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 moreV. Balakrishnan, a former bank Branch Manager at Indian Bank's Anna Nagar branch in Chennai, was convicted along with associates for allegedly colluding with a retired bank officer to sanction inflated loans in the names of the officer's domestic helpers, who fronted as a "real estate businessman" and a land purchaser. The prosecution alleged the loan proceeds were actually diverted to the retired officer, aided by an inflated property valuation from a bank property appraiser. Both the trial court and the High Court had convicted Balakrishnan, and he appealed to the Supreme Court. Two of his co-accused had died before trial, one was too unwell to be tried, and one co-accused was acquitted at trial.
The Supreme Court found the prosecution's case riddled with holes: the loans were shown, through the bank's own witnesses, to have actually been sanctioned by the Regional Office rather than solely by the appellant; the signature said to belong to the alleged mastermind was never authenticated against any genuine specimen; witnesses called to prove property transactions produced only photocopies, not certified title deeds; and the courts below had simply presumed the mortgaged land was undervalued based on its price twenty years later at auction, with no contemporaneous valuation evidence. Critically, the loans had been fully repaid through auction of the mortgaged properties, with surplus money still sitting unclaimed with the bank. The Court concluded the prosecution case was "fabricated" and had "no legs to stand," set aside both lower court judgments, and granted the appellant a clean, full acquittal.
A criminal conviction cannot rest on unauthenticated documents, uncorroborated hearsay, or courts substituting assumption for evidence (such as presuming a property's value decades earlier from its later sale price). The prosecution must prove each element concretely, and appellate courts will overturn convictions built on speculative or unproven links.
