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 was convicted by a Sessions Court of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl, and of destroying evidence, based on circumstantial evidence including his being seen following the victim, recovery of her body and clothes at his instance, and forensic findings. The Bombay High Court confirmed his death sentence (while setting aside one subsidiary POCSO conviction for want of a specific charge). He appealed to the Supreme Court against both the conviction and the death sentence.
The Supreme Court examined the chain of circumstantial evidence, eyewitness sightings, recovery of the body and clothing at the appellant's instance, medical evidence of strangulation and sexual assault, and scratch marks on the appellant consistent with the victim's resistance, and held the prosecution had proved its case, affirming the conviction. On sentencing, however, the Court held that while the crime was abominable, it did not meet the "rarest of rare" threshold required under the Bachan Singh/Machhi Singh framework for the death penalty, noting the appellant's young age, absence of prior criminal history, and that reform was not shown to be impossible. It therefore commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, but, given the gravity of the offence and lack of remorse, restricted the appellant's eligibility to seek remission for a minimum of 20 years.
Even in horrific crimes, India's death penalty can only be imposed in the rarest-of-rare cases where life imprisonment is demonstrably and totally inadequate; courts must weigh both the brutality of the crime and the possibility of the convict's reform before choosing between death and a long, remission-restricted life sentence.
