(161) M/S BALAJI FORMALIN PVT. LTD. AND ANOTHER Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 18-09-2026 Maharashtra Poisons Rules, 1972 — Rules 18A, 18B & 18C (as inserted by 2011 Amendment) — Validity of rules restricting purchase of methanol and mandating addition of denaturant (bitterant and colourant) before sale to non-drug manufacturers — Arbitrariness and Disproportionality — Constitutional Validity — Rules 18A and 18B held manifestly arbitrary, disproportionate, and violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. Restricting purchase of methanol by requiring verifying licence in India Law Library Docid # 2452687
(162) S.PANCHALINGU AND OTHERS Vs. PEOPLE'S EDUCATION TRUST (R) AND OTHERS ETC[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 18-09-2026 Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC) — Section 92 — Suit against Public Charities — Power to pass interim orders pending grant of leave — A Civil Court seized of a plaint under Section 92 together with an application seeking leave to institute the suit is not empowered to pass protective or preservatory interim orders pending disposal of the leave application — Obtaining leave of the Court is a mandatory pre-condition to the institution of a suit against public charities — Consideration of leave is India Law Library Docid # 2452688
(163) KARTIKA @ KIRTAN @ KIRTAN CHARAN JENA AND ANOTHER Vs. THE STATE OF ODISHA[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 18-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Sections 148, 506, 302 read with Section 149 — Murder, Rioting, and Criminal Intimidation — Eyewitness evidence — Identification in dark night — Torch light carried by assailants — Inconsistency and unreliability of evidence — High Court discarded ocular evidence on ground that witnesses could not have identified assailants or witnessed assault in pitch-dark night merely by sound of assault — Held, where torch light is carried by assailants themselves and pointed at vict India Law Library Docid # 2452689
(164) NATIONAL SEEDS CORPORATION LTD Vs. NATIONAL AGRO SEED CORPORATION (INDIA)[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 18-09-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 36 — Enforcement of Arbitral Award — Interest on decretal deposit — Interplay between conditional deposit and cessation of interest — High Court held appellant liable to pay 12% per annum interest on awarded sum from date of Arbitral Award till date deposited amount was unconditionally released — Award-debtor deposited sum in two tranches to obtain stay of award, but actively resisted its release/withdrawal by award-holder at every stage — Real ef India Law Library Docid # 2452690
(165) ORIENT CRAFTS LIMITED Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX, NEW DELHI[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 18-09-2026 Income Tax Act, 1961 — Section 263 — Revisional Jurisdiction of Commissioner — Conditions Precedent — To exercise revisional jurisdiction under Section 263, the twin conditions that the Assessment Order is "erroneous" and "prejudicial to the interests of the Revenue" must co-exist — An Assessment Order becomes erroneous if passed without application of mind, on misapplication of law, or on an incorrect assumption of facts — Where the Assessing Officer completes the assessment without conducting India Law Library Docid # 2452691
(166) GOPAL PATHAK Vs. NITIN ALIAS PAPPU AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 18-09-2026 Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — Sections 39 and 72 — Disputed document — Handwriting expert opinion versus Court comparison — Scope and discretion of Court — High Court held sending disputed Will to handwriting expert was essential — Held, finding is untenable in law — Law confers discretion upon Court to either compare signatures on its own under Section 72 or seek expert opinion under Section 39 — Expert evidence is merely an advisory opinion and not binding — Court cannot evade duty to co India Law Library Docid # 2455815
(167) THE STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. VARINDER VERMA@JATTI AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-09-2026 Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) — Section 302/34 — Circumstantial Evidence — Standard of proof required to sustain conviction — In a case resting on circumstantial evidence, all incriminating circumstances must be proved beyond reasonable doubt and must be consistent only with the guilt of the accused — The chain of circumstances must be so complete as to exclude every hypothesis consistent with innocence and demonstrate that, in all human probability, the act was committed India Law Library Docid # 2452977
(168) ARTH MICRO FINANCE PRIVATE LTD. AND OTHERS Vs. SHIVALIK SMALL FINANCE BANK LTD[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-09-2026 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — Section 11 & Section 12 — Unilateral/Biased appointment of Arbitral Tribunal — Objections to appointment — Notice issued appointing Arbitral Tribunal allegedly on consent, but no proof of appellants' consent produced — Appellants raised specific objections pointing out close links and potential bias of Arbitral Tribunal — Undeterred by objections, Arbitral Tribunal passed severe interim orders against India Law Library Docid # 2452686
(169) DEEPAK IN JC Vs. STATE GOVT. OF NCT DELHI[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-09-2026 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 — Sections 6 & 29 — Evidence — Ocular and medical evidence — Discrepancies and unreliability — Accused convicted by Trial Court and High Court under Section 6, POCSO Act and Section 363, IPC — Version of mother (PW-5) was crippled with material contradictions, embellishments, and uncorroborated by independent medical evidence — Private doctor (PW-1) and mother gave conflicting timelines regarding examination — Physical examination and FSL rep India Law Library Docid # 2452619
(170) THE BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED AND ANOTHER Vs. G.N. MANI RAVINDER AND OTHERS ETC.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 17-09-2026 Service Law — Promotion — Officiating vs. Provisional Promotion — Applicability of Pre-existing Rules — Private respondents working as Assistant Director (Official Language) / 'Rajbhasha Adhikari' purely on a local officiating basis sought promotion under older administrative instructions and non-operational 2002 Rules without clearing the written test under 2005 Rules — Distinguishing Mishri Lal and Medini C. — Persons working on a purely India Law Library Docid # 2452620
