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' family member died in 2012 when a car allegedly driven rashly hit his motorcycle. The family, who ran an agricultural, milk-vending, and tractor-hire business, claimed the deceased earned around Rs.40,000 per month, but the Claims Tribunal assessed his notional income at only Rs.10,000 per month, and the Karnataka High Court reduced it further to Rs.8,000 per month while also cutting the overall compensation from about Rs.25.49 lakh to about Rs.20.61 lakh.
The Supreme Court held that both the Tribunal and the High Court had underassessed the deceased's income, ignoring documented evidence: a bank loan of Rs.4.2 lakh for agriculture, sale records of banana crops worth over Rs.5 lakh in a few months, and milk-society passbook payments, while also rejecting the family's higher claim of Rs.40,000 as unproven. Balancing the evidence, the Court fixed a reasonable monthly income of Rs.15,000, recalculated compensation using the standard heads (40% future prospects addition, multiplier of 16, deduction for personal expenses, conventional heads, and loss of consortium), raised the interest rate from 6% to 7.5% per annum, and arrived at a total compensation of Rs.35,66,600.
In motor-accident death claims, courts must weigh all available documentary evidence of a deceased's actual earnings (loan records, sale receipts, passbooks) rather than defaulting to an arbitrarily low notional income; the Motor Vehicles Act is meant to be a forward-looking, welfare-oriented compensation scheme, not a narrow tort remedy.
