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 respondent was tried for the 1990 killing of a man using the pointed, nail-fitted end of a wooden plough used for tilling land. The trial court's conviction for murder (Section 302 IPC) was reduced by the High Court to a lesser offence (Section 323 IPC, simple hurt), based on medical opinion that the actual wound pattern suggested a blunt object rather than the sharp, nailed end of the plough. The State of Madhya Pradesh appealed to the Supreme Court against this partial acquittal, arguing the eyewitness evidence of family members (one of whom was himself injured in the same incident) was wrongly discounted.
The Supreme Court reviewed the evidence, including the testimony of the two eyewitnesses, but found no reason to disturb the High Court's view. It also noted that by the time of the hearing, the respondent had already spent over 14 years and 6 months in custody (as an undertrial and after his original conviction, before his later partial acquittal). Weighing these facts, the Court held this was not a fit case for interference and dismissed the State's appeal, leaving the High Court's acquittal-on-the-murder-charge/conviction-for-hurt intact.
Appellate courts give weight to medical evidence on the exact mechanism of injury when deciding whether a killing amounts to murder or a lesser offence, and long periods already spent in custody can influence whether the Supreme Court is willing to reopen a settled conviction.
