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 Food Corporation of India (FCI) had advertised a post of Assistant Grade-II (Hindi), requiring one year's experience in English-Hindi translation. A candidate, Rimjhim, ranked 6th in the merit list but was denied appointment because FCI said she had not produced a proper experience certificate along with her application or at the time of document verification. She challenged this in the Delhi High Court, where a Single Judge upheld FCI's decision, but the Division Bench reversed it, accepting certificates she later produced showing she did have the required experience. FCI then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court dismissed FCI's appeal and upheld the Division Bench's ruling in the candidate's favour. The Court held that the advertisement did not expressly require the experience certificate to be submitted along with the application, and FCI had never disputed the authenticity of the certificates the candidate later produced. Relying on its earlier rulings in Charles K. Skaria v. Dr. C. Mathew and Dolly Chhanda v. Chairman, JEE, the Court distinguished between an "essential" substantive requirement (actually having the experience) and a merely "ancillary" mode of proving it, holding that producing proof later does not invalidate a candidate's merit if the underlying qualification genuinely existed before the relevant date. FCI was directed to consider her for appointment on merits.
When a job requirement is genuinely met, a technical delay or informality in submitting proof of that requirement should not be used to deny an otherwise meritorious candidate their rightful consideration: substance should prevail over rigid procedural formality.
