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 petitioner was convicted of the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in 2007 and sentenced to death, a sentence upheld by the Bombay High Court and, on appeal, by the Supreme Court. He filed review petitions asking the Court to revisit its own earlier confirmation of the death sentence, principally on the ground that the possibility of his reform and rehabilitation had never been properly examined, and that the trial court had wrongly held his other pending (unproven) criminal cases against him while sentencing.
The Court held that no material had ever been placed before any court, trial, High Court, or Supreme Court, on whether the petitioner could realistically be reformed or rehabilitated, which Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab requires before a death sentence can be imposed. It further held that the prosecution's failure to produce available DNA evidence should be held against it, and that it was legally wrong for the trial judge to treat merely pending, unproven cases against the petitioner as an aggravating factor, since that violates the presumption of innocence. Weighing these errors against the gravity of the crime and later developments (other convictions that came to light after the original sentencing), the Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, directing that the petitioner not be released from custody for the remainder of his natural life.
Before a death sentence is imposed or upheld, courts must have real evidence before them on whether the convict can be reformed, and a person's pending, unproven criminal cases cannot be used against them at sentencing, because everyone remains entitled to the presumption of innocence until actually convicted.
