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 moreFOGSI, the national body of obstetricians and gynaecologists, challenged provisions of the PCPNDT Act (a law enacted to curb female foeticide by regulating pre-natal sex-determination tests). Its core complaint was that the Act treats minor paperwork/record-keeping lapses in the mandatory Form-F (e.g., an incomplete address, missing date, or a clerical slip) on the same footing as the serious offence of actually conducting illegal sex-determination, exposing doctors to criminal prosecution and machine-sealing for innocent clerical errors. It also challenged Section 23(2), which allows suspension of a doctor's medical registration merely upon being reported for alleged violation, even before conviction, arguing this violated the presumption of innocence and Article 21.
The Supreme Court rejected the challenge and upheld the law as constitutionally valid. It held that complete and accurate record-keeping in Form-F is not a mere formality but the primary safeguard against covert sex-determination, since ultrasound and prenatal tests can easily be misused for foeticide, incomplete records are rightly treated as presumptive evidence of violation (with the burden then on the doctor to prove otherwise), not as "equal punishment for a clerical error." On the suspension-of-registration argument, the Court held that administrative suspension pending trial is a protective/regulatory step, not a criminal conviction, and does not amount to "double jeopardy" or presuming guilt. Given the serious and continuing problem of skewed child sex ratios, the Court found diluting the Act's safeguards would undermine the right to life of the girl child under Article 21, and dismissed the writ petition, holding full compliance with Form-F to be mandatory.
Courts will uphold strict record-keeping and reporting obligations in laws designed to protect vulnerable groups (here, unborn girls) even where professionals argue the rules are harsh for innocent paperwork errors: when a documentation requirement is the main practical safeguard against a serious social harm, the burden shifts to the professional to prove innocence rather than being presumed.
