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 husband was tried for strangling his wife to death in August 2001 near Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, after their marriage soured when he suspected she had transmitted a venereal disease to him. The trial court convicted him based on circumstantial evidence: he was last seen taking her to a movie at night and was seen returning alone afterward, her body was found the next morning, and he then absconded. The Andhra Pradesh High Court acquitted him on appeal, reasoning that the chain of circumstances was incomplete, partly because the prosecution had not proved he was drunk or that the disease was definitely sexually transmitted from his wife. The State of Andhra Pradesh then appealed the acquittal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court's reasoning for acquittal rested on irrelevant considerations, whether the accused was drunk, or the precise medical mechanism of disease transmission, were not essential links in the chain of circumstantial evidence. The Court found that the proven circumstances, the couple being last seen together at night, the accused being seen returning alone shortly after, recovery of the body the next morning, the proven strained marital relations and suspected disease-related motive, and the accused's subsequent abscondment, formed a complete and unbroken chain pointing only to the accused's guilt. It held that in such a case only one conclusion was possible, the one reached by the trial court, and that the High Court was wrong to overturn it. The appeal was allowed, the acquittal set aside, and the original conviction and life sentence restored, with directions that the accused be taken into custody to serve out his remaining sentence.
In cases built entirely on circumstantial evidence, courts must focus on whether the full chain of proven facts points unerringly to guilt: an appellate court cannot overturn a conviction by picking at peripheral or non-essential details while ignoring that the core chain of circumstances is otherwise complete and consistent only with guilt.
