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's husband, a partner in a construction firm, was found dead at home in April 2024, and police initially closed the matter as a suicide. About 39 days later, the wife filed a police complaint alleging she had found a death note in which her husband said his business partners had cheated him of Rs. 60 crore, forged his signature, and drove him to suicide. A criminal case was registered against the partners and a manager for abetment of suicide, cheating, and criminal intimidation, but the Karnataka High Court quashed the entire FIR, holding that the alleged forged document was five years old and had no proximity to the death, and that only the deceased himself (not his wife) could have complained of being cheated during his lifetime.
The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal. On the abetment-of-suicide charge, it agreed with the High Court that even taking the FIR at face value, there was no close proximity between the alleged instigating acts and the suicide, citing its own recent precedent that a gap of even about a month is enough to break the causal link the law requires, and here the wife's own account showed a gap of over five weeks before she even reported the matter, suggesting an afterthought. However, on the cheating charge, the Court held the High Court had acted "casually and cursorily" by giving no reasons at all for why the substantial material collected during investigation was insufficient to make out an offence under Section 420 IPC, and restored that part of the case to the trial court while leaving the accused free to seek discharge there.
For abetment of suicide, the law requires a close, proximate link in time between the accused's acts and the suicide: allegations about events weeks or months earlier, without more, will not sustain the charge. Separately, a High Court quashing a criminal case under Section 482 CrPC must actually give reasons engaging with the investigation material; it cannot dismiss a case in a cursory, unreasoned manner.
