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 moreThe appellant's mother was admitted to the respondent hospital for treatment; after five days without improvement she was referred elsewhere, and she ultimately died, which the appellant attributed to negligent diagnosis and treatment by a hospital doctor. He filed a complaint before the Commission set up under the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Act, 2017, which found deficiency in service and awarded him Rs. 20 lakh compensation; a Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court upheld this. However, a Division Bench of the High Court later held that the Commission lacked jurisdiction to decide questions of medical negligence at all, reasoning that deficiency in service and negligence are too intertwined to separate and that only the State Medical Council could adjudicate such issues, setting aside the compensation award. The appellant challenged this before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the Division Bench had given "too wide a berth" to the State Medical Council, effectively leaving no room for the Commission to function at all. It clarified that the Commission's power to award compensation for deficiency in patient care under the 2017 Act is separate and distinct from the State Medical Council's power to examine professional medical negligence, and that the two do not conflict, accepting the High Court's reasoning would render the Commission's functioning impossible in most real cases, defeating the legislature's intent in creating it. Finding that the Commission's original findings were not made without due consideration of the medical aspects involved, the Court restored the Commission's 2018 judgment (as affirmed by the Single Judge) and set aside the Division Bench's ruling, directing that the Rs. 20 lakh compensation be paid within eight weeks along with 6% interest running from the date of the Commission's original award.
A specialised clinical establishment regulator's power to award compensation for deficient patient care is not automatically ousted just because the underlying facts also touch on medical negligence: such statutory bodies can and should function alongside professional medical councils, so patients and families are not left without an effective forum for redress.
