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 West Bengal Central School Service Commission advertised posts of Assistant Teacher, including for a Bengali-medium school, requiring candidates to have studied the medium language (here, Bengali) up to a certain level. The respondent, who had never studied Bengali in school or at degree level, relied on a one-year part-time Certificate Course in Bengali from Delhi University to claim eligibility, and was initially empanelled before the Commission cancelled his selection on finding he lacked the required Bengali qualification. The Calcutta High Court (Single Judge and then Division Bench) ruled in the candidate's favour, directing the Commission to appoint him, reasoning that the service rules did not expressly exclude a certificate course from counting as "higher level" study of the language.
The Supreme Court held that both the Single Judge and Division Bench had overstepped the limited scope of judicial review under Article 226 by effectively sitting in appeal over the Commission's eligibility assessment rather than checking only for perversity or patent legal error. It found the Commission's interpretation, that "higher level of education" in the language meant graduation/post-graduation level study, not a basic part-time certificate course, was a reasonable, plausible view that courts should not have disturbed. The Court noted the certificate course included a basic oral component typically tested at primary/middle-school level and was not designed for candidates who had already studied the language previously, undermining the claim that it was of a "higher" standard. It set aside the High Court's judgment and allowed the Commission's appeal, with no order as to costs.
Courts exercising writ/judicial review jurisdiction will not substitute their own view for a public authority's reasonable interpretation of its own eligibility rules; a certificate-level course is not automatically equivalent to formal schooling in a subject merely because a rule doesn't expressly say otherwise.
