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 moreThe respondent/plaintiff had executed a Sale Deed in 1972 in favour of the appellants/defendants, along with a separate Agreement executed on the same day stating that if he repaid Rs. 5,000 by a set date, the sale would be cancelled and the land returned to him. He later repaid the money (per a further 1974 agreement) and, about 17 years after the original transaction, sued for a declaration that the Sale Deed was null and void, arguing it was really only a mortgage taken as security for a loan, not a genuine sale. The Trial Court and the first appellate court agreed with him, and the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Gwalior Bench) upheld those findings in second appeal, leading to this further appeal by the purchasers to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court applied the settled test (from Bhaskar Waman Joshi vs Shrinarayan Rambilas Agarwal, AIR 1960 SC 301, and Section 58(e) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882) that whether a sale is really a "mortgage by conditional sale" turns on the parties' true intention, and that under the applicable proviso the reconveyance condition must usually be embodied in the sale deed itself for it to count as such a mortgage. Even though the condition here was in a separate agreement rather than in the sale deed itself, the Court found, based on the courts below's concurrent findings on the evidence, that the sale deed and the agreement, executed the same day, had to be read together, and that the grossly inadequate sale price (far below the land's real value) and the clear return-of-land condition showed the parties never truly intended an outright sale. Since the respondent had in fact repaid the loan amount, the Court held the Sale Deed was not binding on him and he was entitled to the declaration sought. Finding no reason to interfere with the concurrent findings of three courts below, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, leaving each side to bear its own costs.
A document labelled as a "Sale Deed" can still be legally treated as only a loan-security arrangement (not a true sale) if the surrounding documents and circumstances, such as a same-day agreement to return the property on repayment, or a sale price far below market value, show the parties never really intended to transfer ownership; courts look at substance and intention over the form of the paperwork.
