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.
14543 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreIL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited), a major non-banking finance company with hundreds of group companies, was found by government investigators (SFIO, ICAI, and the Registrar of Companies) to have presented a misleadingly healthy financial picture while actually being deeply mismanaged and financially unstable. The Central Government first got the NCLT to suspend IL&FS's existing board and install a new one, and then separately asked the NCLT to re-open and re-cast the company's financial statements for the previous five years. The appellant, a suspended director of IL&FS, challenged the order allowing that re-opening of accounts, after the NCLAT had already upheld it.
The Supreme Court held that under Section 130 of the Companies Act, a tribunal can order re-opening of accounts if it finds either that past accounts were prepared fraudulently OR that the company's affairs were mismanaged in a way that casts doubt on the reliability of the financial statements: the two grounds are alternatives, not both required. Since investigative reports (SFIO, ICAI, RBI) and the earlier, unchallenged order suspending the board had already established mismanagement, that condition was satisfied even without a separate finding of fraud. The Court also rejected the argument that natural justice was violated, since the erstwhile directors' counsel had in fact appeared and opposed the application before the order was passed. Given the scale of public money involved and the larger public interest, the Court declined to interfere and dismissed the appeal.
When a law allows action on "either of two conditions," courts will enforce it as a true either/or test: a company facing fraud allegations cannot escape scrutiny merely by disputing one ground if the other (such as mismanagement) is independently established on the record.
