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 appellant was accused in an FIR of impersonating an Intelligence Bureau officer and extorting money from a businessman by pressuring him into forced dealings with associates. The complainant went to the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to have the investigation transferred from the local Haryana police to the CBI, and a Single Judge allowed this. The appellant challenged that transfer before the Supreme Court, also pointing out that a near-identical, earlier FIR against him in Himachal Pradesh on similar allegations had already been quashed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court as an abuse of process. During the pendency of the case, the CBI registered an FIR despite a Supreme Court stay, leading to a separate contempt petition.
The Supreme Court held that transferring an investigation to the CBI is an extraordinary step to be used only in exceptional cases, not merely because a complainant makes vague allegations that local police are compromised or under-qualified. Here, the complainant's claims of police connivance were unsubstantiated, a Special Investigation Team of the local police was already in place, and the complainant had waited months after the FIR before seeking a CBI transfer, undermining the claimed urgency. The Court set aside the High Court's order transferring the case to CBI and restored it to local police, while separately accepting the unconditional apology of a CBI officer for filing an FIR in violation of the Court's stay order and closing the related contempt case.
Courts will not hand investigations to the CBI on vague suspicion or convenience: a complainant must show something genuinely exceptional, since routine CBI transfers undermine both due process and the CBI's limited resources for serious cases.
