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 moreRakesh Kumar Paul, former Chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission, was arrested in November 2016 over allegations of a large corruption conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC. No charge-sheet was filed against him within 60 days of his arrest. He sought "default bail," arguing that since the offence he was charged with carried a maximum (not minimum) sentence of 10 years, only the shorter 60-day investigation period applied, not the longer 90-day period available for the most serious offences.
By a 2:1 majority (Lokur and Gupta, JJ.), the Court held that the 90-day period under Section 167(2)(a)(i) CrPC applies only to offences punishable with death, life imprisonment, or a minimum sentence of not less than 10 years, not to offences where 10 years is merely the maximum. Since the offence here had no mandated 10-year minimum, only the 60-day default period applied; having crossed that without a charge-sheet, the accused's right to default bail was "indefeasible" once he applied for it, and filing the charge-sheet afterward could not defeat that right. Justice Pant dissented, favouring a literal reading extending the 90-day period to offences punishable up to 10 years.
If police fail to file a charge-sheet within the legally prescribed period (60 or 90 days depending on the offence's minimum/maximum punishment), an undertrial who applies for bail on that ground has an enforceable right to be released: a right the State cannot defeat merely by rushing to file the charge-sheet afterward.
