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 appellants were elected in May 2019 as members of the Board of Directors of Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank Limited, a multi-State co-operative bank, for a statutory five-year term. In November 2023, the RBI superseded the Board for one year citing deteriorating financial health and depositor protection, and appointed an Administrator. While the appellants' writ petition against that order was pending in the Bombay High Court, their five-year term expired (May 2024), and the RBI then extended the supersession twice more (in November 2024 and November 2025). The High Court upheld the RBI's power, and the appellants challenged this before the Supreme Court, arguing that supersession cannot outlast the Board's own term and that the Banking Regulation Act's provision conflicts with the six-month cap on such supersessions under Article 243ZL of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court held that the third proviso to Article 243ZL(1), which says the Banking Regulation Act "shall also apply" to co-operative societies carrying on banking business, is not a mere restrictive proviso but an independent, additive provision that preserves the RBI's full regulatory powers (including the five-year supersession ceiling under Section 36AAA of the BR Act) over multi-State co-operative banks, rather than confining RBI to the Constitution's general six-month limit. The Court reasoned this reading was necessary to protect depositors and maintain banking discipline, and was reinforced by the fact that the Constitution's fourth proviso expressly carves multi-State co-operative banks out of the one-year extension available to other co-operative banks, implying they were always meant to be covered by the special banking regime. On the second issue, the Court held that once RBI validly supersedes a Board during its subsisting term, the supersession's extensions are not tied to or terminated by the expiry of the original Board's tenure: the Administrator only needs to call fresh elections when the RBI-specified supersession period itself ends, subject to an overall five-year cap. The consultation requirement with a State Government was held inapplicable since it applies only to single-State (not multi-State) co-operative banks. The appeals were dismissed.
Once the RBI validly takes over a multi-State co-operative bank's management to protect depositors, that oversight is governed by the Banking Regulation Act's own five-year framework rather than the general six-month constitutional limit on co-operative board supersession, and the ousted board cannot demand reinstatement merely because its own original term has since expired.
