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.
Employees working as Stenographers at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration sought the same pay-scale parity with Central Government employees that the Supreme Court had earlier granted to different employees (Senior Stenographers) in the 2010 case Yogeshwar Prasad vs. National Institute. They argued they were similarly situated and that the government had, in any case, already extended the same benefit to four other persons who were not even party to that earlier case, which they said amounted to discrimination against them.
The Supreme Court held that pay parity could only be extended if the petitioners were genuinely similarly situated to the employees in the earlier Yogeshwar Prasad case. On examining the record, it found the petitioners held a lower post (Junior Stenographer/Stenographer Grade-II) than the Senior Stenographers/Stenographer Grade-I post involved in the earlier case, and that two of the three petitioners had only been promoted to the higher grade many years later under subsequent Pay Commissions, while the third had retired without ever being promoted. Since they were not comparably placed, the Court found no merit in the discrimination claim and dismissed the writ petition.
A claim to "equal pay for equal work" or parity with another group succeeds only if the claimant can show they were actually similarly placed (same post, same timeline) as the comparator group: a general resemblance in job title or department is not enough.
