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 moreA government sales tax official (the respondent) was accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 400 from a shopkeeper in exchange for issuing a registration certificate under the Sales Tax Act. A trap was laid by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the official's hands tested positive for the chemical marker used on the bribe money. The trial court convicted him and sentenced him to simple imprisonment, but the Andhra Pradesh High Court acquitted him on appeal, reasoning that there was doubt about whether the chemical trace came from the money or from an account book he was also handling, and that it was unusual for him to have received the cash with his left hand. The State of Andhra Pradesh then appealed to the Supreme Court against the acquittal.
The Supreme Court found the High Court's reasoning for acquittal to be speculative and unsupported by the record. It noted that the respondent's own defence had never claimed that the account book itself carried the chemical trace, that theory was raised only at the appellate stage, and that the evidence showed his hands tested positive before anyone handed him any book, ruling out accidental transfer. The Court also rejected the High Court's suspicion about receiving money with the left hand as mere conjecture with no evidentiary basis. Since the High Court had not engaged with or disproved any of the trial court's specific findings on demand and acceptance of the bribe, its acquittal could not be sustained even as a "possible view" of the evidence. The Supreme Court set aside the acquittal, restored the trial court's conviction and sentence, and directed that the respondent be taken into custody to serve his sentence.
An appellate court cannot overturn a conviction based on speculation or conjecture (such as assumptions about which hand a person "normally" uses): it must specifically engage with and disprove the trial court's actual findings of fact before reversing them; this is especially important in corruption cases built on trap evidence.
