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 moreIn a 1989 village dispute that began after one man allegedly cut off the tail of the respondents' buffalo, the respondents assaulted several people including one Laxman, who died fifteen days after the incident following complaints of headache and vomiting. The trial court convicted the respondents of murder and other offences under the Indian Penal Code, sentencing them to life imprisonment, but the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2017 reduced the conviction from murder (Section 302) to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part II) and released the by-then elderly respondents (aged 70-80) on time already served, citing their age and the case's long pendency. The State appealed to the Supreme Court seeking restoration of the murder conviction and a harsher sentence.
The Supreme Court examined the medical evidence closely, including the post-mortem report and the treating doctor's testimony, and found that the cause of death (recorded as asphyxia) could not be definitively linked to the injuries inflicted during the assault, especially given the fifteen-day gap between the incident and death and the absence of poison or internal organ damage. Since even the doctor admitted it was "difficult to give a definite reason" for death, the Court held the medical evidence created serious doubt about whether the respondents' actions actually caused Laxman's death, so serious that even the reduced Section 304 conviction was questionable, though it could not be disturbed since the respondents had not cross-appealed. Combined with the respondents' advanced age (70 to 80 years) and the nearly 36-year vintage of the case, the Court declined to enhance the sentence and dismissed the State's appeal, while separately urging High Courts to give some priority to very old pending criminal appeals involving elderly, on-bail accused so they are not sent back to jail decades after the alleged offence.
A murder conviction cannot stand, or even be enhanced on appeal, without medical evidence that clearly and definitively links the accused's acts to the cause of death: doubt on causation benefits the accused, and extreme delay combined with the accused's advanced age can itself weigh against harsher punishment even where the underlying facts remain troubling.
