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 moreAfter a Family Court in Bandra, Mumbai dissolved the marriage between the appellant and the respondent in 2013, the respondent (wife) filed an appeal against that decree before the Bombay High Court, which remained pending. While that appeal was still pending, the appellant (husband) had remarried, and the High Court, while hearing interim applications in the pending appeal, went ahead and declared this second marriage "completely illegal", even though the main appeal challenging the divorce decree itself had not yet been finally heard.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court should not have made a final, substantive declaration on the legality of the appellant's second marriage at a mere interlocutory stage, since all such contentions properly belong at the final hearing of the underlying Family Court Appeal. The Court therefore vacated the High Court's declaration that the second marriage was illegal, disposed of this specific appeal (the challenge to that interim order), and directed the High Court to decide the pending main appeal expeditiously, clarifying that none of the observations made either by the High Court or by the Supreme Court itself should influence that final decision, since they were only prima facie views appropriate to an interlocutory order. The relief actually sought in this appeal, setting aside the premature interim declaration, was thus fully and finally granted, even though the separate underlying divorce appeal remains to be decided by the High Court.
Courts should avoid making final, conclusive findings on a party's rights (such as the legality of a marriage) at a preliminary/interlocutory stage of a case: such issues must wait for the full and final hearing, where both sides can fully present their arguments.
