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's wife died an unnatural death within seven years of marriage, and he, along with his parents and sister-in-law, was tried for dowry death (Section 304-B IPC) and cruelty (Section 498-A IPC). The trial court convicted the appellant and his parents only under Section 498-A (acquitting everyone of the Section 304-B charge and fully acquitting the sister-in-law), but on appeal the Punjab and Haryana High Court went further and additionally convicted the appellant under Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) even though he had never been charged with that offence. The appellant challenged both the Section 498-A conviction and the new Section 306 conviction before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the evidence sufficiently established cruelty for dowry-related demands, so the Section 498-A conviction was upheld. However, it held that the prosecution had failed to prove any proximate link between that cruelty and the wife's suicide: there was roughly a two-month gap between the last dowry-related incident and the suicide, and the original charge never alleged that the accused had driven her to suicide or abetted it. Since the ingredients of Section 306 (abetment of suicide) are different from the originally framed Section 304-B charge and no real nexus was shown, the Court set aside the High Court's conversion of the conviction to Section 306 and acquitted the appellant of that charge, while maintaining the Section 498-A conviction and directing him to surrender to serve the remaining sentence.
A court cannot convict an accused of a more serious or legally distinct offence (like abetment of suicide) that was never part of the original charge, unless the evidence actually establishes a direct and proximate causal link between the alleged cruelty and the death: a mere allegation of harassment, without a close-in-time connection to the suicide, is not enough.
