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 respondent imported Aluminium scrap in 843 separate shipments and declared a transaction value in its Bills of Entry for customs duty purposes. The customs Assessing Officer found this value too low, rejected it, and raised the assessable value instead, a decision upheld by the Commissioner (Appeals). The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal reversed this, restoring the importer's declared value, and the Revenue (Commissioner of Central Excise) appealed that reversal to the Supreme Court.
The Court held that under Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Valuation Rules, the price actually paid for a transaction is ordinarily the deemed assessable value, and the Department can only depart from it by giving cogent reasons: such as proof of contemporaneous imports of identical/similar goods at a higher price, or that buyer and seller are related and price was not the sole consideration. Relying on its own precedents (Eicher Tractors, South India Television, and Prabhu Dayal Prem Chand), the Court found that the Assessing Officer here never carried out this exercise or produced such comparative evidence before rejecting the declared value, so the Tribunal was right to set aside the enhanced assessment and restore the importer's declared transaction value. The Revenue's appeals were accordingly dismissed.
Customs authorities cannot simply disbelieve an importer's declared invoice price and unilaterally raise it; they must first gather concrete evidence (such as comparable contemporaneous import prices) and give reasoned findings before rejecting the declared transaction value.
