March 2026 - Page 2 of 9 - Supreme Court of India Judgements

April 16, 2026 11:44 am

Short Service Commission Women Officers (SSCWOs) — Eligibility for Permanent Commission (PC) and pensionary benefits — Applicability of Air Force Human Resource Policy — Refusal of benefits due to not meeting minimum average Annual Confidential Report (ACR) grading of 6.5 — Court’s refusal to grant benefits where minimum criteria not met and no demonstrated mitigating circumstances exist compared to other successful applicants.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SQN. LDR. NITU THAPLIYAL AND OTHERS Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS ( Before : Surya Kant, CJI, Ujjal Bhuyan and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh,…

Service

Air Force Act, 1950 — Short Service Commission Women Officers (SSCWOs) — Permanent Commission (PC) — Denial of PC — Assessment of performance and eligibility — HRP 01/2019 — Minimum Performance Criteria — ACR gradings — Mandatory In-Service Courses (MISCs) — Categorisation — Arbitrariness — Hurried implementation — Inadequate opportunity to meet criteria — Pregnancy — Deemed qualifying service for pension — One-time measure.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 280 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH WG. CDR. SUCHETA EDN Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS ( Before : Surya Kant, CJI, Ujjal Bhuyan and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar…

Service

Army Act, 1950 — Short Service Commission Officers (SSCOs) — Permanent Commission (PC) — Annual Vacancy Cap — The Supreme Court examined the annual cap of 250 vacancies for PC, finding it not to be an immutable rule and that it had been breached historically for exigencies of service and policy changes, thus it should not act as an absolute bar to corrective relief, especially when the method of assessment was found to be unfair.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 281 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH LT. COL. POOJA PAL AND OTHERS Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS ( Before : Surya Kant, CJI, Ujjal Bhuyan and…

Service

Service Law — Indian Navy — Short Service Commission Officers (SSCOs) — Grant of Permanent Commission (PC) — Assessment of suitability for PC — Whether casual grading of ACRs and “Not Recommended for PC” endorsements prejudiced officers’ chances of PC — Held yes, as officers were considered ineligible for PC at the time of their ACRs, leading to a distorted assessment of their inter se merit for PC — This circularity transformed past ineligibility into deemed unsuitability for career progression, creating an uneven playing field.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 282 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH YOGENDRA KUMAR SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS ( Before : Surya Kant, CJI, Ujjal Bhuyan and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh,…

I P C SC/ST

CONVERSION –Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 — Section 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), 3(2)(va) — Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 341, 323, 506 read with Section 34 — Quashing of criminal proceedings — Appellant converted to Christianity and worked as a Pastor for ten years — High Court quashed proceedings, holding appellant disentitled to protection under SC/ST Act due to conversion — Supreme Court upheld High Court’s decision — Conversion to a religion other than Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist results in automatic and complete loss of Scheduled Caste status — Religious conversion bars claim to benefits under SC/ST Act, as it is predicated on Scheduled Caste membership.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 283 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH CHINTHADA ANAND Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND OTHERS ( Before : Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Customs & Excise

Central Excise Act, 1944 — Section 11A(1) proviso — Extended period of limitation — Invocation of extended period of limitation for recovery of excise duty on Naphtha — Requires proof of fraud, collusion, wilful misstatement, or suppression of facts with intent to evade duty — Revenue failed to establish any deliberate act of suppression or evasion by the appellant, a public sector undertaking — Any duty evaded would be revenue neutral due to subsidy mechanism — Extended period of limitation held not applicable.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 285 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S. RASHTRIYA CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS LIMITED Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE AND SERVICE TAX (LTU) ( Before : Manoj Misra and…

Service

Army Pension Regulations, 1961 — Condonation of shortfall in qualifying service for second pension for Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel — The Union of India’s contention that condonation for shortfall in qualifying service for a second pension is not applicable to DSC personnel is rejected— The court finds that the Pension Regulations for the Army, specifically Paragraphs 125 (1961) and 44 (2008), which allow for condonation of service deficiency, are applicable to DSC personnel by incorporation by reference, unless there is an explicit inconsistency with DSC-specific provisions— The court finds no such inconsistency— Letters issued by the Ministry of Defence attempting to exclude DSC personnel from this condonation are ineffective as they cannot override statutory regulations.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 286 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. BALAKRISHNAN MULLIKOTE (EX HAV 256812 M) ( Before : Manoj Misra and Manmohan, JJ. )…

