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 daughter (Kaushaliya) and her father (Jodha Ram) were litigating over family property; their dispute reached the Supreme Court, which referred it to mediation. In 2017, they signed a settlement under which the father would buy the daughter a new property in exchange for her vacating certain family premises, and the Supreme Court disposed of the case in terms of that settlement. When the father allegedly did not fulfil his part and the daughter also did not hand over all the agreed premises, the daughter filed a contempt petition; separately, two third parties claiming to have purchased part of the disputed property (via an unregistered agreement to sell) sought to object to the settlement and have the order recalled.
The Supreme Court held that the third-party claimants could not rely on an unregistered agreement to sell to claim ownership or interfere with the settlement, since such an agreement does not itself confer title; their application was dismissed, though without prejudice to their right to pursue ownership claims in a separate competent court. The Court rejected the argument that properties outside the original suit could not form part of a mediated settlement, holding that mediation parties are free to resolve even disputes beyond the original litigation, and such settlements become binding and executable once incorporated into a court order. Invoking its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court directed all persons in possession of the disputed properties to hand over peaceful possession to the father within four weeks, and directed both the original parties to fully comply with the 2017 settlement and the executing court to ensure compliance. The contempt petition was accordingly disposed of on this basis.
A settlement reached through Supreme Court-referred mediation becomes a binding and fully enforceable court order, even for property not originally part of the lawsuit, and a mere unregistered "agreement to sell" does not give a third party any ownership right that can override such a settlement.
