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 was convicted of murdering his wife, Suman, whom he had married in 1999 and with whom he lived alone on the first floor of a house in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh (the ground floor being vacant). The deceased was found dead in the early hours of 31 January 2001 with around 20 incised wounds, having been killed with a knife. The prosecution's case rested on circumstantial evidence, including that the appellant was alone with her overnight, forensic (blood-group) evidence linking a recovered knife and clothing to the crime, and the rejection of the appellant's alibi that he was away in Gonda at the time. The trial court convicted him under Section 302 IPC, and the Allahabad High Court confirmed the conviction and sentence.
The Supreme Court examined each of the appellant's arguments, that nothing was stolen (suggesting no theft motive and thus no attacker), that the forensic blood evidence was inconclusive, and that his alibi was wrongly disbelieved, and rejected all of them, noting the scale and brutality of the 20 incised wounds, the matching blood-group findings on the knife and clothing, and the absence of any corroboration for the alibi. The Court declined to reduce the offence to a lesser one or to show leniency in sentencing despite arguments about the time already served and the appellant's subsequent remarriage and children, holding that the gravity of the killing left no scope for such consideration. The appeal was dismissed, the conviction and life sentence upheld, and since the appellant had been on bail since 2011, the Court directed he be taken back into custody to serve the remainder of his sentence.
A circumstantial-evidence murder conviction can be, and in appropriate cases will be, upheld by the Supreme Court where the chain of circumstances (sole access/opportunity, forensic corroboration, and a disbelieved alibi) is complete, and courts will not extend sentencing leniency merely because a convict has been out on bail and rebuilt their personal life in the interim.
