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 appellant's first marriage ended in divorce in 2005, and although she filed a belated appeal against that divorce decree (after the limitation period had already expired), her ex-husband lawfully remarried in 2006. In 2014, she married the respondent. After her second marriage broke down amid allegations of cruelty, she sought maintenance under Section 125 CrPC, but the respondent got the maintenance proceedings dismissed by arguing her second marriage was a nullity because it was solemnized while her belated appeal from the first divorce was technically still pending.
The Supreme Court held that a second marriage is not automatically void merely because it occurred while an appeal against the earlier divorce decree was pending, especially where that appeal was filed after the limitation period had already expired and was never stayed. Interpreting Sections 5, 11 and 15 of the Hindu Marriage Act together, the Court held that only the conditions in Section 5(i), (iv) and (v) render a marriage void, and contravention of Section 15 (remarriage during a pending appeal) merely creates an incapacity, not automatic nullity, relying on its own precedent in Lila Gupta v. Laxmi Narain and Anurag Mittal v. Shaily Mishra Mittal. The Court set aside the orders denying maintenance and remitted the maintenance application for determination, directing interim payment of Rs. 20,000 per month plus a lump sum of Rs. 1,00,000 in arrears.
A second marriage is not automatically invalid just because a technical, time-barred appeal against an earlier divorce was still pending when it took place: courts will look at whether the appeal genuinely threatened the finality of the divorce before treating the later marriage as a nullity.
