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.
Transfer Petition (Criminal) · 2026 INSC 1060
Where a marriage has irretrievably broken down and the parties reach a genuine, voluntary settlement, including on alimony, the Supreme Court can use its Article 142 powers to grant a mutual-consent divorce and close out all related litigation in one stroke, without requiring the usual statutory waiting period.
Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 1061
In long-running, complex litigation involving apportioned government liabilities across states, the Supreme Court can use a mechanism like a retired-judge committee plus periodic compliance affidavits to bring genuine finality, including firm timelines, transparency obligations, and interest for delayed payment, rather than leaving matters open-ended.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1062
In an "as is where is" liquidation auction, a bidder who voluntarily accepts the auction terms cannot later resile from a forfeiture clause by citing regulatory caps or after-the-fact excuses for non-payment: courts will enforce the auction notice's own conditions.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8338-DB
Once someone is released from custody because the police failed to properly communicate the grounds of arrest, the police cannot simply re-arrest them by adding new charges: a specific, court-supervised procedure with senior-officer accountability must be followed, or the re-arrest itself becomes illegal.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8308
In economic-offence cases, bail can still be granted where the method used to quantify the alleged financial evasion is not adequately justified, and where the apprehension of re-offending is speculative rather than evidence-based.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8323
A parole claim must be backed by a genuine, verifiable application to the competent jail authority: courts will scrutinise irregularities like an incomplete address, an unexplained thumb mark, or reliance on a mere friend's affidavit rather than close family.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8337
Courts can grant short, strictly time-bound interim bail purely on humanitarian/compassionate grounds (such as caring for a seriously ill family member), even while a case remains pending trial and an earlier bail plea has failed.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8312
Courts will not repeatedly re-examine a bail plea already rejected on merits unless the applicant can point to a genuine change in circumstances since the earlier order.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8334
Under the no-fault compensation scheme for railway accidents, a valid ticket-holder injured while attempting to board a train, even carelessly, is generally entitled to compensation unless the railway can show a deliberate, conscious exposure to danger, not mere negligence.
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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.
Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, promoters of DHFL, were arrested by the CBI over an alleged Rs. 34,000-crore bank fraud involving a consortium of 17 banks. The CBI filed a chargesheet against 75 accused (including the respondents) within the statutory time limit, but stated that investigation was continuing against some other named accused. The Special Court and the Delhi High Court held that this made the chargesheet "incomplete" and granted the respondents default bail under Section 167(2) CrPC.
The Supreme Court held that once a chargesheet is filed within the prescribed time and the court takes cognizance on it, the accused's indefeasible right to default bail is extinguished. It is immaterial that further investigation continues against other named accused under Section 173(8) CrPC. Relying on precedents including Dinesh Dalmia and Suresh Kumar Bhikamchand Jain, the Court held a chargesheet is "complete" if it contains the details required by Section 173(2), regardless of pending investigation into other accused or documents. It set aside the bail orders of both lower courts and directed the respondents be taken back into custody.
The right to default/statutory bail under Section 167(2) CrPC exists only until a chargesheet is filed within the statutory period; once filed and cognizance taken, that right ends even if the investigation continues against co-accused. The accused must then seek bail on ordinary merits.
