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.
GR Green Life Energy (the contractor/appellant) and Leitwind Shriram Manufacturing had signed a 2014 Development Agreement to set up a wind farm in Maharashtra, containing a three-member arbitration clause. After a payment dispute arose, the respondent invoked arbitration and sought appointment of an arbitrator from the Madras High Court when the appellant did not nominate its own arbitrator; meanwhile, the appellant separately registered under the MSMED Act and sought resolution through the Facilitation Council, Pune. The Madras High Court held that counter-claims could not be referred to the MSMED Facilitation Council and appointed an arbitration process under the 1996 Act, which the appellant then challenged before the Supreme Court.
During the Supreme Court proceedings, both parties agreed to resolve their disputes through a Court-appointed Sole Arbitrator instead of the three-member tribunal originally envisaged in the contract. The Court accordingly appointed a former High Court judge as Sole Arbitrator to decide all claims and counter-claims arising from the Development Agreement, to be conducted by the Madras High Court Arbitration Centre under its rules and the appointee's Section 12 independence/impartiality declarations. As a consequence, the parallel proceeding the appellant had initiated before the MSMED Facilitation Council, Pune was directed to stand closed, and the appeal was disposed of in these agreed terms.
Parties can modify their original arbitration clause by mutual consent even during litigation (here, moving from a three-member panel to a sole arbitrator), and registering under the MSMED Act does not allow a contractor to sidestep a validly invoked arbitration clause when the dispute involves counter-claims the MSMED Act's Facilitation Council has no power to adjudicate.
