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 moreFollowing a heated quarrel between two brothers over a longstanding land dispute, the appellant allegedly fetched a gun and, on his son's urging, opened fire, killing one person and injuring two others, including the original complainant. The trial court convicted the appellant under Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempted murder) IPC, sentencing him to life imprisonment, while acquitting his son (the alleged instigator) for lack of evidence. The High Court upheld the conviction and sentence, and the appellant challenged this before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court found the eyewitness testimony credible and consistent, corroborated by recovery of the gun, cartridges, and medical evidence, and held the appellant's guilt was proved beyond doubt: the acquittal of his son on separate evidentiary grounds did not undermine this. However, looking at the circumstances, a sudden, emotionally charged escalation of a minor family quarrel rather than a premeditated plan to kill, and the fact that twelve years had passed since the incident, the Court held the conviction should be moderated from murder to the lesser offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part I IPC) along with the attempted-murder charge, and reduced the sentence to the period already undergone in custody. The appellant was ordered released if not wanted in any other case.
A conviction can be legally sound on the facts, yet a court may still revisit the category of offence and the sentence where the circumstances show the act arose from a sudden loss of self-control in a family dispute rather than a calculated intention to kill, sentencing is not automatic once guilt is established.
