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 dispute traced back to 1984, when the first respondent applied for letters of administration (a court authorization to manage a deceased person's estate), which was contested and converted into a full civil suit. The trial court dismissed the suit, but the High Court reversed that decision, prompting the legal representatives of the original defendant to appeal to the Supreme Court. By the time the matter reached final hearing, both the original parties had died and were represented by their legal heirs, and the litigation over the family property had continued for roughly three decades.
Rather than deciding the underlying legal questions about the validity of the two wills involved, the Supreme Court took a practical route to end the long-running family dispute: it directed both sides to submit settlement proposals with property sketches, heard both sides along with a mutually trusted family relative, and ultimately adopted the division sketch and statement produced by the respondents as fair, just, and equitable in the circumstances. Exercising its special constitutional power under Article 142 to do "complete justice," the Court divided the properties according to that sketch even over the appellants' strong objections, declared that both earlier wills would stand superseded, and made this division itself the new source of title to the properties, directing that a copy of the decree be sent to the local Sub-Registrar for official record.
In long-running family property disputes, the Supreme Court can use its special Article 142 power to impose a practical, complete-justice property division as the final word, even overriding existing wills and one side's objections, to put an end to decades of litigation, rather than simply ruling on the strict legal merits.
