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.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1066
Courts will not infer a concluded oral contract for the sale of immovable property just because the other side's witnesses seemed evasive: the party seeking specific performance must independently and affirmatively prove every essential term was genuinely agreed.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1065
Even in serious, high-value corruption cases, prolonged pre-trial detention cannot be used as a substitute for punishment when the trial is unlikely to conclude soon and the evidence is already secured: bail remains the touchstone principle under Article 21's personal liberty protection.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1067
Preventive detention cannot be used as a backdoor way to keep someone in custody once the ordinary criminal process, including bail, has already run its course on the same facts; the detaining authority must show a genuine, independent risk of future harm, not just recycle the criminal case file.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1068
In land acquisition disputes, courts will readily restore a uniform, fair market rate across similarly-situated parcels, but ancillary compensation heads (like moveable equipment such as tubewells) still require the claimant to prove their case with admissible evidence, not private reports whose authors were never examined in court.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8447
If you are injured while genuinely trying to board or exit a train, you are very likely covered under railway "untoward incident" compensation law, even if you technically hadn't fully boarded yet: courts read this protection broadly in favour of passengers, and contemporaneous official records (station logs, police diary entries) carry more weight than a statement taken from you much later.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8404
Courts will not entertain vague, unsubstantiated allegations of judicial bias, and a request to combine cases becomes moot once the other related proceedings have already concluded: genuine grievances about trial delay or procedure must be backed by specific, demonstrable facts, not just repeated litigation.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8403
Anticipatory bail can be granted even in matrimonial cases involving serious sexual-offence allegations where there is unexplained delay in reporting, no evidence substantiating the need for custodial interrogation, and the investigating agency's own conduct (e.g., undocumented "verbal" notices) fails to justify arrest, though this is assessed only for bail purposes, not as a finding on guilt.
Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8407
In family property disputes, signing a Relinquishment Deed acknowledging receipt of consideration, and then waiting years without challenging it or pursuing your claimed share, will make it very difficult to later prove you were never actually paid; courts expect contemporaneous action (a legal notice, a suit) and corroborating evidence, not delayed assertions alone.
Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8401
A tenant who claims to have paid a large sum toward an informal "mortgage" or side arrangement must be able to prove it with solid evidence (receipts, corroborating witnesses): bare assertions, especially when contradicted by one's own family members under cross-examination, will not defeat a landlord's claim for rent and possession.
6201 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.
HP and Lenovo imported All-in-One desktop computers (the processor is built into the display unit, which is usually a touch screen at least 18.5 inches across, needs mains power, and is designed to sit on a stand or be wall-mounted). They self-classified them under Tariff Item 8471 50 00 ("processing units"). Customs reclassified them under 8471 30 10 ("portable digital automatic data processing machines, weighing not more than 10 kg.. personal computer"), which, although the duty rate is the same, triggers valuation on the basis of retail sale price and therefore a higher duty bill. The Commissioner (Appeals) and CESTAT upheld Customs' view, essentially because the machines weigh under 10 kg and can be lifted and carried; CESTAT relied on dictionary meanings and the Commissioner cited Wikipedia.
The Supreme Court allowed both appeals. It rejected the importers' argument that "portable" requires a built-in battery: the Harmonised System notes only say such machines "may" work without external power. But it also held that weight under 10 kg cannot be the sole test: "portable" must be understood in the context of the trade in computers, not by generic dictionary definitions, and technical literature (IEEE, Oxford, Microsoft dictionaries) shows two essential ingredients: the machine must be easy to carry (considering weight, dimensions, and necessary accessories like stands and power adapters) and suitable for a consumer's daily transit (durable, with cases or bags designed for it). All-in-One desktops, with 18.5-inch-plus screens, mandatory stands and cables, no protective cases, and user guides warning against moving them out of their fixed orientation, fail both tests. The Court also cautioned adjudicating authorities against relying on crowd-sourced sites like Wikipedia in legal decision-making, and noted the burden of proving a different classification lies on Customs, which it failed to discharge. The goods were ordered to be valued under the importers' original classification, 8471 50 00.
Technical words in a tax schedule are read as the relevant trade understands them, not by a bare dictionary meaning, and when Customs wants to reclassify what an importer declared, the burden is on Customs to prove it. The Court also flagged that Wikipedia and similar user-edited sources are not reliable authority for legal decisions.
