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 moreMahabir Industries, a polythene manufacturer in Himachal Pradesh, had availed a tax deduction under Section 80-IA for two assessment years (1998-99 and 1999-2000) and then under Section 80-IB for several following years. After it carried out a "substantial expansion" of its unit in assessment year 2006-07, it claimed a fresh ten-year deduction under the newly introduced Section 80-IC, which specifically benefits units in states like Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand. The tax department denied the deduction for assessment years 2008-09 and 2009-10, arguing that the years already used up under Sections 80-IA and 80-IB should count toward the ten-year cap under Section 80-IC, and the High Court had largely agreed. The assessee appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that Section 80-IC's own sub-section (6), which requires counting prior years availed under Sections 80-IA/80-IB toward the ten-year deduction cap, is expressly limited to industrial undertakings located in the North-Eastern Region. Since Mahabir Industries' unit was in Himachal Pradesh, not the North-East, that counting restriction did not apply to it, and it was entitled to a fresh full ten-year deduction period under Section 80-IC starting from the year its substantial expansion was completed. The Court also rejected the Revenue's alternative argument (based on an old 1922 Act provision and precedent about "reconstruction of business") as inapplicable, since the actual statutory language and facts here turned on "substantial expansion," which was undisputed. Accordingly, it set aside the High Court's judgment on this point and allowed the assessee's appeals, restoring the deduction for the disputed years.
Tax deduction provisions must be read exactly as drafted: a restriction written into the law for one specific category (like undertakings in the North-Eastern Region) cannot be extended to businesses elsewhere simply because the department finds it convenient; businesses that genuinely qualify for a benefit under the plain words of the statute are entitled to it in full.
