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.
The appellants were Coal India Limited employees who had received enhanced gratuity (up to Rs. 10 lakhs) under a 2008 government office memorandum, before the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 was itself amended in 2010 to raise the statutory ceiling to Rs. 10 lakhs. Because their gratuity was paid before the amendment came into force (24.5.2010), tax was deducted at source on the excess over the old Rs. 3.5 lakh tax-exempt limit. The appellants argued the amendment should be treated as retrospective (effective from 1.1.2007) so that their gratuity payments would also qualify for full tax exemption. The Jharkhand High Court rejected this claim.
The Supreme Court held that gratuity, unlike pension, is a one-time payment that crystallises on the date it is actually paid, and the tax exemption under Section 10(10)(ii) of the Income Tax Act is tied strictly to the amount prescribed under Section 4(3) of the Gratuity Act as it stood on that date. Because the Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2010 was validly brought into force only from 24.5.2010 (the date the Central Government notified it, as the amending Act itself permitted), there was no basis to treat it as applying retrospectively from 2007. The Court distinguished pension cases like D.S. Nakara, which address recurring monthly benefits, from one-time gratuity payments where a cut-off date tied to financial constraints is constitutionally permissible. The appeal was dismissed and the High Court's order upheld.
A legislative amendment that improves a benefit is not automatically retrospective, unless the law itself says so, the benefit generally applies only from the date the amendment actually comes into force, especially for one-time payments like gratuity.
