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 9-year-old girl (the prosecutrix) was sexually assaulted in 2004 while grazing buffaloes. She was medically examined the same day, confirming the assault, and identified the appellant in a Test Identification Parade two days later. Six months after the incident, however, both the victim and her child companion-witness turned hostile at trial and denied the assault, leading the trial court to acquit the appellant; the Gujarat High Court later reversed this acquittal and convicted him based on medical evidence, forensic (blood-group) evidence, and the earlier identification parade.
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that a hostile witness's turnaround does not automatically entitle an accused to acquittal when strong corroborating evidence exists independently: here, the medical report confirming the assault, the semen found on both the victim's and the appellant's clothing matching Group B, and the properly conducted Test Identification Parade. The Court reasoned that the six-month gap before the prosecutrix's trial deposition gave ample opportunity for the appellant to pressure or influence her and her family into retracting, and that courts must not let a criminal trial be reduced to a "theatre of the absurd" by allowing coerced hostility to defeat otherwise overwhelming evidence. The Court also found no prejudice arose even though the serological report was not formally put to the appellant under Section 313 CrPC, since the omission was the trial court's failure, not the prosecution's suppression. The appeal was dismissed, though the Court declined to prosecute the prosecutrix for false evidence given her age at the time and the 14 years that had passed.
A conviction can stand on strong corroborating medical, forensic, and identification evidence even if the victim is later pressured into turning hostile at trial: the law does not let intimidation of a witness erase an otherwise well-proven case.
