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 dispute arose after one of the victims' family members worshipped a deity installed on a piece of disputed land. Angered by this, several accused, instigated by the person occupying the land, went armed to the house of the family and a scuffle broke out, in which the elderly grandfather died from a head injury and his three grandchildren were injured. The trial court convicted three of the accused under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 IPC (common intention) and sentenced them to life imprisonment, along with lesser sentences for the injuries to the grandchildren; the High Court affirmed this conviction, and the accused appealed to the Supreme Court arguing the death lacked premeditation and may have resulted from an accidental fall rather than a deliberate blow.
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, relying on the consistent and corroborated testimony of the three injured grandchildren (eyewitnesses) and a neighbour, all of whom described the accused arriving armed with an axe and a cutting weapon and attacking the household. Although the defence argued the fatal head injury could have resulted from an accidental fall (as the doctor could not rule this out), the Court held that the eyewitness testimony of a deliberate blow with the reverse side of an axe, fully corroborated by medical evidence of the injuries, established intent and overt acts sufficient for murder, not a lesser degree of culpable homicide. The Court also rejected the argument that the witnesses' relationship to the deceased made their testimony unreliable, since they were also injured victims of the same incident.
Testimony from witnesses who are relatives of a victim is not automatically suspect, especially where the witnesses were also injured in the same incident, and courts will convict for murder where deliberate, corroborated violence with a deadly weapon is proven, even if a defence theory (like an accidental fall) is medically possible but unsupported by the weight of the evidence.
