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.
14543 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreA widow with five children was set on fire and died ten days later from her burns, after she refused the accused's (a relative by marriage) sexual advances. Several key witnesses, including the deceased's own father and daughter, turned hostile at trial. However, the prosecution relied on other eyewitnesses who placed the accused at the scene, and on the deceased's dying declarations recorded by a police officer and a magistrate. The trial court convicted the accused and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment "for the rest of natural life," also denying him the ordinary benefit of set-off for time already spent in custody under Section 428 CrPC. The accused appealed to the Supreme Court against the conviction and this unusually severe sentencing.
The Supreme Court examined the evidence, the corroborated eyewitness accounts and the two consistent dying declarations, and upheld the conviction under Section 302 IPC. However, on sentencing, the Court held that a Sessions Court (unlike the Supreme Court or High Courts) has no power to impose the special category of "life imprisonment without remission," a sentencing option available only to Constitutional Courts as laid down in Swamy Shraddananda and Union of India v. V. Sriharan. It also held the trial court could not deny the accused the statutory benefit of set-off under Section 428 CrPC for time already undergone in custody. The Court therefore modified the sentence to ordinary life imprisonment (subject to future remission per government policy) with set-off permitted, while confirming the conviction.
Only Constitutional Courts (the Supreme Court and High Courts), not trial/Sessions Courts, can impose a life sentence that excludes the possibility of remission; and every convict is ordinarily entitled to have pre-conviction custody time set off against their sentence under Section 428 CrPC, a right a Sessions Court cannot take away.
