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 moreThe husband-appellant and wife-respondent, who had worked together at LIC since 1992, married in 2000. The wife alleged she was pressured by the husband and his family to give up her job despite knowing her financial responsibilities toward her ailing mother and dependents, and that ill-treatment forced her to leave the matrimonial home in 2001. A trial court (Additional Deputy Commissioner, Judicial, Shillong) granted the husband a divorce decree on the ground of desertion in 2010, but the Gauhati High Court (Shillong Bench) reversed this in 2011, prompting the husband's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court noted that the parties had been living separately for a very long period, there were no children from the marriage, and reconciliation was not realistically possible, so no useful purpose would be served by keeping the litigation, and the marriage, alive on paper. While reiterating that courts should be reluctant to dissolve marriages merely because one party wants out, the Court found this was an appropriate case to invoke its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice. It accordingly held that the marriage had irretrievably broken down and dissolved it, upholding the trial court's original divorce decree and setting aside the High Court's judgment that had reversed it.
Even where a party cannot strictly prove a fault ground like desertion to a High Court's satisfaction, the Supreme Court can use its special Article 142 power to grant divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage where prolonged separation and the absence of any realistic chance of reconciliation make continuing the legal tie pointless: this power, however, is exercised sparingly and only by the Supreme Court itself, not lower courts.
