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.
7878 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreLegal Case Shots is built to help you quickly identify and understand relevant precedent. For citation in pleadings or filings, always verify against the full judgment PDF and current citation format (e.g., 2026 INSC ___).
The holding is what the court legally decided. The lesson learnt translates that into a practical takeaway: what a lawyer should factor into case strategy or client advice as a result of this precedent.
Both. Each case shows a distilled summary (case type, key holding, and lesson learnt) and links to the full judgment as a PDF for when you need the complete text for research or citation.
Yes. Use Advanced Filters to narrow results by decision date and by practice area, including Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Service & Administrative Law, Family Law, Civil Property & Inheritance, and Labour & Industrial Law.
Yes. You can filter judgments by the judge or bench that decided the case, which is useful for tracking how a particular judge has reasoned on similar issues across multiple rulings.
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.
Magnum Power Generation had a 1998 power purchase agreement with the Haryana Electricity Board (now represented by the Haryana Power Purchase Centre, "HPPC") to supply electricity from its plant. A 2003 state tariff order effectively stopped the Board from drawing any power from Magnum's plant (as too costly for consumers) while also recognising Magnum's entitlement to be paid a "fixed cost" regardless of whether power was actually purchased from it. When Magnum sought payment of these fixed costs, the state regulator and the Electricity Appellate Tribunal ruled against it for not having actually supplied the contractually required minimum output. Separately, in the connected appeals carrying this very diary number (Civil Appeal Nos. 4407-4408 of 2011), HPPC's own appeal to the Appellate Tribunal had earlier been dismissed because a 327-day delay in filing was not condoned.
In the lead, connected appeals (Civil Appeal Nos. 7446-7447 of 2012), the Supreme Court held that the 2003 tariff order had already settled that fixed costs must be paid to Magnum regardless of actual power drawn, since the Board itself had chosen not to draw the power in consumers' interest, and the Board had in fact already collected these fixed costs from consumers without passing them on to Magnum. The Court set aside the lower rulings and directed the Board to pay the demanded fixed costs with interest. As for HPPC's own appeals bearing this diary number (Civil Appeal Nos. 4407-4408 of 2011), the Court held that nothing survived in them once the lead appeals were decided in Magnum's favour, and disposed of them on that basis, alongside noting that the Tribunal's refusal to condone HPPC's 327-day delay stood unchallenged.
When a regulator stops a supplier from delivering a contracted service in the larger public interest, the supplier can still be entitled to its guaranteed fixed costs under the contract; and an appeal that depends entirely on a related, separately-decided matter can be finally disposed of as infructuous once that related matter is resolved.
