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.
TV journalist Amish Devgan, while anchoring a debate in June 2020 about a law on places of worship, referred to the revered Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti using derogatory and inflammatory language. Seven FIRs were registered against him across four states (Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh) for promoting religious enmity and insulting religious beliefs. Devgan approached the Supreme Court directly, asking it to quash all the FIRs, alternatively to club them into one, and also to seek protection against arrest.
The Supreme Court refused to quash the FIRs, holding that at this preliminary stage the allegations disclosed a prima facie case under laws against promoting religious enmity, and that even an unintended slip in a live telecast does not automatically excuse words that could wound religious sentiments of a community. However, to prevent harassment from multiple parallel investigations across states for the same broadcast, the Court ordered all the FIRs to be clubbed and transferred to the police station where the first FIR was registered (Ajmer, Rajasthan). It also granted Devgan interim protection from arrest provided he cooperated with the investigation, and directed the concerned states to assess and address any genuine threat to his safety.
Free speech does not give a broadcaster immunity from prosecution for remarks that could incite religious hatred, but the law also protects a person facing multiple FIRs for the same incident across different states by consolidating them into one investigation, rather than subjecting them to repeated harassment.
