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.
14543 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreAn industrial plot in Cuttack originally allotted to one company changed hands through a series of informal transfers and name changes over the years: first to "Eastern Fans" and then, after a 1989-90 arrangement to clear outstanding loan liability, allegedly to the appellant company, Swati Ferro Alloys. When the appellant asked the land-owning corporation (IDCO) to formally transfer the lease into its name, IDCO took no action for years, and the appellant's writ petition to the High Court was dismissed because the chain of ownership involved genuinely disputed facts unsuitable for a writ proceeding.
The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court that the case was riddled with disputed questions of fact, including gaps in how the land supposedly passed between the various companies, that could not be resolved in writ jurisdiction under Article 226, and upheld the dismissal. Going further, the Court noted that it was unclear whether either the original allottee or the appellant had actually used the land for its intended industrial purpose, as opposed to simply using it as loan collateral under successive company names. It therefore directed IDCO to conduct its own inquiry, issuing notice to all interested parties, into whether the land was being improperly exploited through repeated mortgaging under different corporate identities, leaving IDCO free to pass an appropriate order after that inquiry.
A writ petition under Article 226 is the wrong tool to resolve a genuinely disputed chain of title or contractual transfer: such disputes must go to a civil court; and when public land appears to be used mainly as rotating loan security rather than for its sanctioned purpose, the allotting authority can be directed to independently investigate regardless of how the private dispute is resolved.
