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.
A dispute arose between a public-sector disaster management authority and a private equipment supplier over payment for goods supplied, governed by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. The Facilitation Council passed an arbitral award directing the Authority to pay over Rs. 10.5 crore to the supplier. When the Authority tried to challenge this award in court, it was required to first deposit 75% of the awarded amount, a mandatory pre-condition under the MSME Act. The Authority sought to avoid or reduce this deposit, and after losing before the trial court and High Court, appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that depositing 75% of the awarded amount before a court will even entertain a challenge to an MSME arbitral award is mandatory under Section 19 of the MSME Act, confirming its earlier ruling in Goodyear India Ltd. v. Norton Intech Rubbers. The only flexibility courts have is to allow this 75% to be paid in instalments if genuine hardship is shown: they cannot waive or reduce the percentage itself. Since the Authority had already deposited a reduced interim amount under an earlier Supreme Court order and the appellate authority was about to decide the underlying dispute, the Court let that interim arrangement continue but disposed of the appeal by confirming the law and clarifying it should not be treated as a precedent for lowering the mandatory deposit in other cases.
If you want to challenge an award passed under the MSME Act, you must be prepared to deposit 75% of the awarded sum upfront: courts have no power to excuse or reduce this amount, only to spread it over instalments in deserving cases.
