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.
14543 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreThe respondent-assessee, a small-scale manufacturer of CNC lathe components, had been claiming a tax deduction under Section 80-IB(3) of the Income Tax Act for 10 consecutive years as a "small scale industrial undertaking." In the relevant assessment year, however, its investment in plant and machinery had grown beyond the statutory limit for being classified as a small-scale industry. The tax department disallowed the deduction for that year on the ground that the company no longer qualified as "small scale," but the Karnataka High Court had ruled in the company's favour, holding that once initially eligible, the 10-year benefit could not be lost through outgrowing the small-scale threshold.
The Supreme Court reversed the High Court, holding that eligibility for the Section 80-IB(3) deduction must be assessed separately for each assessment year, not frozen in place from the year the company first qualified. While some conditions (like not being formed by splitting up an existing business) only need to be met at formation, the "small scale industrial undertaking" status is not a one-time, static qualification: it must continue to exist in each year the deduction is claimed. Since the company's investment in plant and machinery exceeded the prescribed limit in the relevant year, it no longer qualified as a small-scale undertaking and was not entitled to the deduction for that year, even though it had initially been eligible.
Tax incentives tied to a specific business classification (such as "small scale industry") generally must be re-earned every year by continuing to meet the qualifying conditions: a business cannot assume that early eligibility for a multi-year tax benefit locks in that benefit permanently if its own growth later takes it outside the category the incentive was designed for.
