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 moreThe appellant had been teaching Economics on an honorarium basis at a government school in Assam for about sixteen years, but was denied regular appointment as a Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) in Economics; the High Court had refused relief because he could not show that a less meritorious candidate had actually been appointed ahead of him. On an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had directed the State to verify whether a genuine vacancy existed in the subject.
The State's counsel confirmed that a vacancy did exist, because the candidates originally selected for the post had never actually joined duty. The Court reasoned that since those higher-merit candidates never took up the post, the appellant, who had meanwhile kept the subject taught for sixteen years on honorarium, should have been considered for the appointment, notwithstanding the State's objection that his continuation violated 2006 government instructions. In the interest of complete justice, the Court directed that the appellant be appointed forthwith as a regular PGT in Economics with effect from 2 April 2018, and asked the State to separately consider whether any service benefits could be granted for his sixteen years of past service, while clarifying that this order was based on the case's peculiar facts and should not be treated as a general precedent.
Courts can step in to do "complete justice" in individual service-law cases on their specific facts, such as directing regularisation of a long-serving honorarium teacher into a genuinely vacant post, without that necessarily becoming a binding precedent for other employees' claims.
