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 moreThe appellant, which had sold Biryani Rice under the mark "MALABAR" since 2001, sued the respondents for trademark infringement and passing off after the respondents began using a similar "MALABAR" label alongside their own "BAROMA" mark. An interim injunction originally restraining the respondents was later modified by the Single Judge (with party consent) to let the respondents use "MALABAR" in conjunction with "BAROMA" with a different get-up, and the Calcutta High Court's Division Bench upheld that modified order. The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court against this modification.
The Supreme Court held that the appellant's own trademark registration carried an explicit disclaimer denying it exclusive rights over the word "MALABAR," and other traders already held similar registrations (e.g., "MALABAR MONSOON," "MALABAR COAST") with the same kind of disclaimer. Comparing the two labels, the Court found them substantially different with no deceptive similarity, given the differing get-up and the respondents' own established business turnover. The Court therefore saw no infirmity in the High Court's order and dismissed the appeal, while expressly leaving all contentious issues open to be resolved in the still-pending underlying infringement suit.
A trademark registration that carries a disclaimer on a particular word (common for generic/geographic terms) does not give the registrant exclusive rights to that word, and courts assessing interim relief will weigh the actual visual similarity of marks as used, not just overlapping words.
