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 candidate for the Jharkhand State Level Eligibility Test (a UGC-governed test determining eligibility for appointment as a college/university lecturer) scored 50% marks across the first two papers, meeting the advertised cut-off, but failed to meet a 60% cut-off later fixed for the third, subject-specific paper by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission's "moderation committee." He was accordingly declared ineligible. The High Court ruled in his favour, holding the Commission could not add a fresh cut-off for the third paper after the selection process had already begun, since the advertisement had not mentioned one.
The Supreme Court held that the UGC-approved scheme governing this test specifically empowers a "moderation committee" to fix subject-wise cut-offs for the third paper only after papers are evaluated: this is a normal, built-in part of the scheme's design (to calibrate standards fairly across different subjects), not a retrospective change to the "rules of the game." Since the advertisement had never promised there would be no cut-off for the third paper, applying one later through the moderation committee process was permissible. The High Court's judgment was set aside: the Commission's appeal was allowed and the candidate's cross-appeal was dismissed.
Not every decision taken by an examining body after an advertisement is issued counts as an unfair change of rules: if the governing scheme itself provides a mechanism (like a moderation committee) to be applied at a later stage, using that mechanism as designed does not violate candidates' legitimate expectations.
