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 appellant, an accused in a Section 138 NI Act complaint filed by a credit cooperative society, had earlier settled a first loan-related cheque case and was acquitted after repaying the amount. A second cheque, allegedly issued for a later loan, was dishonoured and became the basis of a fresh complaint. Before the complaint was filed, the appellant had twice written to the society asking for the loan documents so she could reply to the legal notice, but the society never supplied them and did not disclose these two letters when it filed its complaint or its sworn statement before the magistrate.
The Supreme Court held that a complainant who suppresses material facts and documents while setting criminal law in motion cannot be permitted to prosecute on that complaint, since courts must not be used as a tool for such abuse of process. It found that the society's complaint and statement on oath omitted the appellant's two letters demanding documents, and only in a belated additional affidavit did the society claim (unconvincingly, since the alleged acknowledgment carried no date) that documents had been supplied. Because these suppressed letters could have changed the magistrate's assessment of whether there were sufficient grounds to issue process, the High Court should have quashed the complaint instead of relegating the issue to trial.
A criminal complaint built on facts that suppress the accused's genuine, undisputed correspondence can be thrown out at the threshold; litigants and complainants alike must approach courts with clean hands and full disclosure, and non-disclosure of a demand for documents relevant to a statutory notice can itself be fatal to a Section 138 prosecution.
