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 moreUnder the U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972, a District Magistrate can allot or release a "vacant" building. The appellants argued that a District Magistrate's review power under Section 16(5)(a) could only be used to review an actual allotment/release order, not a finding on whether a vacancy existed at all. A related civil suit about a disputed sale deed over the same premises was also pending in the trial court since 1981.
The Supreme Court held that a finding of "vacancy" is a necessary pre-condition for any allotment or release order, so a wrongly-made vacancy finding must also be open to review under Section 16(5)(a): otherwise the order would become unchallengeable and defeat the purpose of the Act. Having upheld the District Magistrate's review jurisdiction, and noting the landlord had already been litigating since 1978, the Court decided it was fair to give the statutory proceedings a "quietus" (an end), while directing the pending civil suit over the sale deed to be decided on its own merits within six months, with status quo on possession maintained until then.
A regulator's power to "review" an administrative order extends to any factual finding that is a legal precondition for that order, not just the order's operative part, and courts can bring long-pending statutory proceedings to a close while leaving genuinely disputed property-title questions to be resolved in the ordinary civil suit.
