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 moreIn an earlier decision, Medical Council of India vs JSS Medical College and Another [(2012) 5 SCC 628], the Supreme Court had restricted the college's intake, but JSS Medical College had continued to allow a batch of students to study MBBS without fully complying with that earlier order. By the time this matter reached the Court again, those students had already completed 4½ years of their course and were close to finishing it, with intervening students also appearing before the Court.
Balancing the interests of the affected students against the need to enforce discipline on the college, the Court allowed the students to complete their course and obtain their degree if they successfully finished it, but stressed this was on the peculiar facts of the case and not a general relaxation of its earlier ruling. To send a clear message to JSS Medical College and other medical colleges about non-compliance, the Court directed the college to deposit Rs. 5 crore with the Court's Registry within four weeks, explicitly barring it from recovering that amount from students or adjusting it against their fees. It further restricted the college's admissions for the 2016-17 academic year to 150 students instead of the sanctioned strength of 200. The appeal was disposed of with these directions.
Courts can protect students who end up caught in the middle of an institution's regulatory non-compliance, while still penalising the institution itself directly (here, through a substantial deposit and a cut to its admission capacity) so that the cost of defying court orders falls on the wrongdoer, not on the students.
