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.
Soutrik secured admission to IIT Kharagpur's Chemical Engineering program in 2020 through the JEE (Advanced) process but wanted to re-attempt JEE (Advanced) in 2021 for a different course. The IIT's eligibility rules (Criterion 5) barred any candidate who had accepted and reported to an IIT seat from reappearing for JEE (Advanced) in a later year, unlike candidates who had joined non-IIT institutions. The Calcutta High Court's Single Judge held this criterion discriminatory and arbitrary, and directed the IIT to reconsider Soutrik's case and let him register for JEE (Advanced) 2021 in the meantime. The IIT appealed directly to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that courts must be circumspect in reviewing academic admission policies set by expert bodies and should not strike them down unless they are plainly arbitrary or discriminatory. It found that IIT seats and non-IIT seats are not comparable because an abandoned IIT seat (a scarce, nationally important public resource) cannot be refilled, whereas Criterion 5 was devised after extensive inter-institutional consultation and applied uniformly to all candidates. The Court held the High Court erred in equating the two categories and in second-guessing the IIT's admission policy, set aside the High Court's judgment, and dismissed Soutrik's writ petition, with no order as to costs.
Courts give significant deference to the policy judgments of specialised academic institutions on admission criteria, and will not interfere unless the policy is shown to be plainly arbitrary or discriminatory: a bare claim of unfairness or hardship to one candidate is not enough.
