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 morePunahchakran Private Limited sought to set up a Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) on two industrial plots in Uttar Pradesh totalling about 0.89 acres, slightly under the 1-acre minimum normally required by the Central Pollution Control Board's 2016 guidelines. It obtained an Environmental Clearance (EC) and Consent to Establish (CTE) in 2022, but these were struck down by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in an earlier case for not meeting land-area and land-procurement requirements, though the NGT gave Punahchakran liberty to reapply after either acquiring more land or getting a formal relaxation. Punahchakran obtained a relaxation from the CPCB and secured a fresh EC and CTE in December 2023, but a competing bio-medical waste company, Indotech Waste Solution, challenged this second EC and CTE before the NGT, which again ruled against Punahchakran and quashed both approvals, prompting this appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the CPCB's 2016 revised guidelines for bio-medical waste facilities are mandatory and binding even though never published in the Official Gazette, since publication on the CPCB's official website was a reasonably sufficient mode of notice for such technical guidelines. However, the Court found that Punahchakran's relaxation from the standard 1-acre land requirement was validly granted: its facility was in a rural area (a permitted ground for relaxation) and the CPCB had been properly consulted and had imposed additional safeguard conditions. The Court also clarified that land allotment is not a strict legal precondition for starting the environmental-clearance application process, and that the original 2021 Terms of Reference remained valid (having a four-year validity period) even though the first EC based on it was earlier quashed, so the second EC could validly rely on that same original study. Concluding that the NGT had erred in quashing the second EC and CTE, the Supreme Court set aside the NGT's judgment and restored Punahchakran's approvals.
Technical regulatory guidelines can be legally binding even without formal Gazette publication if they are made reasonably accessible (e.g., published on the regulator's website), and businesses seeking environmental approvals can validly rely on land-requirement relaxations and earlier-obtained technical studies rather than being forced to restart the entire approval process from scratch, so long as the substantive safeguards are actually met.
