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.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, three sets of petitioners (a media professionals' foundation, an individual, and a private schools' association) challenged the Jammu and Kashmir administration's restriction of mobile internet to 2G speed, arguing it crippled access to healthcare information, online education and business during the pandemic. The administration defended the restriction citing a sharp rise in terrorist incidents and cross-border threats in the Union Territory since August 2019.
The Court held that fundamental rights must be balanced against genuine national security concerns, and found the government's security justification credible given documented terrorist incidents. However, it noted the restrictions were imposed uniformly across the entire Union Territory without reasons showing every district needed them, which sits uneasily with the proportionality principle laid down in the Court's earlier Anuradha Bhasin judgment. Rather than itself ordering 4G restoration, the Court directed the Union Home Secretary, the Communications Secretary and the J&K Chief Secretary to constitute a Special Committee to re-examine the necessity and territorial scope of the restrictions, including the feasibility of faster internet on a trial basis in specific areas. The petitions were disposed of in these terms.
Courts can require the executive to periodically justify and narrow emergency restrictions on fundamental rights (like internet access) rather than either rubber-stamping them indefinitely or substituting their own technical judgment for the government's security assessment.
