal, making the conviction unsustainable.
In NDPS cases, police must specifically offer a suspect the choice of being searched before a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer, skipping this step, even if the suspect "consents" to a search by the police themselves, can be fatal to the prosecution's case and lead to acquittal regardless of what is actually recovered.
