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 convicted and sentenced to death for murdering five family members of a woman in a rape case in which he himself had been convicted (and was later acquitted on appeal). His mercy petitions to the Governor and President took over 13 years to decide, and during this period he was kept in solitary confinement for 18 years. The High Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment on grounds of this illegal solitary confinement and the inordinate, unexplained delay in deciding his mercy petition, and also because his acquittal in the rape case (a key factor in his death sentence) was never placed before the President. The Union of India appealed against this commutation.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision, holding that keeping a prisoner in solitary confinement before his mercy petition is decided is "per se illegal," relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration and the later ruling in Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of India. It also held that a prolonged, unexplained delay in deciding a mercy petition violates Article 21 (right to life) and independently justifies commutation. Combining these findings with the government's failure to inform the President of the respondent's acquittal in the related rape case, the Court found no reason to interfere with the commutation, but directed that the respondent be released only after completing 35 years of actual imprisonment (including time already served), given that he had committed the murders while out on bail.
Even a person convicted and sentenced to death retains constitutional rights: unexplained, lengthy delays in deciding mercy petitions and unlawful solitary confinement before a death sentence becomes final can themselves be grounds for commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment.
