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 morePradip N. Sharma, a retired IAS officer who had served as District Collector, Rajkot, was booked in an FIR alleging that in 2008 he wrongly set aside a Deputy Collector's order and restored disputed government land to certain allottees who were living abroad and not cultivating it, allegedly to unduly favour them. He first sought quashing of the FIR, which the Gujarat High Court refused in 2018, and separately sought anticipatory bail, which the High Court also refused in 2019. Both refusals were challenged before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court declined to quash the FIR, holding that the allegations of misuse of office and criminal breach of trust involved serious, disputed facts, including whether the appellant had jurisdiction at the time he passed the order and whether he ignored red flags about the allottees, that required full investigation rather than being resolved at a preliminary stage. However, the Court took a different view on anticipatory bail: since the case rested mainly on documentary/official records rather than requiring custodial interrogation, and the appellant had shown willingness to cooperate, the Court granted him anticipatory bail subject to conditions, including cooperating with the investigation and allowing the investigating agency to seek custodial interrogation from a Magistrate if genuinely needed later.
Refusing to quash an FIR and granting anticipatory bail are governed by different legal standards, even in serious corruption-type allegations, anticipatory bail can be granted where the evidence is primarily documentary and custodial interrogation isn't shown to be necessary, without that meaning the underlying criminal case itself is weak or should be shut down.
