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.
A foreign company operated round-trip cruise ships out of Mumbai, with an Indian agent handling bookings and collecting fares. The dispute was over how much of the foreign company's income should be taxed in India: the assessee claimed a lower rate (7.5% of fares) available under Section 44B for entities engaged in the "carriage of passengers," while the tax department argued the cruises were really hospitality and entertainment packages, not simple transportation, and should be taxed at a higher rate (25%). Lower appellate authorities and the Bombay High Court sided with the assessee, prompting the tax department's appeal.
The Supreme Court held that the tax officer's narrow view, that "carriage" only means point-to-point travel from Port A to Port B, was incorrect. It found that passengers could board round trips and disembark at intermediate ports without being compelled to return, that the primary fees collected were for cabin and transport, and that on-board entertainment was merely incidental to the core business of operating ships. On these facts, the cruise operator's activity qualified as "carriage of passengers" under Section 44B, so the concurrent findings of the tax tribunal and High Court were upheld and the Revenue's appeals (along with a companion appeal for a different assessment year) were dismissed.
Providing amenities like meals or entertainment alongside transportation does not automatically strip an activity of its character as "carriage of passengers" for tax purposes. Courts will look at the primary purpose and how fares are structured, not just the presence of incidental services.
