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 respondent, a primary school teacher employed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, applied for the post of PGT (English, Female) advertised by DSSSB, but was over the prescribed age limit of 36 years. She claimed she was entitled to a 5-year age relaxation available to "Government servants and departmental candidates." The Central Administrative Tribunal and the Delhi High Court both ruled in her favour, treating the Municipal Corporation as a government body. DSSSB appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the Municipal Corporation is an autonomous statutory body, not the Central Government, so a Central Government circular restricting age relaxation to "Central Government Civilian Employees" did not cover the respondent. It also rejected her alternative argument that she qualified as a "departmental candidate" merely because the Corporation's recruitment rules offered teachers a promotional channel, holding that a promotional avenue within one organisation does not make an employee a "departmental candidate" for a direct-recruitment post in a different, unrelated recruiting body (DSSSB). Since she did not fall within either exempted category, she was not entitled to the age relaxation she had claimed. The Court allowed the appeal and set aside both the Tribunal's and the High Court's orders in her favour.
Age-relaxation and similar eligibility concessions in government recruitment are strictly construed according to the exact category of employer and employee defined in the rules, working for one public body does not automatically make you eligible for relaxations meant for employees of a different, specifically-named body (here, the Central Government).