Arbitration

Arbitration Act, 1940 — Section 2(a), Sections 30 & 33 — Arbitration agreement — Validity — Held, a clause in a contract that refers disputes to the Collector for a final decision and allows for appeals within the government hierarchy does not constitute an arbitration agreement — For a valid arbitration agreement, there must be mutual consent between parties to resolve disputes through arbitration.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 288 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S BHARAT UDYOG LTD. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS M/S JAI HIND CONTRACTORS PVT. LTD.) Vs. AMBERNATH MUNICIPAL COUNCIL THROUGH COMMISSIONER AND ANOTHER…

I P C

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 376 — Offences Against Women — Sexual Assault — Trial Court convicted accused for sexual assault based on victim’s testimony corroborated by parents, medical witnesses, and others — High Court acquitted accused, citing improbabilities like distance traveled by victim and family animosity, and contradictions in witness testimonies — Supreme Court, while acknowledging the scope of interference in acquittals, analyzed the evidence — Supreme Court held that minor inconsistencies should not lead to rejection of credible testimony and that medical evidence corroborated victim’s testimony — Therefore, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s acquittal and upheld the conviction, stating the victim’s sole testimony was sufficient to establish the offense.

Mar 26, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 290 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. HUKUM CHAND ALIAS MONU ( Before : Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, JJ. ) Criminal…

Arbitration

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 34, Section 37 — Challenge to arbitral award — Jurisdiction of arbitrator — Clause in a contract that states one party’s decision is final and cannot be challenged in any court or arbitration is void if it seeks to prevent adjudication on disputed liability, as the determination of breach and liability rests with an adjudicatory forum, not the party alleging breach.

Mar 24, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 274 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S ABS MARINE SERVICES Vs. THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ADMINISTRATION ( Before : J.B. Pardiwala and K. V. Viswanathan, JJ. )…

You missed

Corruption

Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Section 13(1)(d) — Disproportionate Assets — Chargesheet splitting — Allegations of acquiring disproportionate assets and tribal lands misuse — Two separate chargesheets filed from the same FIR, R.C — Case No 04(A)/2010-AHD-R(B) and R.C — Case No 04(A)/2010-AHD-R(C) — Overlapping allegations in both cases — Plea of double jeopardy raised — Supreme Court noted overlapping allegations and previous conviction with suspended sentence, inclined to grant bail in the present case as well.

Apr 15, 2026 sclaw

State Laws

Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1991 — Section 12 — Set-off of losses — Accumulated losses of amalgamating company cannot be set-off against income of amalgamated company as it had not suffered the losses itself.

Apr 15, 2026 sclaw

Matrimonial

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Section 13B — Divorce by Mutual Consent — Settlement agreement reached in mediation — Wife withdrew consent before Second Motion for divorce — Held, while ordinarily consent can be withdrawn, when a settlement agreement has been entered into for full and final settlement of disputes, it is not open for a party to resile from its terms without demonstrating fraud, force, or undue influence — Wife failed to prove her allegations of fraud or compulsion by Husband, and her claims about substantial jewelry not mentioned in the settlement were unsubstantiated and raised suspicion due to delayed assertion — Held, wife’s withdrawal of consent was not justified.

Apr 15, 2026 sclaw

Arbitration

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 36 — Enforcement of Consent Award — Construction of compromise deed and consent award — Promoters undertook to defend proceedings and ensure no liability recovered from Appellants by any forum — Deposit of an amount by Appellants to prevent execution of award against their properties constituted a liability that triggered Promoters’ obligation under the consent award — High Court erred in deferring enforceability of consent award until final confirmation by the highest court of appeal — Appeal allowed, impugned judgment set aside.

Apr 15, 2026 sclaw

Month: March 2026

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