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.
During the corporate insolvency resolution of Ricoh India Limited, the Committee of Creditors (CoC) rejected a resolution plan submitted by Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd. (KIAL) and instead approved, by an overwhelming 84.36% majority, a plan submitted by a consortium led by Kalpraj Dharamshi, even though Kalpraj's plan was technically received after the last deadline set by the Resolution Professional's final "Form G" notice, but still within the statutory time limit for completing the whole process. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved Kalpraj's plan and rejected KIAL's objections, but the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) reversed this, holding that accepting a late-submitted plan was a material irregularity, and set aside the approval of Kalpraj's plan.
The Supreme Court held that NCLAT had exceeded its limited jurisdiction under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by second-guessing the CoC's "commercial wisdom": the choice of which resolution plan to accept is a business decision for the creditors by majority vote, and NCLT/NCLAT can only review a plan on the narrow statutory grounds listed in Sections 30 and 31 of the Code (such as illegality or non-compliance with mandatory requirements), not substitute their own commercial judgment. Since the Resolution Professional's acceptance of Kalpraj's slightly delayed submission had itself been consciously approved by the CoC and did not breach the overall statutory timeline, it did not amount to the kind of "material irregularity" that would justify appellate interference. The Court therefore restored the NCLT's approval of Kalpraj's resolution plan and quashed NCLAT's order, while directing a separate pending appeal by another party to be decided expeditiously.
Once a creditors' committee makes a considered commercial decision on which rescue plan to accept for a failing company, courts and tribunals will not readily substitute their own judgment for that decision: judicial review in insolvency proceedings is narrow and procedural, not a re-evaluation of business choices made by a clear creditor majority.
