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.
Under a rehabilitation scheme, persons who lost at least 2 acres of land to Eastern Coalfields' mining expansion were entitled to employment. The respondent's own landholding, as per the Land Acquisition Collector's certificate, was only 0.3 acres; he reached the 2.01-acre threshold only by adding land belonging to relatives (father, brother, nephews) who had executed affidavits in his favour. The High Court (Single Judge and Division Bench) had accepted this combined figure and directed Eastern Coalfields to give him employment.
The Supreme Court held that self-serving affidavits from relatives do not transfer any title or legal interest in land, and so cannot be added to a claimant's own landholding to meet an eligibility threshold meant to measure the specific individual's/family's loss. Examining how "family" is treated as the relevant unit under compensation and rehabilitation law (including the 2013 Land Acquisition Act's definition), the Court held that affidavit-donors who were not dependents of the respondent could not be clubbed with him as one family unit. Since the respondent's own documented landholding fell short of the 2-acre threshold, the Court set aside the High Court's judgments and dismissed the respondent's original writ petition.
Eligibility thresholds based on landholding size must be proven through actual title documents and cannot be inflated by informal affidavits from relatives who have no dependent relationship with the claimant; courts look to genuine legal title and family-unit rules, not paper arrangements, when deciding entitlement under rehabilitation schemes.
