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 appellants Shajahan, Basheer and others were convicted for a 2002 robbery at a pawn-broking shop in which the shop's sleeping caretaker was strangled to death during the course of the robbery, and stolen gold and silver jewellery worth about Rs. 12 lakh was later recovered. The trial court convicted them under Section 396 IPC (dacoity with murder) and sentenced them to ten years' imprisonment, but the Madras High Court, on the State's appeal, enhanced the sentence to life imprisonment; the convicts then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction under Section 396 IPC, rejecting the argument that two prosecution witnesses turning partially hostile on identification undermined the case, since their evidence was corroborated by the investigating officer's testimony and the recovered jewellery was independently identified by the shop owner. On sentence, the Court held that while murder committed during dacoity must be viewed seriously, Section 396 gives courts wider discretion than Section 302 to impose a penalty short of death or life imprisonment, and noted that the accused here were unarmed and the offence was from 2002. Weighing the long lapse of time and the facts of the case, the Court restored the trial court's original ten-year sentence in place of the High Court's enhancement to life imprisonment, partly allowing the appeals, and ordered the appellants released forthwith since they had already served more than ten years in custody (if not wanted in any other case).
A conviction for dacoity with murder under Section 396 IPC does not automatically mandate a death or life sentence: courts retain discretion to impose a lesser term based on the specific facts, including the passage of time and whether the accused were armed, and a sentence already served in full can lead to immediate release even where the underlying conviction stands.
