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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Fakhrey Alam was arrested in 2017 in an FIR alleging offences under the IPC, the Arms Act, and Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A first charge sheet covering the IPC/Arms Act offences was filed within 180 days, but the charge sheet for the UAPA offence (which needed government sanction) was filed only after 211 days: two days after the accused had already applied for default bail. The trial court and the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) refused default bail, treating the UAPA charge sheet as merely a "supplementary" charge sheet to the earlier one.
The Supreme Court held that the State could not use the device of calling it a "supplementary" charge sheet to defeat the accused's right to default bail once the 180-day period for the UAPA offence had expired without a charge sheet being filed. Relying on its earlier ruling in Bikramjit Singh v. State of Punjab, the Court reiterated that default bail under the first proviso to Section 167(2) CrPC is a fundamental right flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution, not a mere statutory right, and arises automatically once the prescribed period lapses without a charge sheet. The Court set aside the High Court's order and granted the appellant default bail on terms to be fixed by the trial court, allowing the appeal with no order as to costs.
If police fail to file a charge sheet for a particular offence within the statutory time limit, an accused in custody gets an enforceable, fundamental right to default bail for that offence, and the prosecution cannot stretch the clock by labelling a late charge sheet as merely "supplementary."
