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.
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 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.
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,…
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.
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…
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.
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…
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.
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 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.
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…
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.
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 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.
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. )…
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) — Section 12A — Withdrawal of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) — Commercial Wisdom of Committee of Creditors (CoC) — Primacy of CoC’s commercial wisdom in deciding withdrawal of CIRP is non-justiciable and not subject to appeal or review by adjudicating authorities, except on grounds of statutory illegality or jurisdictional infirmity — Supreme Court in a miscellaneous application concerning a disposed SLP from a civil revision cannot adjudicate rival offers or substitute its view for the CoC’s business decision.
2026 INSC 275 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S.LAMBA EXPORTS PVT. LTD Vs. M/S.DHIR GLOBAL INDUSTRIES PVT. LTD. AND OTHERS ( Before : Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ.…
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.
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…