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.
DTC had issued a 2007-08 recruitment advertisement for drivers, with the selection process conducted by a separate examining body (respondent no. 2). The Delhi High Court found the entire recruitment process illegal because candidates were selected solely on marks given in a viva-voce test, with no guidelines on how those marks were allotted, and directed DTC to appoint the respondent (Sandeep Kaushik) as a driver on his merit position, without back wages. DTC appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that 14 years had passed, driver posts were now filled only on contract, the respondent (then about 49) would need to pass a fresh driving test, and DTC itself had not committed any illegality since the selection process was run by respondent no. 2.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's finding that the recruitment process was bad in law because selection was based solely on viva marks without proper guidelines. However, it held that actually appointing the respondent as a driver now, 14 years later, was not practically possible given the changed circumstances (no regular driver posts, need to clear a fresh driving test, approaching retirement age). Balancing this, the Court modified the High Court's order and directed DTC to pay the respondent Rs. 7.5 lakh as lump-sum compensation in lieu of appointment, with 6% interest from September 2013 until payment, within eight weeks, with liberty to recover this amount from respondent no. 2 (the body that conducted the flawed selection).
Even where a recruitment process is held illegal, courts may award monetary compensation instead of directing actual appointment when too much time has passed and ground realities have changed, ensuring the wronged candidate is still compensated without forcing an impractical remedy.
