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 man, Arun, died of a drug overdose after a night out with two friends (the appellants) and one Venki, who administered the injection. Years later, after the original accused (Venki) died before trial, the deceased's family filed a private complaint alleging that the two friends had conspired with Venki to murder Arun out of jealousy over a woman. Both the trial court and the High Court convicted the two friends of murder based on circumstantial evidence, despite there being no eyewitnesses.
The Supreme Court undertook a detailed re-examination of each circumstance relied upon by the prosecution and found the chain of circumstantial evidence fatally incomplete: the medical evidence could not establish when or how a second, fatal dose of the drug was administered, no drugs or syringes were recovered from the accused, the alleged jealousy motive was unsupported and introduced only four years after the incident, and the theory that the accused (a medical student) injected the fatal dose was pure conjecture with no evidentiary basis. Applying the settled rule that circumstantial evidence must exclude every hypothesis other than guilt, the Court held the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and had not even conclusively shown the death was homicidal. Both appeals were allowed and the accused were acquitted and ordered released.
A criminal conviction cannot rest on suspicion, delayed allegations, or an incomplete chain of circumstances: in cases without direct eyewitnesses, every link in the chain of circumstantial evidence must be proven beyond doubt and must point unerringly, and only, to the guilt of the accused.
