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 borrower account was declared a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) in 2011, and the State Bank of India later assigned the debt to an asset reconstruction company. After earlier debt-recovery proceedings failed on maintainability grounds, the assignee company filed an application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in 2017 to recover the debt, now worth about Rs. 124 crore. Both the NCLT and NCLAT held the application was within time, reasoning that limitation ran either for 12 years from when the money became due, or only from the date the IBC itself came into force in December 2016; the original debtor challenged this before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that Article 62 of the Limitation Act (a 12-year period), which applies only to civil suits, could not apply to an "application" filed under Section 7 of the IBC; instead, the residuary Article 137 (a 3-year period running from when the right to apply first accrues) governed. Since the right to apply accrued on the date of the NPA declaration in July 2011, the three-year limitation period expired long before the Section 7 application was filed in 2017, making it time-barred. The Court also rejected the argument that the IBC's commercial purpose justified a different, more lenient reading, holding that the law of limitation must be applied as written, with no "equity" about limitation periods, and set aside both the NCLT's and NCLAT's judgments.
An application to initiate insolvency proceedings under the IBC must be filed within three years of the date of default (such as an account being declared an NPA), not whenever convenient for the creditor: stale debts cannot be revived simply by invoking the IBC.
