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 commercial dispute between partners of a construction firm and a company went to arbitration under an agreement that required the arbitrator to make the award within four months of receiving the agreement, extendable only with both parties' consent. After a substitute arbitrator was appointed by the Supreme Court, the four-month period expired without the appellants' consent to extend it, yet the arbitrator continued the proceedings and rejected the appellants' objection that his mandate had lapsed; the Bombay High Court upheld the arbitrator's continuation, holding the appellants had waived their objection by participating in the proceedings.
The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's ruling, holding that under Sections 14 and 15 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, an arbitrator's mandate automatically terminates if the time fixed by the parties' agreement expires without their consent to extend it, and courts have no power to extend that time themselves where the agreement itself provides the mechanism for extension. It held there was no valid "waiver" here since the appellants had clearly and consistently objected to any extension of time, and the arbitration proceedings must be governed strictly by the parties' own agreed terms and schedule, not relaxed merely to keep the process alive.
If an arbitration agreement fixes a strict time limit for the arbitrator to deliver an award and specifies that extensions require both parties' consent, that limit is binding: an arbitrator cannot simply continue past the deadline without consent, and genuinely objecting parties are not deemed to have waived their rights merely by having participated in the process up to that point.
