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's father, Dharam Singh, sold ancestral agricultural land to Respondent No. 1 through two sale deeds in 1999 for no actual consideration, both parties later admitted before the Collector that no money changed hands, shortly before Dharam Singh married Respondent No. 1. The appellant, who became a coparcener in this ancestral property at birth, sued for a declaration that the sale deeds were void since his father had no legal necessity to sell. The trial court and first appellate court agreed, but the Punjab & Haryana High Court reversed, holding the appellant had no standing to challenge the sales.
The Supreme Court held that property inherited through at least three generations under Mitakshara Hindu law remains coparcenary property as against male descendants, even after an earlier partition, so the appellant became a coparcener in the suit land the moment he was born. Since the sale deeds were admittedly executed without any consideration and without any proof of legal necessity or benefit to the family estate, they were void from the start, meaning a subsequent 2007 sale to further buyers (which also happened while the lawsuit was pending, invoking the doctrine of lis pendens) was equally invalid. The Court restored the trial court's decree, cancelled both sets of sale deeds, and ordered the appellant's name recorded as owner.
A child born into a Hindu family can automatically acquire ownership rights in ancestral property from birth, and a parent/Karta cannot validly sell such property without genuine legal necessity or benefit to the family: a "sale" with no real payment is especially vulnerable to being struck down.
