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.
Respondent No. 1 took a selection exam for the post of Junior Lecturer in Mathematics conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in 2011, scoring slightly below the last selected candidate in the Open Category. The selected candidate chose not to join the post. Four years later, Respondent No. 1 approached the A.P. Administrative Tribunal claiming he should be appointed to the resulting vacancy as the next-highest scorer, but his application was dismissed for delay. The High Court, on writ petition, reversed this and directed the Commission to appoint him, prompting the Commission's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court examined the APPSC Rules of Procedure, noting that the pre-1997 version of Rule 6 allowed a one-year "waiting list" from which the Commission could fill fallout vacancies caused by non-joining candidates, but the amended Rule 6 (in force since 1997) abolished this waiting-list mechanism: fallout vacancies must instead be carried into the next recruitment cycle, not filled from the old merit list. Reading amended Rule 6 together with Rule 7 (which deals with relinquishment), the Court held the Commission had no power to appoint the next-ranked candidate once a selected candidate failed to join, and that Respondent No.1 had no legal right to appointment under the rules actually in force. The Court also noted his claim was independently barred by the four-year delay and laches in approaching the Tribunal. The High Court's judgment was set aside and the Commission's appeal was allowed.
When a selected candidate for a government post declines to join, candidates lower in the merit list cannot automatically claim the vacancy if the governing recruitment rules have abolished the "waiting list" system: the applicable rule is the one in force at the time, and courts cannot grant relief that conflicts with the Commission's own binding regulations, especially after years of delay in raising the claim.
