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 moreIn 1967, Shripad Joshi executed a document in favour of Shankar Shinde (predecessor of the appellants) titled a "mortgage by conditional sale" for Rs. 2,500, handing over possession of the land, with a condition that if the money was not repaid within five years the transaction would become an absolute sale. Shripad Joshi never repaid the amount or sought to get the property back during his lifetime; after his death in 1973, his successors (the respondents) filed a suit in 1980 seeking to "redeem" the property as a mortgage, relying partly on a 1972 receipt showing a part-payment of Rs. 800. The trial court dismissed the suit, but the first Appellate Court and the Bombay High Court both held the document was a mortgage and allowed redemption, prompting this appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that whether a document is a "mortgage by conditional sale" or a "sale with a condition to repurchase" depends on the real intention of the parties as gathered from the document's own recitals and surrounding circumstances, not merely the label used. Examining Ex.P-73, the Court found no debtor-creditor relationship, no mention of interest or a right of foreclosure, and found that possession, land revenue payment, and mutation had all passed to the buyer's family since 1967 without objection, all consistent with a sale, not a mortgage. The Court also found the lower courts wrongly relied on an inadequately-proved 1972 receipt to infer a mortgage, when the document's own clear language should have controlled. Since the original owner had failed to repay within the stipulated five years, his successors' right to repurchase had lapsed, so the Court set aside the High Court's and first Appellate Court's judgments, dismissed the respondents' suit, and restored the trial court's original dismissal.
When a property document uses conditional language around repayment and repurchase, courts look past the label to the substance: the real test for a "mortgage by conditional sale" is whether a genuine debtor-creditor relationship exists, evidenced by things like interest terms and a right to foreclose; merely calling a deed a "mortgage" is not enough to let an heir reclaim property decades later if those substantive features are missing and the repurchase deadline was missed.
