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 trade union federation had challenged the Dabhol Power Project agreements between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board and Dabhol Power Corporation (promoted by Enron) before the Bombay High Court, alleging corruption and fraud; the High Court found the conduct of the authorities "questionable" but dismissed the petition for lack of supporting material. When the matter reached the Supreme Court in 1997, the Court refused leave on the question of the project's validity itself, but issued notice limited to the narrower question of the State of Maharashtra's accountability given its inconsistent stands over time. Over the following two decades a government-appointed Godbole Committee found serious governance failures, and a retired judge, Justice S.P. Kurdukar, was appointed to head a commission of inquiry that never actually functioned due to litigation and delay.
By 2019, over a quarter-century after the project agreements were first executed, the only question left for the Court to decide was whether the long-dormant judicial commission of inquiry headed by Justice Kurdukar should be revived or continued. The Court held that, given the extreme delay, the unavailability of the original foreign project promoters and most of the officials involved, and the Godbole Committee's own view (shared by a majority of its members) that a commission of inquiry would serve no useful purpose at this stage, reviving the inquiry would be futile. The Court accordingly closed the petition without directing any further inquiry, while not disturbing the earlier 1997 order that had already refused leave on the broader validity of the power project agreements themselves.
Courts can decline to revive or continue an inquiry into even serious allegations of corruption once decades have passed and so much delay has occurred that a meaningful investigation is no longer practically possible: a reminder of how damaging prolonged delay can be to accountability efforts, independent of their underlying merit.
