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 moreA mother challenged a Delhi High Court order that had confirmed a Family Court arrangement giving custody of her 12-year-old daughter to the father. The father had earlier sought custody alleging the mother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and mistreated the child; the mother countered with allegations that the father had sexually abused the child. Three separate court-appointed counsellors interviewed the child, and each reported that the child wanted to live with her father and denied any abuse. During the case, the mother at one point took the child to Goa in violation of a court-ordered custody schedule, leading to contempt proceedings against her.
The Supreme Court personally interviewed both parents and the child before deciding. It found the child, then studying in Class VII, to be articulate and unequivocal in her wish to live with her father, and held she was capable of forming an intelligent preference about her own custody. Relying on its earlier ruling in Nil Ratan Kundu v. Abhijit Kundu, the Court held that in custody matters exercising parens patriae jurisdiction, the child's welfare, not rigid procedure, is paramount. It affirmed the existing arrangement giving custody to the father with defined visitation rights to the mother, while noting its findings were necessarily "prima facie" since custody matters always remain open to revisiting as circumstances change. The petition was disposed of on this basis.
In custody disputes, Indian courts give significant weight to the directly-expressed wishes of a child old enough to form an intelligent preference, verified through independent counsellors and even a personal interview by the judges: allegations alone, without corroboration, will not override a child's clearly and consistently expressed welfare interests.
