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.
Land belonging to Khajan Singh and another owner in Delhi had been acquired under the old Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the Government took physical possession on specific dates recorded in its affidavit: a fact the landowners themselves admitted in their writ petition. The landowners nevertheless went to the Delhi High Court claiming the acquisition had "lapsed" under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act because compensation had never been paid or tendered to them. Relying on the Supreme Court's 2014 ruling in Pune Municipal Corporation v. Harakchand Solanki, the High Court agreed and declared the acquisition lapsed. The Delhi Government appealed.
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's order. It pointed out that the Pune Municipal Corporation decision the High Court relied upon was expressly overruled by a five-judge Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority v. Manoharlal (2020). Under that ruling, Section 24(2) causes an acquisition to lapse only when both conditions are met, possession has not been taken and compensation has not been paid, for five years or more before the 2013 Act came into force; the word "or" in the section must be read as "nor"/"and". Since possession was admittedly taken here, one of the twin conditions was missing, so there could be no lapse regardless of the compensation issue. The High Court's judgment was therefore held unsustainable.
A landowner cannot claim an old acquisition has lapsed under the 2013 Act merely because compensation was not paid. If the government has already taken possession, the acquisition stands, and the remedy is to pursue the compensation, not to reopen the acquisition. Courts and litigants must apply the law as settled by the Constitution Bench, not earlier rulings that have since been overruled.
