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 moreA family's ancestral property was partitioned in 1987 among the common ancestor Gopalji Prasad's five sons, including Shyam Narayan Prasad (defendant No.1) and Laxmi Prasad (defendant No.2). In 1990, Shyam Narayan Prasad and Laxmi Prasad executed an unregistered deed purporting to exchange a liquor-shop property (allotted to Laxmi Prasad) for a shoe-shop property. Laxmi Prasad's sons and grandson (the plaintiffs) sued to invalidate this exchange deed, arguing the liquor-shop property was coparcenary (ancestral) property in which they too had a birthright, and that the deed, being unregistered, could not legally transfer the immovable property.
The Supreme Court held that property a coparcener receives on partition remains ancestral/coparcenary property as regards his own male descendants (sons and grandsons), who acquire a right in it by birth, so the plaintiffs did have a legitimate interest in the property. Since the exchange deed involved an immovable property (the RCC building) worth more than Rs. 100, Section 118 read with Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act required it to be registered; being unregistered, Section 49 of the Registration Act barred it from being used as evidence of the transfer. The Court also rejected the appellant's fallback argument under Section 53A of the T.P. Act (protection of a transferee in part-performance of a contract), because he had never specifically pleaded that he took possession in part-performance. The appeal was accordingly dismissed, with no order as to costs.
A family member cannot bypass other coparceners' (joint family members') birthright interest in ancestral property simply by entering an informal exchange agreement: if immovable property worth more than Rs. 100 changes hands, the deed must be registered to have any legal effect, and failing to register it (or failing to plead the right legal defence at the right stage) can doom the transaction entirely.
