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.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1073
In circumstantial-evidence cases, forensic and DNA evidence must actually corroborate the alleged crime: a conviction cannot survive where the most crucial scientific evidence, on its own terms, points away from rather than toward the prosecution's theory.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1074
A conviction based purely on circumstantial evidence requires every link in the chain, timeline, witness credibility, forensic matches, and motive, to be proven beyond reasonable doubt; gaps or suppressed evidence at any link entitle the accused to the benefit of the doubt, even in a serious case like a double murder.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8505
Courts will not quash a criminal case merely because the accused has a plausible alibi-type defence; unless that defence is conclusive and undisputed, the matter must be tested through the ordinary trial process.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8547
A private compromise between victim and accused cannot by itself secure quashing of a case involving serious, heinous allegations like attempted murder with a weapon: such matters must proceed to trial regardless of settlement.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8563
Railway Claims Tribunals cannot reject a bona fide passenger's death claim based on speculative inferences when there is no direct evidence of an alternative cause of death; the compensation scheme under the Railways Act is to be interpreted generously in favour of victims' families.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8559
In matrimonial offences, courts can and do quash criminal proceedings once a genuine compromise is verified directly with the complainant, sparing both parties a prolonged and pointless trial.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8541
A co-accused's bail does not automatically extend to another accused where their actual roles in the offence differ materially; delay caused by one's own defence counsel cannot later be used as a ground for bail.
Execution Petition · 2026:DHC:8567
An arbitral award must be adequately stamped before a court can enforce it; courts give only a limited window to cure such defects, after which the award becomes legally unusable until the deficiency is fixed.
Arbitration Petition · 2026:DHC:8555
A genuine settlement reached through mediation renders a pending arbitration-related court petition moot, allowing parties to close out litigation quickly once they resolve their dispute privately.
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Legal Case Shots is a searchable database of Supreme Court of India judgments, each broken down into the case type, the court's key holding, and a practical lesson learnt, with the full judgment available as a PDF for citation or deeper reading.
The tenant ran a textile business out of two shop rooms he had rented from the landlord decades earlier. The landlord sought to evict him, claiming he needed the rooms for his own business (additional accommodation) and citing other grounds like rent arrears and damage to the premises. The trial court ordered eviction on the "bonafide requirement" ground, but the Rent Control Appellate Authority reversed this, finding the landlord already had plenty of vacant rooms elsewhere. The High Court then overturned the Appellate Authority and restored the eviction order.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court, while hearing a revision petition, had exceeded its limited powers by re-examining and overturning factual findings made by the Appellate Authority. A revisional court can only step in if a finding of fact is "perverse" (totally unreasonable or made while ignoring evidence): it cannot simply re-weigh the evidence and substitute its own view, acting like a second court of appeal. Since the Appellate Authority's findings (that vacant rooms existed, and that the hardship to the tenant outweighed the landlord's need) were not perverse, the High Court should not have disturbed them. The Court therefore set aside the High Court's judgment and restored the Appellate Authority's order in the tenant's favour.
When a law gives a court only "revisional" power over a lower court's decision (as opposed to full appellate power), that court cannot re-decide the facts of the case: it can only intervene if the original decision was clearly unreasonable or legally flawed. This limits endless re-litigation of factual disputes like landlord-tenant hardship.
