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 moreLand near Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh was acquired in 2014-15 for widening a national highway, under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The landowner, Vincent Daniel, was dissatisfied with the compensation fixed by the Competent Authority; an arbitral Commissioner, and later the High Court, enhanced it by applying the government's official "Collector's Guidelines" circle rates. The Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation argued that the older, judge-made "theory of deduction" (a discount applied to undeveloped land under the earlier 1894 acquisition law) should have been used to reduce this compensation.
The Supreme Court dismissed the Corporation's appeal, holding that the 2013 Act lays down its own self-contained formula for determining market value (the highest of three specific statutory criteria, one of which is the Stamp Act circle rate) and that the "theory of deduction" developed under the older 1894 law does not automatically apply to reduce compensation computed under this newer formula, unless the Collector had actually exercised the discretion the 2013 Act separately allows for adjusting an unrealistic rate. Since no such reasoned adjustment had been made here, the circle-rate-based compensation stood.
The 2013 land acquisition law follows its own distinct compensation formula, separate from decades of case law built around the older 1894 Act; government acquiring bodies cannot simply import older discounting principles to cut down compensation calculated under the newer statute's specific rules.
