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.
Transfer Petition (Criminal) · 2026 INSC 1060
Where a marriage has irretrievably broken down and the parties reach a genuine, voluntary settlement, including on alimony, the Supreme Court can use its Article 142 powers to grant a mutual-consent divorce and close out all related litigation in one stroke, without requiring the usual statutory waiting period.
Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 1061
In long-running, complex litigation involving apportioned government liabilities across states, the Supreme Court can use a mechanism like a retired-judge committee plus periodic compliance affidavits to bring genuine finality, including firm timelines, transparency obligations, and interest for delayed payment, rather than leaving matters open-ended.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1062
In an "as is where is" liquidation auction, a bidder who voluntarily accepts the auction terms cannot later resile from a forfeiture clause by citing regulatory caps or after-the-fact excuses for non-payment: courts will enforce the auction notice's own conditions.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8338-DB
Once someone is released from custody because the police failed to properly communicate the grounds of arrest, the police cannot simply re-arrest them by adding new charges: a specific, court-supervised procedure with senior-officer accountability must be followed, or the re-arrest itself becomes illegal.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8308
In economic-offence cases, bail can still be granted where the method used to quantify the alleged financial evasion is not adequately justified, and where the apprehension of re-offending is speculative rather than evidence-based.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8323
A parole claim must be backed by a genuine, verifiable application to the competent jail authority: courts will scrutinise irregularities like an incomplete address, an unexplained thumb mark, or reliance on a mere friend's affidavit rather than close family.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8337
Courts can grant short, strictly time-bound interim bail purely on humanitarian/compassionate grounds (such as caring for a seriously ill family member), even while a case remains pending trial and an earlier bail plea has failed.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8312
Courts will not repeatedly re-examine a bail plea already rejected on merits unless the applicant can point to a genuine change in circumstances since the earlier order.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8334
Under the no-fault compensation scheme for railway accidents, a valid ticket-holder injured while attempting to board a train, even carelessly, is generally entitled to compensation unless the railway can show a deliberate, conscious exposure to danger, not mere negligence.
6171 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.
A 14-year-old girl in West Bengal went missing from home in 2018 and was later found to have been enticed away by an adult man with the help of his sisters; she gave birth to his child, and he was the admitted biological father. A Special Court convicted the man under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and related provisions of the Indian Penal Code, sentencing him to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment. The Calcutta High Court, however, controversially acquitted him, noting that the girl's mother had disowned her and that she was continuing to live with the accused and their child, and used its inherent powers to set aside the POCSO conviction as well. Alarmed by this reasoning, the Chief Justice of India initiated suo motu proceedings, and the West Bengal Government separately appealed the acquittal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court restored the conviction, holding that the High Court could not use its inherent/writ powers to override a factual finding of guilt under POCSO and effectively legitimise what remained a case of sexual offence against a minor, regardless of the couple's subsequent cohabitation or the birth of a child. The Court found the conviction under Section 376(2)(n)/(3) IPC and Section 6 POCSO Act must stand, while confirming the acquittal on the separate kidnapping-related charges. Recognising the extraordinarily difficult position of the now-adult victim, who has a child with the convict and nowhere else to turn, the Court directed the West Bengal Government to set up an expert committee (including a psychologist and social scientist) to sensitively counsel her, explain all government rehabilitation benefits available, and help her make a genuinely informed choice about her and her child's future, with sentencing on the accused deferred until this report is received. The Court also directed the judgment be circulated to all States/Union Territories to ensure the mandatory victim-rehabilitation provisions of the POCSO Act and Juvenile Justice Act are properly implemented going forward.
A criminal conviction for a sexual offence against a minor cannot be undone merely because the victim later continues living with the offender or has a child with him. The law's protective purpose survives such circumstances, and the State has a continuing duty to ensure genuine victim rehabilitation and informed choice, not just secure a conviction on paper.
