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 moreThe appellant got into an altercation with Chhedi Lal, a barber, after the barber declined to give him a haircut ahead of other waiting customers. Feeling insulted, the appellant left threatening the barber, and later that evening confronted him near a canal, firing a pistol shot that struck Chhedi Lal in the thigh; the victim died on the way to the hospital. The trial court convicted the appellant of murder under Section 302 IPC based on eyewitness and medical evidence, and the Allahabad High Court affirmed both the conviction and the life sentence, leading to this appeal.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' finding that the appellant fired the fatal shot, rejecting arguments that the eyewitnesses were unreliable or that the prosecution's case failed because the weapon was never recovered. However, examining the specific wound, a gunshot injury to the inner thigh, a non-vital part of the body, the Court held that the prosecution had not proved the injury was objectively "sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death," a requirement for a murder conviction under the third clause of Section 300 IPC. Since no medical evidence established that the shot had struck a major blood vessel or was otherwise sufficient to cause death, the Court downgraded the conviction from murder (Section 302 IPC) to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part I IPC), reducing the sentence to ten years' rigorous imprisonment, and partly allowed the appeal.
A fatal shooting or stabbing does not automatically amount to murder in law: courts distinguish murder from culpable homicide based on whether the specific injury inflicted was, by its nature and location, objectively likely to cause death, not merely on the fact that death occurred; the location and severity of the wound, supported by medical evidence, can be decisive in determining the appropriate charge and sentence.
