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 moreThe appellant was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a minor child, Rishikesh, and was sentenced to death by the trial court, a sentence the Bombay High Court confirmed in 2006. By the time of this appeal, the appellant was no longer disputing his conviction, instead seeking only commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment, citing his age at the time of the offence (22-23 years), his clean prior record, 18 years already spent in custody, good jail conduct, and reformative steps including completing a university degree and studying Gandhian philosophy in prison.
The Supreme Court, applying the "rarest of rare" doctrine from Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab and its own recent decision in Sunil v. State of Madhya Pradesh, weighed the aggravating circumstances (the brutality of a child's murder) against the mitigating ones (young age at the time, long incarceration, demonstrated reform, no history of violence or prior convictions) and concluded the case did not meet the "rarest of rare" threshold needed to justify execution. The Court confirmed the conviction but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, leaving open the possibility of the appellant applying for remission to the State Government on its own merits.
Even in grave crimes like the murder of a child, a death sentence requires the case to fall in the narrow "rarest of rare" category; evidence of genuine rehabilitation and good conduct over a long period of incarceration can be a decisive mitigating factor leading to commutation to life imprisonment.
