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 Delhi High Court had declared land acquisition proceedings lapsed under Section 24(2) of the 2013 land acquisition law, even though the government's own record (reproduced in the High Court's judgment) showed that possession of the land had actually been taken on 03.12.2012 and handed over to the Delhi Development Authority, and that compensation had been sent to a Reference Court in 2014 because of a dispute over how it should be split among claimants. The High Court still found a "lapse," relying solely on the fact that compensation had not been directly tendered before the 2013 Act came into force, citing the Pune Municipal Corporation precedent.
The Supreme Court held the High Court's approach was unsustainable because Pune Municipal Corporation had since been overruled by the Constitution Bench in Indore Development Authority vs. Manoharlal (2020), which clarified that once possession has genuinely been taken, there can be no "lapse" under Section 24(2), and that sending disputed compensation to a Reference Court for apportionment is not the same as failing to pay it. Since possession here was demonstrably taken in 2012, the acquisition could not be treated as lapsed merely because of an ongoing compensation-apportionment dispute. The High Court's judgment was quashed and the appeal allowed.
Once the government has actually taken possession of acquired land, a later dispute over how compensation should be divided among claimants does not cause the acquisition itself to lapse.
