Supreme Court Daily Round-Up : July 16, 2026

Links to reports of July 16 :Appellate Courts Must Give Independent Reasons, Can't Simply Overturn Trial Court Verdict As Erroneous: Supreme CourtSupreme Court Disapproves HC Direction To Send Sub Judge For Training, Says Appellate Courts Must Act As 'Friend, Philosopher & Guide''Mahaprabhu Jagannath' Movie Makers Approach Supreme Court Against Orissa High Court's Ban On Its...

Is Application For Probate Of Will Time-Barred If Not Filed Within 3 Years Of Testator's Death? Supreme Court Answers

The Supreme Court has held the probate of Will need not be necessarily filed within three years of the testator's death. The Court added that right to apply for probate accrues when it becomes necessary to do so i.e., when an action hostile to the position established by the Will was taken.“The right to apply would therefore accrue from the date that it becomes necessary to apply....

Refund Clause In Agreement To Sell Doesn't Bar Purchaser's Right To Seek Specific Performance : Supreme Court

The clause providing for refund of earnest money does not discharge the seller of the obligation to execute the sale deed.

Supreme Court Orders States/UTs To Frame Policy For Early Release Of Elderly And Terminally Ill Prisoners

The Supreme Court today directed all States and Union Territories to prepare and notify, within three months, a policy governing the early or premature release of elderly and terminally ill prisoners, while also prescribing a technology-based framework to process such cases.A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued the directions in a PIL filed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), which sought uniform guidelines across the country for the compassionate release...

Supreme Court Disapproves HC Direction To Send Sub Judge For Training, Says Appellate Courts Must Act As 'Friend, Philosopher & Guide'

The Supreme Court has set aside a Kerala High Court direction requiring a Principal Sub Judge to undergo training after the High Court criticised the trial judge's understanding of a will dispute, observing that appellate courts should guide subordinate courts through reasoned judgments rather than wield "the heavy-handed baton of superior authority."A Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi held that the High Court's remarks against the Principal Sub Judge, Thrissur, were...

Appellate Courts Must Give Independent Reasons, Can't Simply Overturn Trial Court Verdict As Erroneous: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a first appellate court cannot overturn a trial court's judgment merely by declaring it erroneous without independently evaluating the evidence and recording its own reasons. Stressing the duty cast upon appellate courts while reversing findings of fact, the Court observed that they must act as "a friend, philosopher and a guide" to subordinate courts rather than adopting a superior approach of merely pointing out errors.A Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice...

Supreme Court Acquits 3 Men In 1979 Murder Case, Cites Glaring Infirmities In Prosecution

Two other accused died during the pendency of the appeal in the SC, and another accused died while the appeal was pending in the High Court.

If Closure Report Is Filed, Magistrate Can't Direct Police To File Chargesheet : Supreme Court

The Court observed that the Magistrate has the option of taking cognizance on a closure report.

Property Conveyed In Sale Deed Cannot Be Changed Through Rectification Deed Without Original Transferor's Consent: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that a rectification deed cannot change the identity of a property unless the original seller agrees, and that courts cannot give judgments based on arguments that parties never made."A rectification deed cannot, in the guise of correcting an error, substitute the very subject matter of a prior conveyance without participation of the original transferor.”, observed...

Land Acquisition Act | Landowners Who Failed To Avail Hearing Cannot Later Allege Denial Of Hearing : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday (July 13) dismissed the appeals filed by the landowners challenging the land acquisition proceedings for the Jaipur Metro Rail Project, holding that the landowners had abandoned their right of hearing under Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 by failing to appear before the Land Acquisition Officer and thereafter remaining silent. “Absence of the...

Arbitration | Article 227 Can't Be Ordinarily Invoked To Challenge Rejection Of S.16 Application By Arbitral Tribunal : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 14) held that it is impermissible for the High Court to ordinarily interfere with, while exercising its supervisory jurisdiction, the decision of an Arbitral Tribunal rejecting the application under Section 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal.“…we hold that the High Court was not justified in...

Registered Sale Deed Does Not Require Proof Of Attestation As Per Section 68 Evidence Act : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 14) has ruled that proviso to Section 68 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 has no application to a registered sale deed, since the law does not mandatorily require a sale deed to be attested by witnesses.“The proviso to Section 68 stipulates that it shall not be necessary to call an attesting witness in proof of the execution of any document, not being a...