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 moreSanjay and his brother-in-law Narendra were convicted of murdering Roop Singh and attempting to murder his wife, Sheela, over a land dispute, after firing country-made pistols at them during a night-time attack in 1998. Roop Singh was operated on, discharged from hospital in stable condition, but died 62 days later from septicaemia linked to his wound. The trial court and the Allahabad High Court both convicted the appellants of murder; they appealed to the Supreme Court, which had earlier limited the appeal to the question of what offence was actually made out.
The Supreme Court held that since Roop Singh survived in a stable condition for 62 days after being shot and ultimately died of septicaemia, a complication rather than a direct, immediate result of the gunshot, the prosecution had not proved that the head injury was, by itself, sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. This meant the stricter murder provision (Section 300, clause 3, IPC) was not made out. The Court therefore downgraded the conviction of both appellants from murder (Section 302 IPC) to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part I IPC), while upholding their convictions and sentences on the other charges (attempt to murder and house-trespass), and sentenced each to ten years' rigorous imprisonment for the modified offence, running concurrently with the other sentences.
Whether an assault amounts to murder or the lesser offence of culpable homicide can turn heavily on the medical timeline: if a victim survives in a stable condition for a significant period before dying of a complication like infection, the prosecution must specifically establish that the original injury was, by itself, sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature; otherwise the charge may be reduced.
