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's wife, Punita, died within about sixteen months of their marriage after falling from the terrace of her matrimonial home. Her family alleged that she had been continuously harassed for additional dowry, including a Rs. 5 lakh demand to fund the husband's job, and that on the morning of her death she had phoned her brother in distress saying she had been beaten the previous night and feared for her life. The trial court convicted the husband under Section 304-B IPC and the High Court upheld the conviction; he appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming his wife was depressed over a knee ailment and either fell accidentally or died by suicide unrelated to dowry.
The Supreme Court found consistent testimony from the deceased's father and brothers about ongoing dowry harassment shortly before her death, including the phone call warning of danger to her life. It rejected the husband's shifting and contradictory defence theories (accidental fall versus suicide from knee pain) as an afterthought unsupported by evidence, noting medical witnesses confirmed her knee treatment was already working. Since the death was unnatural, occurred within seven years of marriage, and was preceded by proven dowry-related cruelty, the presumption under Section 113-B of the Evidence Act applied and the husband failed to rebut it. The conviction and ten-year sentence were upheld.
Once a woman's unnatural death within seven years of marriage is linked to dowry-related cruelty suffered shortly before her death, the law presumes the husband/in-laws responsible unless they can convincingly disprove it, and offering inconsistent alternative explanations for the death only weakens the defence further.
