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 Anti-Corruption Branch of West Bengal Police registered an FIR against a police officer, Prabir Kumar Dey Sarkar, alleging he had amassed assets disproportionate to his known income under the Prevention of Corruption Act. During investigation, the police froze fixed deposits held by the officer's elderly father, the respondent, some of which were held jointly with relatives. The father sought de-freezing of his accounts; the trial court refused, but the Calcutta High Court ordered the funds released, reasoning that once proceedings are under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the police cannot separately use their general seizure power under Section 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the Act is a "complete code" with its own attachment procedure. The State appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court analysed the distinct legal meanings of "seizure" (an immediate, non-judicial police power to secure evidence during investigation) versus "attachment"/"confiscation" (a more formal, judicially-supervised process under the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944, applied to the PC Act via Section 18A, requiring an application and affidavit before a District Judge). It held these are complementary, not mutually exclusive, powers serving different purposes, and rejected the High Court's reliance on an earlier ruling that treated the PC Act as a "complete code," finding that ruling lacked sufficient reasoning to bind as precedent. Accordingly, Section 102 CrPC could validly be used to freeze the father's bank accounts even in a PC Act case. However, since the investigation was by then complete and a chargesheet already filed, the Court did not simply restore the freeze outright. It directed that if the funds had already been released to the respondent, he must re-deposit the amount or furnish equivalent security within three weeks, while leaving the parties free to pursue further proceedings on the underlying rights over the funds.
Police retain the power to freeze suspects' (or their relatives') bank accounts under the general seizure provision of the CrPC even when a case is being investigated under a special law like the Prevention of Corruption Act: a specialised statute's own procedures do not automatically override general investigative powers unless the law says so clearly.
