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 Delhi High Court had passed an interim order restraining the Union Government from taking further action against the respondent under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015, on the view that the Act's penal provisions had been made retrospectively applicable from 01.07.2015. The Government appealed this interim restraint order to the Supreme Court, arguing the High Court had misread the statute's commencement and charging provisions.
The Supreme Court undertook a detailed analysis of Sections 1(3), 3, 59 and 72 of the Black Money Act, explaining that the advancement of the commencement date to 01.07.2015 was meant only to let assessees take advantage of a one-time voluntary disclosure window (Section 59), not to make the penal provisions (Sections 50 and 51) retrospective. Tax itself is chargeable only from assessment year 2016-17 onward, calculated on the value of assets in the preceding year. Finding the High Court's reasoning on retrospectivity incorrect, the Court quashed the interim order, while directing the High Court to decide the underlying writ petition on its own merits, uninfluenced by the Supreme Court's observations on the interim order alone.
A law's "commencement date" and the actual reach of its punishment provisions are not always the same thing: courts must read a statute's machinery provisions together before concluding that a penal provision is being applied retrospectively.
