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 moreA dispute arose over succession to the office of Sajjadah Nashin and Mutawalli (spiritual head and trustee) of a historic Dargah (Muslim shrine) in Fatehpur, Rajasthan, founded in 1838. The 4th Sajjadah Nashin had, by a registered will, nominated his grandson (through his daughter) as his successor, but the appellant, claiming to be the proper heir as a male descendant of the family line, challenged this nomination, arguing the Dargah's governing "Zabta" (constitution) required succession to go to a lineal male descendant and that a daughter's son could not qualify. Three related civil suits over the succession and injunctions were decided together by the trial court, and the appellant lost at the trial court, the first appellate court, and the Rajasthan High Court, before coming to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court examined the actual text of the Zabta (translated from Urdu) and held that it did not establish a strictly hereditary, lineal-male succession; rather, it required the outgoing Sajjadah Nashin to select a qualified, spiritually trained successor from the broader "Khandan" (family/spiritual sect), a term the Court found was not restricted to blood descendants from a single line. The Court rejected the appellant's argument that the term "Sagir Sinn" in the Zabta meant "minor son," finding (based on Persian-English dictionary meanings and the fact the argument was never raised in the lower courts) that it simply meant "minor age." Since the respondent traced his lineage from the founder's brother and had been formally nominated and confirmed by the 4th Sajjadah Nashin, the Court upheld the concurrent findings of all three lower courts that he was validly and eligibly appointed, and dismissed the appeals.
Courts interpreting the governing rules of a religious trust or endowment will look at the actual language and intent of the founding document as a whole, rather than reading narrow or literal meanings into isolated terms raised for the first time on appeal, and a nomination made by a properly empowered trustee under the trust's own rules will be upheld if it satisfies those rules, even if it departs from what one branch of the family expected.
