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 moreOn 1 May 2003, the respondent Ramen Dowarah allegedly entered the victim's house, raped her, and then poured kerosene oil on her and set her ablaze after she threatened to tell her mother. She died of her burn injuries two months later. The trial court convicted him under Sections 454, 376 and 302 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The High Court partly allowed his appeal, acquitting him of rape (holding it was consensual) and downgrading the murder conviction to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part II), reducing his sentence to seven years. The State of Assam appealed to the Supreme Court against this dilution.
The Supreme Court closely reviewed the oral dying declarations given by the victim to her uncle, aunt, mother and young brother (an eyewitness who saw the incident through a door slit), together with the medical evidence, and found the circumstances were wholly inconsistent with consensual intercourse: the victim's hue and cry, her threat to tell her mother, and the brutal retaliation that followed all pointed to rape followed by a deliberate act to kill her and eliminate the evidence. The Court held the High Court erred both in finding consensual intercourse and in concluding there was no intention to kill; pouring kerosene and setting a young, overpowered victim ablaze to silence her established intent to cause death under Section 300 IPC. The Court restored the trial court's conviction and sentence under Sections 376, 302 and 454 IPC, allowed the State's appeal, and directed the accused be taken into custody to serve the remaining sentence.
A victim's dying declarations and a young eyewitness's account of events, when consistent with medical evidence, can be sufficient to establish intent to murder even where a lower court is persuaded otherwise: appellate courts will restore a conviction where the surrounding circumstances make an "accidental" or "non-intentional" explanation implausible.
