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 killed a woman, Santosh, by beating her with a lathi (stick) at night, following prior enmity. The trial court convicted him of murder and house-trespass, but the Rajasthan High Court later acquitted him on appeal, giving him the benefit of the doubt due to contradictions in the prosecution's evidence. The State of Rajasthan then appealed to the Supreme Court against this acquittal.
The Supreme Court held that in an appeal against acquittal, it would only interfere if there was "perversity" in the High Court's findings, and that an acquittal carries a reinforced presumption of innocence. Examining the record, the Court found serious contradictions among the prosecution's witnesses, including two child witnesses who gave inconsistent accounts of the victim's position during the attack, unexplained delay and inconsistency in how/when the police were informed, odd conduct of the deceased's father who did not intervene or check on his daughter for hours, and gaps between the recovery memo and forensic evidence regarding a blood-stained weapon. Finding no independent corroborating witness and the case built on "conjectures and surmises," the Court held there was no perversity in the High Court's reasoning and declined to disturb the acquittal.
An appellate court will not overturn an acquittal merely because it might have weighed the evidence differently; it will only intervene where the acquitting court's reasoning was clearly perverse, and the presumption of innocence is strengthened, not weakened, once a person has already been acquitted once.
