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 moreEcstasy Realty had issued Rs. 850 crore worth of redeemable non-convertible debentures to fund a Mumbai residential-cum-retail project, with Catalyst Trusteeship acting as the debenture trustee for the holders. When Ecstasy defaulted on payments, it claimed it had an informal restructuring arrangement (an 18-month moratorium) with one debenture holder, ECL Finance, and used this to resist the trustee's insolvency application. Both the NCLT and the NCLAT accepted this defence and dismissed the trustee's Section 7 petition, prompting the trustee's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the alleged restructuring never became a binding modification of the Debenture Trust Deed (DTD) because the DTD's own procedure for varying its terms was never followed, the debenture trustee and other debenture holders were never even consulted, and there was no written waiver as required under the DTD. Citing Indus Biotech v. Kotak India Venture, the Court held a corporate debtor cannot use an informal, unconsummated negotiation to manufacture a "dispute" defeating a Section 7 application. It also set aside the NCLAT's adverse findings that the trustee had colluded with debenture holders against the company, holding the trustee was simply doing its job of protecting debenture-holder interests. Finding the concurrent findings of the NCLT and NCLAT "perverse" and unsupported by the record, the Supreme Court set them aside and restored the insolvency petition, directing it be admitted.
Informal email exchanges or one-sided assurances between a borrower and a single lender cannot override the formal contractual procedure (like a Debenture Trust Deed) required to modify a loan's terms. Courts will hold parties to the written amendment process, especially where trustees and other stakeholders were never consulted.