(171) SUNITA LAHU PANCHPANDE Vs. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Service Law — Appointment — Eligibility Criteria — Anganwadi Supervisor — Recruitment advertisement explicitly required ten years of experience as Anganwadi Sevika in Nashik District, pursuant to Government Resolution dated 17.11.2001 — Appellant possessed the required experience but in Jalgaon District — Divisional Commissioner clarified that experience in the same district was not mandatory — Held, Divisional Commissioner India Law Library Docid # 2452514
(172) ABDUL RAJIK Vs. STATE OF M.P.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 — Sections 42 and 50 — Applicability — Search and seizure in open public place — Accused persons apprehended at a public road carrying bags containing suspected contraband (charas) — Held, since the recovery was effected from bags carried by the accused who were intercepted in an open public place, neither Section 42 nor Section 50 of the NDPS Act applies India Law Library Docid # 2452515
(173) ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX AND ANOTHER Vs. M/S. OMAXE LIMITED[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Income Tax Act, 1961 — Sections 147, 148, Chapter XIX-A, Section 245D(4) and Section 245-I — Settlement Commission order — Reopening of assessment by Assessing Officer — Conclusiveness and finality — Assessee’s settlement application for India Law Library Docid # 2452516
(174) BHARAT RAJ MEENA Vs. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — Sections 7, 13(1)(d), 13(2) and 20 — Proof of demand and acceptance — Indispensable foundation — Presumption under Section 20 — Appellant, Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF, convicted for demanding and accepting bribes through intermediaries for transfers — Tainted money recovered from intermediary, not appellant — Trap abruptly closed without tracing money to appellant — Held, proof of demand and acceptance is sine qua non for establishing offences under India Law Library Docid # 2452517
(175) HARI DUTTA SHARMA Vs. STATE OF U.P. AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Banking Regulation Act, 1949 — Section 35-A — Reserve Bank of India Guidelines on Fair Practices Code — Recovery of secured loans — Self-help repossession — Financier's contractual right to repossess a financed vehicle is not an unbridled licence to seize property by force, stealth, or in the dead of night — RBI directions issued under Section 35-A possess statutory force and bind banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies — Lenders cannot resort to undue harassment or use muscle India Law Library Docid # 2452518
(176) VINIT KUMAR AND OTHERS Vs. STATE OF U.P. THROUGH SECRETARY AND OTHERS[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Constitution of India, 1950 — Article 32 — Recruitment and Selection Process — Scope of scrutiny confined by interim order — Binding effect inter partes — Petitioners challenged selection of Technician Grade-2 (Trainee) Electrical, alleging higher merit than selected candidates — Interim order recorded that petitioners confined relief solely to claim of higher merit — Held, an order is effective inter partes and binds them until avoided or challenged India Law Library Docid # 2452519
(177) THE STATE OF TELANGANA AND OTHERS Vs. M.A. GARDEN FUNCTION HALL AND OTHERS ETC[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Constitution of India — Article 226 — Writ Jurisdiction — Disputed questions of possession — Maintainability of writ petition by lessees — Eviction proceedings under Andhra Pradesh Land Encroachment Act, 1905 — Division Bench held writ court cannot decide disputed possession — Trust withdrew its Special Leave Petition with liberty to institute a civil suit, without interim protection — Lessees claiming through Trust subsequently filed writ petitions seeking protection against dispossession — Hel India Law Library Docid # 2452520
(178) K RASHIK Vs. NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. AND ANOTHER[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 16-09-2026 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 166(2) — Territorial jurisdiction of Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal — Option of claimant — Accident occurring in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, where claimant and driver also resided — Claim petition filed before Tribunal at Chennai — Insurer raised objection to territorial jurisdiction at the initial stage before the Tribunal — Held, under Section 166(2), a claim application can be filed where the accident occurred, where the claimant resides or carries on busines India Law Library Docid # 2452510
(179) SOBARAN SINGH (DEAD) THROUGH LRS. Vs. GORDHAN SINGH (DEAD) THR. LRS.[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-09-2026 Specific Relief Act, 1963 — Section 20 — Discretionary relief of specific performance — Agreement to sell agricultural land — Reversal of Trial Court’s decree by First Appellate Court and modification by High Court in Second Appeal — High Court upheld Trial Court’s findings in favor of plaintiff but directed refund of enhanced money (Rs. 15,00,000/-) to settle equities instead of granting specific performance — Imperiality of decreeing specific performance when agreement is duly proved and posse India Law Library Docid # 2452685
(180) UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS Vs. COL. NC ISAAC (RETD.)[SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] 15-09-2026 Pension Regulations for Army, 1961 — Regulation 179 read with Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 1982 — Rule 5, Rule 9, Rule 14(b) and Rule 20 — Entitlement to disability pension — Onus of proof and presumption of sound condition — A member of the Armed Forces is presumed to be in sound physical and mental condition upon entering service, unless any physical disability or disease is explicitly noted or recorded at the time of entrance — In the absence of any prior record of diseas India Law Library Docid # 2452437