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.
Dr. Hira Lal, a retired Touring Veterinary Officer in Bihar, was implicated in the fodder scam and placed under suspension in 2002, remaining suspended until his retirement in 2008. On retirement, the State paid him only 90% of his pension and withheld the remaining 10% along with his full gratuity, citing old administrative circulars (1974) and a government resolution (1980) that allowed such withholding while criminal proceedings were pending. He challenged this before the Patna High Court, which ruled against him at both the single-judge and division-bench stages.
The Supreme Court held that the 1974 circulars and 1980 resolution were merely executive instructions without the force of law, and could not override the statutory Bihar Pension Rules, under which pension could only be withheld after a finding of guilt, not merely during pendency of proceedings. Relying on its own precedent (State of Jharkhand v. Jitendra Kumar Srivastava) and earlier Constitution Bench rulings, the Court held pension is "property" under Article 300A and cannot be curtailed by executive fiat. However, a 2012 amendment to the Pension Rules (Rule 43(c)) had since validly empowered the State to withhold up to 10% of pension during pending proceedings, so the Court ordered full release of the withheld 10% pension and 90% of gratuity for the period before the 2012 amendment, while permitting continued withholding of the balance from 2012 onward until the criminal case concludes.
A government cannot withhold an employee's earned pension or gratuity merely through internal circulars or resolutions: such restrictions must be backed by a statutory rule, since pension is a constitutionally protected property right, not a bounty.
