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.
This case arose from the Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi, where demonstrators opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 occupied and blocked a public road (the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, including the Okhla underpass) for an extended period starting December 2019. A petition was earlier filed in the Delhi High Court seeking removal of the blockade, and the Supreme Court had appointed interlocutors to negotiate with the protestors and find an alternative protest site. The petitioner, Amit Sahni, appealed to the Supreme Court after the High Court's handling of the matter, seeking a clear ruling on whether such indefinite occupation of a public road was lawful.
The Supreme Court held that while citizens have a fundamental right to peaceful protest and dissent, including against government legislation, this right must be balanced against the rights of other citizens to move freely and use public spaces. Protests cannot take the form of indefinite occupation of public roads in a manner that causes ongoing inconvenience to commuters and the general public; such demonstrations must be confined to designated areas. The Court held that the administration has a duty to keep public ways clear of such obstructions and should not need to rely on repeated court intervention to act. It closed the proceedings, disposing of the appeal and declining to award costs.
The constitutional right to protest does not include an unlimited right to occupy and block public roads indefinitely: protestors can be lawfully required to demonstrate in a designated manner and place that does not infringe on the public's right to move freely.
