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 the respondent, Jai Pal, had been acquired by the Delhi government under the old Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The Delhi High Court ruled that this acquisition had "lapsed" under Section 24(2) of the newer 2013 land acquisition law, on the ground that compensation had not been paid, relying on a 2014 Supreme Court decision (Pune Municipal Corporation). The Delhi government appealed, pointing out that it had claimed possession of the land was actually taken back in 2008, and that the legal precedent the High Court relied on had since been overturned.
The Supreme Court noted that the Pune Municipal Corporation judgment relied on by the High Court had been expressly overruled by a later, larger five-judge Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority vs Manoharlal (2020), which clarified that a land acquisition lapses under Section 24(2) only if both possession has not been taken AND compensation has not been paid, not if either one alone is missing. Since the Delhi government maintained that possession of the land had already been taken in 2008, there could be no automatic "lapse" merely because compensation was allegedly unpaid. The Court set aside the High Court's judgment and dismissed the original writ petition, holding there was no deemed lapse of the acquisition.
Under the 2013 land acquisition law, an old acquisition only "lapses" if the government failed on both fronts, neither taking possession nor paying compensation, for five years or more; if the government took possession of the land, non-payment of compensation alone will not undo the acquisition.
