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 moreJayvantiben Jitendra Trivedi, a 22-year-old homemaker who also did embroidery/tailoring work, died in a 1990 motor accident caused by a rashly driven tempo. Her family's compensation claim was partly allowed by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal and then reduced on appeal by the Gujarat High Court, which lowered the deceased's assumed monthly income from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 1,350. The family appealed to the Supreme Court seeking a higher award.
The Supreme Court held the High Court was wrong to reduce the tribunal's income assessment, and separately held that even treating the deceased purely as a homemaker (without counting her embroidery earnings), her unpaid domestic labour has real economic value that courts must recognise in money terms, citing the Court's own prior ruling in Arun Kumar Agrawal on the value of a homemaker's work. It fixed her notional income at Rs. 3,000/month, recalculated the loss of dependency, and separately added Rs. 1,00,000 each for loss of consortium and loss of love/affection to the minor children (heads the lower courts had ignored), raising total compensation from Rs. 2,09,400 to Rs. 6,47,000, reduced the interest rate to 9%, and, invoking Article 142, enhanced the award even though the claimants themselves had not filed a cross-appeal, since courts have a duty to award "just and reasonable" compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act.
A homemaker's unpaid domestic work has a real, calculable economic value that courts must factor into compensation; and in motor-accident claims, the Supreme Court can enhance an award beyond what either side specifically appealed for, if that is needed to do complete justice.
