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 Chief Manager with Indian Bank, after being transferred from its Colombo branch to Delhi, sought and was refused extension of personal leave, and then applied for voluntary retirement, requesting a waiver of the mandatory three months' notice period under Regulation 29 of the Pension Regulations, 1995 (offering to have the notice-period salary deducted instead). On the 90th day, the bank rejected his application without giving specific reasons, stating he was ineligible. The employee challenged this before the Delhi High Court; a Single Judge upheld the rejection but the Division Bench, on appeal, quashed it and directed release of his retiral dues. The bank then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the employee's request for a waiver of the three-months' notice was itself in proper form under Regulation 29(3), and the bank's rejection letter gave no reasons for refusing that specific request, as required. It also rejected the bank's argument that the employee was on "deputation" abroad (which would have barred voluntary retirement under a proviso to Regulation 29(1)), finding on the documents that he had been formally transferred to Colombo, not deputed. Since the rejection of the voluntary retirement application was itself illegal, the employee was deemed validly retired from the date he applied, meaning the employer-employee relationship had already ended and any later disciplinary proceedings against him were void. The appeal was dismissed and the High Court's order upheld.
When an employer rejects an employee's statutory request (such as a notice-period waiver for voluntary retirement) without giving the reasons the regulations require, that rejection itself can be struck down as illegal, and once that happens, any later departmental action taken against the employee, treating them as still in service, falls apart too.
