Supreme Court of India Judgements

47080 Judgements hosted as on 29/03/2026 - Search (FREE), Subscribe, Read & Download

Category: Service

Service Matters
Service

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 Matters
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 Matters
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 Matters
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,…

Service Matters
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. )…

Service Matters
Service

Karnataka Recruitment of Gazetted Probationers (Appointment by Competitive Examinations) Rules, 1997 — Rule 11(1), 11(3) & Rule 4(3) — Selection process for Gazetted Probationers — Vacancy arising from non-joining candidate — Claims of next eligible candidate — Held, select list is not an open-ended reservoir of candidates but is prepared for notified vacancies & operates within statutory framework — Inclusion in select list does not confer indefeasible right to appointment — Appointment governed by Rules & notified vacancies — No provision for reserve/waiting list under 1997 Rules — Post left unfilled due to non-completion of pre-appointment formalities or non-joining cannot be filled by operating the same select list & claiming by next candidate in absence of express statutory provision — High Court erred in allowing writ petition & setting aside Tribunal’s order.

Mar 24, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 276 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH STATE OF KARNATAKA AND OTHERS Vs. SANTHOSH KUMAR C ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Civil Appeal…

Service Matters
Service

Service Law — Disciplinary proceedings post-superannuation — Where service regulations permit continuation of disciplinary proceedings initiated before superannuation, they can be concluded thereafter — Punishment of reduction in pay scale can be implemented by computing pension based on the reduced salary.

Mar 22, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 266 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VIRINDER PAL SINGH Vs. PUNJAB AND SIND BANK AND OTHERS ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Manoj Misra, JJ. )…

Service Matters
Service

Gratuity — Withholding of gratuity due to non-vacation of company-allotted accommodation — SAIL Gratuity Rules, 1978, Rule 3.2.1(c) expressly empowers management to withhold gratuity for non-compliance with company rules, including non-vacation of accommodation — No interest payable on gratuity withheld for period of unauthorized occupation — Management is entitled to adjust penal rent accrued for retention beyond permissible period from gratuity amount — Order of March 31, 2017 in Ram Naresh Singh’s case was a concession based on specific facts and not binding precedent, unlike the order of December 15, 2020 in S.L.P — (C) No — 11025 of 2020 which clarified principles of penal rent adjustment

Mar 21, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 263 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH THE MANAGEMENT OF STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. SHAMBHU PRASAD SINGH AND OTHERS ( Before : Pankaj Mithal and…

Service Matters
Service

Service Law — Disciplinary proceedings post-superannuation — Where service regulations permit continuation of disciplinary proceedings initiated before superannuation, they can be concluded thereafter — Punishment of reduction in pay scale can be implemented by computing pension based on the reduced salary.

Mar 21, 2026 sclaw

2026 INSC 266 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH VIRINDER PAL SINGH Vs. PUNJAB AND SIND BANK AND OTHERS ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Manoj Misra, JJ. )…

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Land Acquisition National Highways Authority Act

National Highways Act, 1956 — Amendments and compensation provisions — Section 3-J introduced in 1997 removed applicability of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1894 Act) provisions for solatium and interest — Overturned by various High Courts, including reading down Sections 3-G and 3-J to grant solatium and interest — Subsequently, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (2013 Act) and its amended provisions extended to NH Act — Court clarified that landowners acquired lands under NH Act between 1997 and 2015 are entitled to solatium and interest — Review Petition filed by NHAI arguing financial burden was underestimated rejected, but clarification on delayed claims issued.

Mar 29, 2026 sclaw
C P C

Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Order 21 Rule 102 — Applicability — Provision contemplates a situation where a judgment debtor transfers property after institution of suit to a person who then obstructs execution — Not applicable where respondents derived title from independent registered sale deeds, not from the judgment debtor.

Mar 29, 2026 sclaw
Land Acquisition

Land Acquisition Act, 1894 — Section 28-A — Re-determination of compensation — Second application for re-determination based on High Court award maintainable even after accepting compensation based on Reference Court award — Principle of merger means appellate court’s award supersedes earlier award, entitling landowners to benefit from higher compensation — Object of Section 28-A is to ensure equality in compensation among similarly placed landowners.

Mar 29, 2026 sclaw
Electricity Act

Electricity Act, 2003 — Section 61, 86 — Tariff determination and Generation Based Incentive (GBI) — State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) has exclusive power to determine tariff — Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) introduced GBI to incentivise renewable energy generation — GBI is intended to be over and above the tariff fixed by SERC — SERC must consider GBI while determining tariff, but not necessarily deduct it — SERC’s power to determine tariff includes considering incentives — Parliament’s allocation of funds for GBI does not prevent SERC from considering it in tariff — SERC must exercise its power harmoniously with other stakeholders to achieve policy objectives.

Mar 29, 2026 sclaw