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.
A law professor who had practiced as an advocate for about eight years before joining a university as a lecturer in 1984 sought to have that Bar experience counted toward his pension under a Kerala service rule, which at the time of his appointment allowed such credit. By the time he retired in 2007, however, a 1985 amendment had added a proviso restricting this benefit only to those recruited specifically for law-qualification posts requiring Bar experience, and the university denied him the benefit on this basis, a decision upheld by the Kerala High Court. The professor pointed out that another colleague in an identical situation, Dr. P. Leela Krishnan, had been granted the very same benefit by the same university.
The Supreme Court accepted the general legal principle that pension rules applicable at the time of retirement (not appointment) govern pension calculation. However, it found no justification for the university applying the restrictive proviso to this professor while granting the benefit to a colleague in an identical factual position, both had joined before the 1985 amendment and retired after it, yet were treated differently with no explanation offered by the university. The Court held this selective, unequal application of the rule was arbitrary and violated the constitutional guarantee of equality under Article 14. It set aside the High Court's judgment, ruled the professor entitled to have his Bar practice counted, and directed the university to recalculate and pay the pension shortfall with 5% annual interest within two months.
Even where a rule change validly limits a benefit, an employer cannot apply that rule inconsistently, granting it to one employee while denying an identical benefit to another in the same position is unconstitutional discrimination, regardless of how the general rule itself is framed.
