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.
A landlord sought eviction of his tenant from a rented non-residential premises in Tamil Nadu, claiming he bona fide needed it to set up a garment shop (and intended to demolish and rebuild it). Both the Rent Controller and the Appellate Authority found in the landlord's favour and ordered eviction, but the Madras High Court, in a revision petition, reversed those concurrent findings and held the bona fide requirement was not proved. The landlord then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court had exceeded its limited revisional jurisdiction by re-appreciating the entire evidence as if hearing a fresh appeal, instead of only checking for perversity in the lower courts' findings. It found the landlord's bona fide need for the premises (to run a garment shop, even without proof of an approved construction plan) was properly established, especially since the tenant had admitted in cross-examination to owning two other business premises, undercutting any claim of hardship. The Court also held that bona fide requirement must be judged as of the date the eviction petition was filed, not years later, since a landlord should not be penalised for the slowness of the judicial process; it therefore set aside the High Court's order, restored the eviction order, and allowed the tenant time until 31 January 2021 to vacate.
In rent-eviction disputes, a landlord's bona fide need is assessed as of the date of filing the eviction petition, and a revisional court cannot simply re-weigh evidence to substitute its own view for concurrent factual findings of the courts below.
