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 moreGranite Gate Properties Private Limited had taken two plots of land on long lease from NOIDA to build the "Lotus Boulevard" and "Lotus Panache" apartment projects, but the developer defaulted and was pushed into insolvency (CIRP), with homebuyers forming the Committee of Creditors. During the insolvency process, the homebuyers pooled their own money to keep construction going under a "Pool and Build" mechanism, and a Resolution Plan was eventually approved with a new Successful Resolution Applicant (SRA) taking over. NOIDA, however, sealed three towers of Lotus Panache and sought to recover "time extension charges" (penalty charges for the developer's delay, both under the original lease terms and an even steeper later policy) as costs of the insolvency process itself, which the NCLAT had partly allowed.
The Supreme Court held that NOIDA's lease with the original developer existed to serve a public welfare purpose, providing housing and industrial infrastructure, not pure profit-making, and that the penalty/time-extension charges were meant to deter and punish a defaulting developer, not innocent homebuyers or a new resolution applicant who had no role in the original default. Since the delay was solely the fault of the now-insolvent original developer, and the homebuyers and SRA had themselves funded and revived the stalled project, it would be unjust to pass on the developer's "past sins" as insolvency-resolution costs. The Court set aside the NCLAT's direction treating the time-extension charges as CIRP costs, and separately rejected NOIDA's own appeal for extending those penalty charges up to ten years under its newer, harsher policy. Granite Gate's appeal was allowed and NOIDA's appeal was dismissed.
A developer's penalty or default charges cannot be shifted onto homebuyers or an incoming resolution applicant who stepped in, through no fault of their own, to rescue a stalled housing project; authorities like NOIDA, given their public welfare role in urban development, must exercise their penalty powers fairly rather than mechanically against parties who did not cause the delay.
