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.
For the 2018-19 academic year, the Union Government initially said admission to BHMS (homeopathy) courses would follow the NEET merit list, as set out in a February 2018 information brochure. But after the NEET exam was already conducted and results declared, the Government issued a letter in June 2018 introducing a new eligibility rule requiring candidates to score a minimum 50th percentile (open category) or 40th percentile (reserved category) in NEET: a change made mid-way through the ongoing admission process. The Association of Homeopathic Medical Colleges challenged this change before the Bombay High Court, arguing it would leave many seats vacant, but the High Court dismissed the challenge, so the Association (and a related Ayurvedic colleges' case) appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court noted that several other High Courts (Patna, Karnataka, Madras, Rajasthan, Punjab & Haryana, Allahabad, Kolkata) had already allowed admissions in their states without regard to the new percentile requirement, and that the Government had not challenged any of those orders, creating an unfair lack of uniformity across states. Given that seats in Maharashtra remained vacant and depriving genuine students of opportunities served no one's interest, the Court held that admissions should proceed based on the original February 2018 brochure criteria (minimum NEET marks, not minimum percentile). It directed the colleges to complete admissions strictly on merit by 15 February 2019 and to hold extra classes to make up for lost time, but explicitly clarified that this relief was based on the peculiar facts of the case, was not to be treated as a precedent, and expressed no view on whether a minimum-percentile criterion is valid in principle. A connected appeal involving Ayurvedic colleges was disposed of on the same terms.
Changing admission eligibility rules midway through an ongoing admission cycle, after the exam has already been held, can be struck down as unfair, especially when it creates inconsistent outcomes for similarly placed students across different states.
