Supreme Court of India Judgements

46915 Judgements hosted as on 02/11/2025 - Search (FREE), Subscribe, Read & Download

Month: October 2025

Service Matters
Service

Service Law — Appointment — Vacancies — Advertisement — Increased or decreased vacancies — Rule permitting appointment from wait list — Interpretation of “reasonable dimension” for wait list — Appointments made in excess of advertised vacancies justified if within reasonable period and proportion to notified vacancies, provided specific conditions in rules are met.

Oct 26, 2025 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SANJAY KUMAR MISHRA AND OTHERS Vs. DISTRICT JUDGE, AMBEDKAR NAGAR (U.P.) ( Before : B. R. Gavai, CJI. and K. Vinod Chandran, JJ. )…

Intellectual Property

Patents Act, 1970 — Section 106 — Groundless threat of infringement — Independent cause of action — The suit for groundless threat of infringement under Section 106 of the Patents Act, 1970, has an independent cause of action from a suit for infringement, as a negatory provision present in the earlier 1911 Act was deleted in the 1970 Act. Prior to 1970 Act, a suit for groundless threats would not apply if an infringement action was commenced and prosecuted with due diligence. However, this proviso was removed in the 1970 Act.

Oct 26, 2025 sclaw

2025 INSC 1253 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ATOMBERG TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LTD. Vs. EUREKA FORBES LIMITED AND ANOTHER ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Atul S. Chandurkar, JJ.…

Cr P C

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Sections 451 & 457 — Release of Seized Property — Trial Court rejecting release application for iron ore on grounds of applicant’s failure to substantiate ownership — High Court setting aside trial court’s order without examining correctness of its finding on ownership — High Court should have either agreed with trial court’s finding on ownership or recorded reasons for disagreeing — Failure to do so warrants interference and remand.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RANGE FOREST OFFICER Vs. M/S RAJAMAHAL SILKS AND OTHERS ( Before : Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal Nos….. of 2025…

Evidence Act

Evidence Act, 1872 — Section 50 — Opinion as to relationship, when relevant — Opinion expressed by conduct of person with special knowledge on relationship is relevant — Essentials are court’s opinion, expression through conduct, and person having special knowledge — Conduct alone is not proof but an intermediate step to infer opinion — Opinion must be proved by direct evidence — Court needs to weigh evidence to form its own conclusion; Trial Court erred in treating opinion of witnesses as fact rather than evidence to be weighed and failed to independently assess credibility.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw

2025 INSC 1187 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DHARMRAO SHARANAPPA SHABADI AND OTHERS Vs. SYEDA ARIFA PARVEEN ( Before : Ahsanuddin Amanullah and S.V.N. Bhatti, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

Anticipatory Bail Corruption

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Bail — Anticipatory Bail — Supreme Court granted leave to appeal against High Court’s rejection of bail in anticipation of arrest — Custodial interrogation not required — Appellant may be admitted to bail in anticipation of arrest upon arrest, subject to terms and conditions fixed by the trial court — Appellant directed not to dissuade witnesses from disclosing facts to authorities.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAJESH KUMAR PRASAD Vs. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH ( Before : Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.4371 of…

Cr P C

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 366 — Death Sentence Reference — Sentencing Procedure — Conviction and death penalty were pronounced on the same day without a proper inquiry into aggravating and mitigating circumstances, psychological evaluation, or jail conduct report. This haste violated established sentencing principles and vitiated the death sentence.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw

2025 INSC 1203 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH DASHWANTH Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU ( Before : Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No(s).…

Service Matters
Service

Army Act, 1950 — Sections 63 and 69 — Possession of ammunition — Substitution of conviction — Tribunal can substitute conviction from a civil offence (Section 69) to an act prejudicial to good order and discipline (Section 63) if evidence supports the latter and the original court-martial could have lawfully found the accused guilty of the substituted offence.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw

2025 INSC 1215 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH S.K. JAIN Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER ( Before : J.B. Pardiwala and Alok Aradhe, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Accident

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 149(2) — Insurance — Liability of insurer — “Pay and recover” directions — Fake driving licence — For insurer to avoid liability, it must prove not only that the driver’s licence was fake, but also that the owner (insured) deliberately breached the policy by entrusting the vehicle to such a driver.

Oct 11, 2025 sclaw

2025 INSC 1204 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH HIND SAMACHAR LTD. (DELHI UNIT) Vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. AND OTHERS ( Before : K. Vinod Chandran and N. V.…

Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita Cr P C

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 482 (Corresponding to Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Section 528) — Inherent power of High Court — Recall or review of own judgment — Criminal courts do not have the power to recall or review their own judgments, except for correcting clerical errors under Section 362 CrPC (Section 403 BNSS) — Invoking inherent powers to bypass statutory bars is impermissible — High Court reviewing its earlier order dismissing a petition as withdrawn, under the guise of correcting a clerical error, is illegal and without jurisdiction.

Oct 11, 2025 sclaw

2025 INSC 1205 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH STATE OF RAJASTHAN Vs. PARMESHWAR RAMLAL JOSHI AND OTHERS ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

You missed

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 302, 449, 376, 394 — Appeal against High Court’s upholding of conviction and sentence — Case based on circumstantial evidence — Absence of direct evidence connecting appellant to offense — Falsely implicated — Prosecution failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt — No scientific evidence linking appellant — Important witnesses not associated in investigation or produced in court — Appeal allowed, conviction and sentence set aside.

Nov 2, 2025 sclaw
Cheque Dishonour

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — Section 138 — Dishonour of cheque — Quashing of proceedings — Cheques issued as security and not for consideration — Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) clearly stated cheques were for security purposes to show banks and not for deposit — Complainant failed to read the complete terms of MOU in isolation and misinterpreted it to claim cheques were converted into debt — Court empowered to consider unimpeachable documents at pre-trial stage to prevent injustice — Complaints under Section 138 NI Act liable to be quashed.

Nov 2, 2025 sclaw
General Insurance

Insurance Law — Fire Insurance — Accidental Fire — Cause of fire is immaterial if the insured is not the instigator and there is no fraud. The objective of fire insurance is to indemnify the insured against loss by fire.

Nov 2, 2025 sclaw
Tenders

Tender Conditions — Interpretation — Ambiguity — The terms of a tender must be clear and unambiguous — If a tendering authority intends for a specific document to be issued by a particular authority, it must be clearly stated in the tender conditions — Failure to do so may lead to rejection of the bid being deemed arbitrary and dehors the tender terms.

Nov 2, 2025 sclaw