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 quarrel began when the sixth accused (a local Municipal Councillor and an influential ruling-party leader) tried to sell coir mats made by a women's self-help group to the family of the eventual victim, leading to a heated public argument at a Ward Council meeting the same evening. That night, several co-accused attacked the family at their home with wooden logs, killing the family patriarch and injuring two others, while the appellant allegedly stood outside and exhorted the attackers to "kill them." The trial court sentenced the appellant to death as the main conspirator; the Kerala High Court, on appeal, acquitted a similarly-placed co-accused but convicted the appellant of lesser offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder (via conspiracy) rather than murder, and reduced his sentence to rigorous imprisonment.
The Supreme Court rejected the appellant's argument that he deserved acquittal like the co-accused who was let off, noting his situation was factually different: that co-accused had an innocent reason (his own nearby house) to be at the scene, and eyewitness testimony placing the appellant there and describing his exhortation to attack was consistent even after allowing for a biased initial investigation (in which police were found to have initially shielded the politically influential appellant). The Court held that conspiracy, being hatched in secrecy, can be proved through inference from conduct and words, and found that the daytime altercation, the public evening dispute, the appellant's presence with the attackers moments before the assault, and his shouted exhortation together established his knowledge that the attack was likely to cause death. Finding no reason to interfere with the High Court's careful, detailed judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction and sentence.
Even where a police investigation is shown to have been compromised or biased (here, due to the accused's political influence), courts will carefully scrutinize the remaining evidence rather than automatically acquit, and a conspiracy charge can be proved through circumstantial conduct and words spoken, without direct proof of an actual agreement.
