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 moreThree brothers' elderly parents in Chennai executed three registered settlement deeds transferring properties to their elder son shortly before both parents passed away in 2012. A younger son and a nephew challenged the deeds; the nephew's 2014 civil suit was ultimately dismissed in 2023, upholding the deeds. Separately, in 2020 the younger son filed a police complaint alleging fraud and forgery, leading to an FIR; the Madras High Court quashed those criminal proceedings in 2024, reasoning the dispute was really a civil family matter already resolved by the civil court.
The Supreme Court restored the criminal case for trial, holding the High Court's Section 482 power to quash an FIR must be used sparingly, at that stage a court only asks whether the FIR's allegations, taken at face value, disclose a cognizable offence, not weigh their truth. A civil court's finding upholding a document's validity does not automatically bar a related criminal prosecution, since civil and criminal liability rest on different standards of proof. Delay in filing a complaint or inaction in a related civil suit is not, by itself, grounds to quash proceedings at the threshold.
Losing a related civil case, or filing a criminal complaint years later, does not by itself shut the door on a criminal prosecution. If the FIR discloses a real offence, courts must let the trial proceed.
