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 morePolice on patrol in 1998 heard shrieks from a locked room and allegedly witnessed, through gaps in the door, the first appellant's wife being murdered: held down and struck with a brick by the second appellant (a woman) while the first appellant stabbed her with a "khurpa" (a sickle-like tool), after which both appellants came out and declared they had "accomplished their job." The trial court convicted both appellants of murder, and the Punjab & Haryana High Court upheld the conviction and dismissed their appeal.
The first appellant's defence (under Section 313 CrPC) was that he found his wife in a compromising position with another man and killed her in a sudden fit of rage upon provocation, while the second appellant claimed she was not even present (an alibi). The Supreme Court found no reason to disturb the concurrent findings of the trial court and High Court: there was no motive for the police witnesses to falsely implicate the appellants, the second appellant failed to prove her alibi, and the medical evidence (12 stab wounds plus lacerations, death by haemorrhage/shock) was consistent with the prosecution's version. The Court declined to rely on the defence witness's account or the first appellant's self-serving statement, and dismissed the appeal, affirming the murder conviction.
In India's appellate criminal process, when two courts below (trial court and High Court) have given concurring factual findings based on credible witness and medical evidence, the Supreme Court will be very reluctant to overturn them absent a compelling legal or evidentiary flaw: a claim of sudden provocation or an unproven alibi will not by itself unsettle such concurrent findings.
