Real judgements, distilled
Court judgements broken down into the case type, how the decision played out, and the lesson worth remembering, with the full judgement available as a PDF.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1094
An older qualification must still satisfy the eligibility rules governing the appointment sought. Here, the certificate's early date did not secure reinstatement, and rejection of eligibility should not be confused with a conclusive finding that the certificate was forged.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1095
A party benefiting from a conditional stay must meet its deposit requirement or face enforcement. The additional ₹15 crore deposit secures the pending dispute; it does not settle the land's final compensation or amount to an immediate payment to the landowners.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1093
An alleged attempt to kill does not become a lesser offence simply because the victim avoided a fatal injury. Restoring this charge means the accusation must be tried; it does not establish that the accused is guilty.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1090
For the assessment in this case, assistance reducing ordinary manufacturing costs was taxable even though the government wanted to encourage industry. The purpose and actual operation of the particular subsidy mattered more than its general development label.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1091
Proof that someone caused a serious injury does not by itself prove the additional ingredients of robbery. A court can substitute a lesser offence supported by the evidence; the sentencing reduction here depended on Appa's particular circumstances.
Special Leave Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 1092
Someone challenging an election must ensure that the personal-presentation requirement is met and can be proved. Merely entering the court building does not establish compliance, and a filing defect can end the challenge before the election allegations are examined.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1088
An employee who retires on 30 June may be entitled to the increment that falls due on 1 July after completing a year of service. Authorities that delay paying the amounts due must pay interest after the deadline set by the court.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1089
Recruitment must follow the qualifications stated in the advertisement and the governing Recruitment Rules. A court will not override a merit-based eligibility decision made under those rules merely because the candidate concerned was higher in the written test.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8797
A person who occupied property only because of employment has no independent right to remain once the employment and decree end. Even when a petition fails, courts can make practical arrangements to let a person recover personal belongings.
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Log in to see moreA young woman was found dead, dismembered on a railway track near a tea estate in Assam in December 1992, after last being seen in the company of the appellants (tea estate staff) and a co-accused the previous evening. The accused were acquitted by the trial court, but the High Court reversed that acquittal and convicted the appellants of murder and destruction of evidence, relying mainly on the "last seen together" circumstance and the absence of any explanation from the accused.
The Supreme Court held that circumstantial evidence must form a complete, unbroken chain pointing only to guilt, and found that key links relied on by the prosecution, recovery of the murder weapon (a khukri) and bloodstain evidence, were not reliably proved, since the recovery witnesses turned hostile and forensic reports on the blood were negative or inconclusive. With those circumstances unproved, only "last seen together" and the accused's silence remained, which, per settled precedent, cannot by themselves sustain a conviction. The Court also found the High Court's inference about the time of death was not supported by the medical evidence on record. It therefore set aside the High Court's conviction and restored the trial court's acquittal.
In a case built only on circumstantial evidence, courts must be satisfied that every link in the chain is proven beyond doubt, being "last seen" with the victim and offering no explanation is not, by itself, enough to convict someone of murder.
