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 bought the ground floor of a two-storey building in Serampore in 2002, with rights including use of the roof. When the first-floor resident (Respondent No. 3) began building on the roof/second floor in 2003 without authorisation, the appellant complained to the municipality. Acting alone, the Municipality's Chairman later cancelled the building sanction, but the municipality took no actual steps to demolish the unauthorised construction despite further writ petitions by the appellant. Respondent No. 3 challenged the cancellation, and the dispute eventually reached the Calcutta High Court through multiple rounds, which held that only the Municipality's full Board of Councilors, not its Chairman acting alone, had the legal power to decide such disputes, and that the appellant's actual rooftop-usage dispute could only be resolved by a civil court.
The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court that under Section 217 of the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1996, only the Board of Councilors as a body, not the Chairman individually, had jurisdiction to decide disputes over alleged misrepresentation in a building-plan sanction. Because the Chairman's 2006 order was therefore passed without jurisdiction and was a nullity, the later municipal directions to demolish the construction (which were based on that order) could not survive either. The Court further agreed that the appellant's actual claim, his right under the sale deed to use the shared roof, was a private civil dispute that could only be adjudicated by a civil court, not resolved through municipal proceedings. The appeal was dismissed.
A government or municipal official can only exercise the specific powers given to their office by law, a single office-bearer cannot act on behalf of a body (like a Board or Council) unless the law specifically permits it, and private property disputes between individuals (such as rights over a shared rooftop) generally have to be resolved in a civil court, not by administrative or municipal action.
