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 moreDr. Lakshmi Narayan Singh, a government Medical Officer in Bihar, challenged his transfer out of a teaching post. An earlier, final 2008 judgment of the Patna High Court in his own case had already held that he was entitled to receive the salary of an Associate Professor. The State argued that even though his services had been used for teaching, that did not formally make him a "teacher in Pathology" under the official cadre allocation rules, and both a Single Judge and a Division Bench of the High Court had ruled against him on that basis.
The Supreme Court accepted the State's legal point that merely being used for teaching duties does not, by itself, confer formal cadre status as a teacher. However, it found that the earlier 2008 High Court judgment, which had become final and was never challenged, had already treated Dr. Singh as a teacher for salary purposes. On that specific factual basis, the Court set aside both the Division Bench and Single Judge rulings and allowed his appeal, while expressly stating the ruling was confined to the peculiar facts of this case and was not to be treated as a precedent for other cadre disputes.
An earlier, unchallenged court judgment that has become final can bind the same parties in later proceedings on the same facts, even where the general legal principle being argued (here, that performing a duty doesn't itself confer formal status) would otherwise favor the other side.
