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 moreThis judgment jointly decided a batch of connected appeals arising from motor accident death claims, where the central legal question was: when a bachelor dies in a road accident, should the "multiplier" used to calculate compensation for his dependents be based on the deceased's own age, or on the age of his surviving parents/dependents? The insurance company argued it should be based on the (often older) parents' age, which would reduce the payout, while the claimants sought the benefit of the deceased's own (younger) age.
The Supreme Court held that settled law, following a line of its own three-judge bench decisions and a Constitution Bench ruling, requires that the multiplier be based on the age of the deceased, not the dependents, regardless of whether the deceased was married or a bachelor. It rejected the insurance company's argument that the case of a bachelor's death should be treated differently, emphasising the importance of applying a uniform, settled formula to avoid repeated relitigation of the same legal question. Applying this, the Court dismissed the insurance company's appeal and, in a connected appeal, recalculated the compensation using the deceased's age (16 as the multiplier) instead of the parents' average age, increasing the amount payable to the claimants.
In motor accident compensation claims, courts calculate payouts to a dead person's family using the age of the person who died, not the age of their parents or other dependents: this rule applies uniformly whether or not the deceased was married, giving families a predictable, settled method for seeking fair compensation.
