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 accused was alleged to have raped a minor girl of unsound mind in 1990 near a pond in Madhya Pradesh; her younger sister and other relatives were the main witnesses. Both the Sessions Court and the High Court of Madhya Pradesh had already acquitted the accused, finding the prosecution's evidence inconsistent, and the State appealed to the Supreme Court against this double acquittal.
The Supreme Court examined the depositions of the key witnesses (the uncle, the younger sister, and the father) and found their accounts of events, who went to call the father, where the victim was found, and alleged knife injuries, mutually contradictory and unsupported by the medical evidence, which showed no knife wounds and raised doubts about the timing of the alleged assault. The medical witness's testimony was also found internally inconsistent, including wrongly describing the victim as "normal" despite her documented mental disability. Finding no merit in the appeal given these inherent inconsistencies, the Court dismissed the State's appeal and upheld the acquittal.
In criminal appeals against acquittal, the Supreme Court will not disturb concurrent findings of two lower courts unless the prosecution's evidence is internally consistent and corroborated by reliable medical evidence; contradictions among eyewitnesses on basic facts can be fatal to a conviction even in serious offences.
