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 moreDharampal Dhall had sued his siblings (including appellant Vinod Kumar Dhall) for restoration of possession, mesne profits, and a permanent injunction over a Tagore Garden, New Delhi house, claiming he alone held the leasehold rights under a 1966 perpetual lease deed and had built the house. The trial court decreed the suit in his favour and the High Court affirmed it in first appeal and review. The defendants appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the house was actually family property funded and built by their late father, with the entire family having lived in and used it for decades, including for family weddings.
The Supreme Court held that the lower courts had acted perversely and arbitrarily in accepting the plaintiff's bare assertions, noting that the plaintiff was not even earning sufficient income in 1966 to have funded the plot or construction himself, that the family's father had in fact paid for the land and construction, and that the entire family had continuously occupied and enjoyed the house from the outset. The Court held that documents like house-tax receipts and utility bills being in the plaintiff's name proved nothing more than that he was the recorded owner on paper, since his father had arranged for the name to be changed in his favour, and that these facts showed the property was a family asset and not the plaintiff's exclusive property. Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeals and dismissed the plaintiff's suit in its entirety, with no order as to costs.
Being the person named in a lease deed, tax receipts, or utility bills does not automatically make someone the true and exclusive legal owner of a property if the surrounding facts, such as who actually paid for and built it, and who has continuously lived in and used it as a family home, show it was really acquired and treated as shared family property.
