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 moreA vessel, M.V. Meem, was the subject of multiple competing lawsuits in the Bombay and Gujarat High Courts, filed by different parties, including Joplin Overseas Investment (claiming to be the vessel's purchaser/owner) and the Bank of Sharjah (claiming to be its mortgagee), each seeking arrest, intervention, or sale of the vessel to recover money owed to them. The litigation had become tangled across two High Courts, with conflicting orders, and matters were further complicated when the vessel collided with another ship in February 2015, causing serious damage and requiring urgent action.
The Supreme Court declined to decide which party's claim to the vessel or its sale proceeds was stronger, since the underlying admiralty suits were still pending and ought to be decided by the High Court hearing them. However, it held that all the related suits needed to be heard together in one court, and since the vessel had a longer litigation history and prior arrest orders in Bombay, and the conduct of Joplin before the Bombay High Court was "less than wholesome," it transferred all the pending Gujarat High Court suits to the Bombay High Court and directed that court to dispose of them within four weeks. Given the vessel's damaged, deteriorating condition, the Court also directed that the vessel be sold immediately pursuant to the Bombay High Court's earlier sale order, with the sale proceeds to be held by that court and distributed only after all the competing claims are finally decided.
Where multiple related lawsuits about the same property are scattered across different courts, the Supreme Court can consolidate them in one court and order practical interim steps (like an urgent sale of a deteriorating asset) to prevent loss, without having to first resolve who ultimately owns the underlying claim: that determination is left to the trial court.
