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 moreAn exporter of rice (the plaintiff) shipped a consignment to an importer in Bangladesh under a Letter of Credit (LC) opened by the appellant bank. The appellant bank received the shipping documents, flagged some discrepancies, but then, without informing the exporter or the negotiating bank, gave certified photocopies of the documents to the importer, who used them (allegedly with a forged clearance) to take delivery of the goods without the LC payment ever being made. The Calcutta High Court held the bank liable and decreed a money claim of USD 352,250 in the exporter's favour, which the bank appealed.
The Supreme Court held that a bank opening a Letter of Credit bears a strict, fiduciary responsibility to ensure payment is secured before any consignment is released, and here the appellant bank's own written statement filed in a related Bangladeshi ("Dhaka") suit amounted to a clear admission that it was obligated to reimburse the exporter's bank. The Court found the appellant bank's conduct, certifying photocopies to the importer without safeguards and allowing the goods to be released without payment, was a clear breach of this fiduciary duty, regardless of whether it was complicit in the forgery used by the importer. Since an interim order had already allowed the impugned judgment to operate and the LC funds had already left the bank's control, the Court held the appeal to be essentially without merit and dismissed it with costs.
A bank that opens a Letter of Credit for international trade carries a strict duty to protect the exporter's right to payment: it cannot hand over shipping documents or facilitate release of goods to the buyer without ensuring the agreed payment has been secured, and its own admissions in related litigation can be used against it.
