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 moreIn 2001, three respondents were appointed on a contract basis as Additional Deputy Commissioners with powers of Additional Sessions Judge to man Fast Track Courts in Arunachal Pradesh, with their contracts later extended to 2010. When the Gauhati High Court declined to regularise them and terminated their ad hoc services in 2013, they challenged this in the High Court, which ruled in their favour and directed the State to consider absorbing them into the regular judicial service. The High Court (the appellant here) appealed to the Supreme Court against that direction.
The Supreme Court held that the respondents' initial selection was only for a limited, contract-based purpose and did not by itself confer any right to regularisation, since the proviso to Rule 7 of the Arunachal Pradesh Judicial Service Rules, 2006 did not provide for this. It noted that a Committee of three High Court Judges had already examined the respondents' service records and found them unfit for absorption into the regular cadre, and that the respondents had not challenged that assessment. The Court also observed that two of the respondents had failed the qualifying examination for the regular post and the third did not even appear, reinforcing the Committee's conclusion. It therefore allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's judgment directing regularisation, with no order as to costs.
Working for years on an ad hoc or contract basis, even in a judicial role, does not automatically create a right to permanent regularisation: eligibility rules (such as passing the prescribed written test) must still be satisfied, and a competent committee's considered assessment of unsuitability, if unchallenged, will generally be upheld.
