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 woman died of burn injuries after a fire in her marital home, which she attributed in her dying declaration to a gas leak from an improperly closed regulator overnight, causing gas to spread and later ignite: an accident that also injured her husband and children. Her husband and his alleged co-accused were charged over her death, but the trial court acquitted them after appreciating the evidence, including the dying declaration. The complainant (the deceased's father) filed a revision petition, and the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) set aside the acquittal and sent the case back for fresh trial, holding that the dying declaration had not been properly considered.
The Supreme Court held that a High Court's revisional jurisdiction over an acquittal is narrow. It can only intervene for glaring errors, not by re-appreciating evidence as if hearing a full appeal. Examining the dying declaration itself, the Court found it described only an accidental gas leak and contained no accusation against the husband; the only evidence suggesting foul play was a father's account of what the deceased allegedly told him afterward (that her husband wanted to kill her and remarry), which the Court found unreliable and unsupported by the scientific evidence, which showed the entire family, not just the deceased, was affected by the fire in a shared bedroom. The Court held that sending the case back for further trial would be a "futile exercise," restored the trial court's acquittal, and allowed the appeal.
A High Court reviewing an acquittal in revision cannot simply re-weigh the evidence and substitute its own view for the trial court's; and a dying declaration must be read for what it actually says: later, second-hand recollections that contradict the deceased's own contemporaneous statement carry little weight.
