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.
The landlords sued to evict their tenant from a shop in Calcutta on four grounds, including sub-letting and unauthorized construction. The trial court found the sub-letting and construction grounds proven and decreed eviction, but the Calcutta High Court reversed this on appeal, holding neither ground was made out, and dismissed the eviction suit entirely. The landlords appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court focused on the sub-letting ground, noting a landlord need only prove one valid ground among several to secure eviction. It examined the tenant's own testimony, which kept shifting, first denying any sub-letting, then claiming the occupant (Joynal Mullick) was his employee, then calling him his business partner, without producing any supporting document (a statutory employment declaration or a partnership deed) for either claim. Relying on its earlier ruling in Bharat Sales Ltd. vs. LIC on how sub-letting is typically proved through circumstantial inference given its clandestine nature, the Court held that the tenant's contradictory and unsubstantiated stand, combined with the landlord's proof that a third party was in exclusive possession, established sub-letting. It set aside the High Court's judgment, restored the trial court's eviction decree, and granted the tenant three months to vacate on depositing arrears of rent and mesne profits.
In an eviction case a landlord only needs to prove one valid ground; and when a tenant gives inconsistent, unsupported explanations for a third party's presence in the premises, courts can infer sub-letting even without direct proof of a rent-sharing arrangement between the tenant and the occupant.
