In an interim order on a writ petition, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice directed that no teacher be appointed or absorbed in schools or colleges unless they hold the qualification prescribed under the RTE Act, 2009, the NCTE Act, 1993 or the UGC Act, 1956, until further orders (para 3). Notice was issued, returnable on 28.09.2026 (para 1).
The Supreme Court dismissed the Punjab School Education Board's appeal and held that clerks and peons engaged on contract, ad hoc and daily-wage basis from 1993-96 and regularised in August 2004 must have their earlier service counted as qualifying service for pension (paras 30, 33-34). Treated as having entered service before 01.01.2004, they fall under Tier II of the Defined Contributory Pension Scheme and may choose the old GPF pension scheme (para 33).
The Supreme Court acquitted a man serving life imprisonment for the rape of a five-year-old girl in Ajmer district, holding that a test identification parade is only corroborative and that the child was never asked to identify him in court (paras 41, 44, 59). Medical evidence dating the injuries to before the alleged day added to the doubt; he had been in custody since February 2017 (paras 11, 51-52).
On the Union of India's special leave petition against the Delhi High Court's judgment of 15.04.2026 in WP(C) No. 17582/2025, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice issued notice returnable on 13.10.2026 and directed that, in the meantime, the reinstatement of the respondent, Rinku Dhugga, shall remain stayed (paras 1, 4).
The Supreme Court set aside a National Green Tribunal judgment that had quashed the environmental clearance and consent to establish granted for a common bio-medical waste treatment facility at Babrala, Sambhal (paras 32, 111-112). It held that the CPCB's Revised Guidelines, 2016 are mandatory, that the one-acre land requirement was validly relaxed for a rural site, and that land allotment is not a precondition for a Form 1 application (para 110).
The Supreme Court refused to quash the CBI's prosecution of Sanofi India over medicine supplies to BARC, holding that a company accused of an offence requiring mens rea cannot have the case quashed under Section 482 CrPC merely because no employee has been identified or arraigned (paras 187, 193, 197). The Bench laid down a three-stage framework for attributing a natural person's act and state of mind to a corporation, and dismissed the appeal (paras 171, 199).
A Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant closed the suo motu case over the NCERT Grade 8 social science chapter that carried a sub-topic on corruption in the judiciary, finding that a revised, balanced text prepared by an expert committee was now in use and that NCERT and the Ministry had apologised (paras 14-15, 19). It discharged the show-cause notices but held the authorities to their assurances on future content (para 16).
The Supreme Court held that the power to confiscate a vehicle seized in an NDPS case lies with the court trying the offence under Section 63(1), not with the Drug Disposal Committee, which may dispose of a conveyance only with the court's permission (paras 11-12, 14). It ordered the release of a lorry whose occupants had been acquitted, setting aside the orders refusing release (paras 16-17).
The Supreme Court set aside the National Green Tribunal's 2017 judgment holding Vyakti Vikas Kendra India, which runs the Art of Living International Centre, responsible for restoring the Yamuna floodplain after the World Culture Festival of March 2016. The polluter pays principle needs real damage caused by the alleged polluter; no causal link was established, and the site was already damaged before it was handed over (paras 1, 41, 53). DDA must refund the Rs. 5 crore deposit (para 56).
The Supreme Court held that a defendant relying on an undisputed revenue entry showing him as the plaintiff's tenant need not step into the witness box, since that need arises only when a new fact asserted by a party has to be proved (para 7). It dismissed the landowner's appeal in his suit for injunction and possession, but left him free to bring fresh proceedings as his title was not disputed (paras 10-11).
The Supreme Court upheld a ten-year sentence under Section 15(c) of the NDPS Act for about 200 kg of poppy husk found in a car. It held that an officer who received a tip-off at a naka, recorded its substance in the ruqa sent to the police station before the search, and summoned the DSP to supervise it, substantially complied with Section 42. Section 50 did not apply because nothing was recovered from the personal search (paras 33, 36, 52).
The Supreme Court upheld a 1997 NDPS conviction for 100 grams of smack found in a water bottle, but reduced the sentence from 14 years to the 10-year minimum under the unamended Section 21. Section 50 did not apply to a search of a bottle the accused was carrying, and drawing samples without a Magistrate was only a procedural irregularity under Section 52A. The 2001 amendment did not help, as the trial had ended before it (paras 13, 15-16, 18-20).