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 child went missing from a village religious function (Jagran) in Uttarakhand in June 2016 and was later found dead, with the post-mortem showing signs of sexual assault and death by asphyxia. The appellant, who operated sound and light equipment at the function, was arrested, tried, and convicted of rape and murder (among other offences) based on "last seen" witness testimony, a disputed confession, and DNA/forensic reports; he was sentenced to death by the trial court, and the Uttarakhand High Court confirmed both the conviction and the death sentence.
The Supreme Court acquitted the appellant, finding the entire prosecution case unreliable. It held the "last seen" witnesses' testimony was not credible because none of them told police about seeing the accused with the victim until days later, and none identified him in court. The confession was rightly discarded by the lower courts as extracted under duress. Crucially, the DNA/FSL reports could not be relied upon because the prosecution never examined the forensic expert who conducted the DNA testing (relying instead on Rahul v. State of NCT of Delhi), and there were serious unexplained gaps in the chain of custody of samples between collection and the forensic lab, raising a real possibility of tampering. The Court also flagged serious fair-trial violations. The accused was unrepresented for months, was rushed through evidence-recording within 27 days without adequate time for his lawyer to prepare, and the trial court improperly allowed police witnesses to narrate his confession in open court.
A conviction, especially a death sentence, cannot rest on circumstantial evidence riddled with gaps: DNA evidence is worthless unless the prosecution proves an unbroken, tamper-free chain of custody and examines the actual expert who performed the test, and courts must ensure an accused gets real legal representation and adequate time to prepare a defence, not just a token lawyer assigned at the last minute.
