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 appellant, a postgraduate in Psychology, applied for the post of "Psychologist" under a 2001 advertisement by the U.P. Social Welfare Department. He cleared the written exam and interview and was placed in the merit list, but was later told at the document-verification stage that he was ineligible because he lacked a teaching qualification (L.T./B.T./B.Ed.). His writ petition and subsequent appeal and review before the Allahabad High Court were all dismissed on the view that the post required both a Psychology degree and a teaching certificate.
The Supreme Court examined the original Hindi-language advertisement and found that the use of the stroke symbol ("/") between "Graduate/L.T./B.T.B.Ed." indicated alternative qualifications (any one of them, each in the subject of Psychology), not a requirement to hold all of them together: contrary to how the State and High Court had read it. The Court also examined the actual 1991 statutory recruitment rules, which prescribed only an M.A. in Psychology as the essential qualification (B.Ed. being merely preferential), and held that where an advertisement conflicts with statutory rules, the rules prevail. Since the appellant held a postgraduate degree in Psychology, he was fully qualified, and denying him appointment was arbitrary and illegal. The Court set aside the High Court's judgments, allowed the appeals, and directed the State to issue the appellant his appointment order within two months.
When a government job advertisement's wording conflicts with the underlying statutory recruitment rules, the statutory rules control: a candidate cannot be denied a job based on a stricter or ambiguous reading of the advertisement if they meet the qualification actually fixed by law.
