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 and respondents were rival claimants to trusteeship of the Guru Tegh Bahadur Charitable Trust, which runs a school. The respondents sued for an injunction against the appellants, but during the appeal of an adverse trial court order, both sides agreed to resolve their dispute through a private arbitrator; a resulting award was accepted by both parties and turned into a consent decree by the District Court in 2023. When the appellants later tried to enforce that decree, the respondents reversed course and argued the arbitration itself had been invalid all along because trust disputes cannot legally be arbitrated under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code: an argument that succeeded before the Commercial Court and the High Court.
The Supreme Court set aside both lower court orders, holding that the respondents were estopped by their own conduct from now attacking the validity of the very award and consent decree they had earlier embraced and used to get their appeal disposed of. Relying on the doctrine of "approbation and reprobation", that a party cannot accept the benefit of an arrangement and later reject it when inconvenient, the Court found the appellants had altered their position in reliance on the settlement (including withdrawing a police complaint and paying money), so the respondents could not now be permitted to call the underlying award a nullity. The appellants were allowed to revive their execution proceedings to enforce the decree.
A party who accepts and acts upon a settlement or arbitral award, and lets the other side rely on it to their detriment, cannot later turn around and claim the same settlement was invalid once it stops being convenient; the law will hold them to their earlier conduct.
