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 moreAfter their 2007 marriage broke down within months, the wife sought maintenance under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act; a Magistrate initially granted her Rs. 2.5 lakh per month, which an Additional Sessions Judge later reduced to Rs. 50,000 per month. The wife, appearing in person, challenged that reduction before the Supreme Court while a parallel petition on the same order was still pending in the High Court. Both sides accused each other of hiding income and assets, and the Court even attempted (unsuccessfully) to mediate a settlement and called the parties to chambers.
The Court reviewed income affidavits filed by both parties but found the competing factual claims about undisclosed income and assets could only be properly tested through a full trial with oral evidence and cross-examination, something the summary nature of Domestic Violence Act proceedings could not provide. Rather than itself deciding the disputed enhancement, it disposed of the petition by giving the wife liberty to file a fresh maintenance application under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 or Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to be decided on full evidence, while making clear that whatever is eventually fixed cannot go below the Rs. 50,000 per month figure that had already attained finality. The husband was directed to keep paying Rs. 50,000 per month in the meantime.
When a maintenance dispute hinges on genuinely contested facts about a spouse's real income and assets, a court may decline to resolve it on affidavits alone and instead direct the parties to a full evidentiary proceeding, while still protecting the claimant by setting a floor amount that cannot be reduced below what has already been finally decided.
