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.
Land measuring about 5 bighas across several khasra numbers had been acquired by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) years earlier. The landowners went to the Delhi High Court arguing that since compensation had not been paid to them, the acquisition should be treated as having lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 land acquisition law. The High Court agreed and declared the entire acquisition lapsed, relying on an earlier Supreme Court ruling (Pune Municipal Corporation) that treated non-payment of compensation alone as enough to lapse an acquisition. The DDA appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court noted that a five-judge Constitution Bench had since overruled the Pune Municipal Corporation view in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal (2020), clarifying that acquisition lapses under Section 24(2) only if BOTH possession was not taken AND compensation was not paid, not if either one alone is missing. Here, government records showed physical possession of most of the land had actually been taken back in 2010 by drawing formal possession proceedings (a panchnama), which the Court held is legally sufficient even without literal physical dispossession. Since possession had been taken for almost all the land (except a small built-up 3-biswa portion), there was no automatic lapse. The Supreme Court therefore set aside the High Court's judgment and allowed the DDA's appeal.
An acquisition does not automatically lapse merely because compensation was delayed. If the government took possession of the land (even through official possession proceedings/panchnama rather than physical takeover), that is enough to prevent the acquisition from lapsing under the 2013 Act.
