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 appellant had been convicted of murdering three minor children at night and seriously injuring others, arising from a matrimonial dispute, and was sentenced to death by the trial court, a sentence the Jammu & Kashmir High Court confirmed. The Supreme Court had earlier restricted its own notice in the appeal to only the question of sentence, not the conviction itself.
Since only the sentence was in question, the Court examined whether the case was truly a "rarest of rare" case justifying death, applying the tests from Bachan Singh and Machhi Singh. It found the accused had no prior criminal record and was not a professional killer, and while the crime was brutal, it did not meet the exceptionally aggravated threshold required for the death penalty. Relying on Swamy Shraddananda and Union of India v. V. Sriharan, the Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment for the remainder of the accused's natural life, specifically denying him any entitlement to remission (early release).
Even a brutal multiple murder does not automatically warrant the death penalty: courts must weigh mitigating factors (such as no prior record) against aggravating ones, and the law allows a special category of "life without remission" as a middle path between death and ordinary life imprisonment.
