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 appellants were candidates caught up in a prolonged, litigation-stalled selection process for the post of Sub-Inspector in Bihar, which began in 2004 and had still not concluded by 2017 due to multiple rounds of court challenges, including a dispute over accommodating 67 OBC-category candidates and a status-quo order passed by the Supreme Court in 2015. Contempt petitions had also been filed alleging non-compliance with the Court's earlier interim directions.
The Court modified its earlier 2015 status-quo order to let the State appoint 186 candidates whose selection was already complete, followed by 97 more candidates selected pursuant to an April 2017 order, subject to individual eligibility. It directed the State to put the roughly 1,035 remaining recommended-but-not-yet-selected candidates (including an identified 133) through the pending selection process (starting with the physical test) within three months, to finally close out a 13-year-old recruitment drive. The Court expressly clarified it had not examined the merits of selections already made, left any individual grievance to other legal remedies, barred further impleadment/review applications on this recruitment without its express leave, and, "to give a quietus" to the dispute, disposed of the civil appeals and dismissed the contempt petitions, noting the order was passed in the peculiar facts of the case and was not to be treated as a precedent.
Courts will sometimes use their equitable powers to bring a decade-plus-old, repeatedly litigated recruitment process to a practical close by fixing firm timelines and numbers, even while leaving individual eligibility and future grievances to be worked out separately: a reminder that "complete justice" relief in a specific case is not meant to set a general precedent for other recruitment disputes.
