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 was awarded a major construction contract for the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project, one of India's largest hydropower projects, with the contract's arbitration clause stating that "Arbitration Proceedings shall be held at New Delhi/Faridabad, India." After disputes arose and arbitral awards were made (with hearings and signing of the awards actually taking place in New Delhi), a question arose as to whether a party could challenge the award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 before the courts in Faridabad (where part of the cause of action arose) or only in New Delhi. Three connected appeals raised this same jurisdictional question.
The Supreme Court held that where an arbitration clause designates a place using language like "shall be held" at a particular location, without qualifying words suggesting it is merely a convenient meeting "venue," that location is to be treated as the juridical "seat" of arbitration, not just a venue: a seat carries the legal consequence of exclusive jurisdiction under Section 20(1) of the Act. Since all three arbitrations in question were actually conducted and the awards signed at New Delhi, the Court held that New Delhi had been chosen by the parties as the seat, giving the courts there exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to the award, irrespective of where part of the cause of action arose. The Court accordingly set aside the impugned judgment and directed that the Section 34 petitions be filed in the courts at New Delhi, allowing all three appeals.
In arbitration agreements, the place named for conducting proceedings is usually treated as the legal "seat" (which fixes which courts have exclusive jurisdiction over the arbitration) unless the clause's own language clearly shows it is only a flexible meeting venue, so parties drafting or relying on arbitration clauses should pay close attention to location-related wording, since it can determine which court alone can hear a challenge to the award.
