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.
14543 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreA long-running dispute over control of an educational society's General Body and Executive Committee had spawned at least seven parallel pieces of litigation across trial courts, the Registrar of Societies, and the Madras High Court over several years. In the latest round, the plaintiffs had obtained a trial-court injunction stopping a General Body/Executive Committee meeting convened in May 2018, but the Madras High Court, exercising its supervisory power under Article 227, vacated that injunction, prompting this appeal.
The Supreme Court reviewed the tangled history of litigation between the rival factions across multiple forums and concluded that the only practical way to end the cycle of disputes was to set aside both the High Court's order and the elections held pursuant to it, and instead appoint an independent Advocate Commissioner to conduct fresh, supervised elections. The Court laid out a detailed timetable and procedure for the Commissioner, inviting nominations from the society's sponsoring bodies, convening the General Body and Executive Committee elections per the bye-laws, and ensuring proper registration of the results with the Registrar of Societies, with the Commissioner acting as interim Secretary until the new results were declared.
When internal disputes within a society or association spiral into years of parallel litigation across multiple courts and authorities, courts can step in with a practical, supervised solution (like a court-appointed commissioner to run fresh elections) rather than simply ruling on the narrow legal question originally raised.
