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.
Godowns used by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for grain storage stood on land originally acquired by the government of Bombay for the Government of India, though ownership was never formally transferred to FCI by conveyance deed. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation demanded property tax on these godowns going back to 1969. FCI claimed exemption under Article 285 of the Constitution, which exempts Union government property from state/local taxation, but the Bombay High Court twice rejected FCI's challenge and dismissed its writ petition.
The Supreme Court held that since legal ownership of the land and godowns had never actually passed from the Central Government to FCI, no conveyance deed was ever executed, the property remained "property of the Union" within the meaning of Article 285, making it exempt from municipal property tax regardless of FCI's occupation and use of it. However, the Court clarified that this constitutional exemption only covers taxes on the property itself; it does not exempt FCI from paying service charges for genuine services rendered by the municipal corporation (such as water supply or sewerage), since such charges are fees for services, not a tax on Union property. The appeals were allowed on the tax point, with liberty for the corporation to assess service charges separately.
The constitutional immunity of Union government property from state and local taxes is real but narrow: it blocks taxes on the property itself, not charges for actual municipal services supplied to that property.
