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.
Syndicate Bank (later merged into Canara Bank) had sanctioned an overdraft facility and bank guarantee limits to a corporate debtor, M/s Kranthi Edifice Pvt. Ltd. When the debtor defaulted, the Bank moved the NCLT under Section 7 of the IBC, which admitted the insolvency application and imposed a moratorium; the NCLAT upheld this. The suspended director of the corporate debtor appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing the default was actually caused by the Bank's refusal to extend certain bank guarantees despite requests from the Telangana Government.
The Supreme Court held that once a financial debt and default are established, the NCLT is bound to admit a Section 7 application unless there are genuinely good reasons not to, clarifying that its earlier ruling in Vidarbha Industries was confined to its own peculiar facts and does not dilute the settled position from Innoventive Industries and E.S. Krishnamurthy. On facts, the Court found the debtor's liability included a separate secured overdraft facility (not just bank guarantees), the debtor had itself acknowledged the debt, and the Bank had formally rejected the debtor's request to extend the guarantees, so no good reason existed to deny admission. The appeal was dismissed with no order as to costs.
A borrower cannot avoid insolvency proceedings by blaming a lender for not renewing facilities when the borrower has independently acknowledged the debt and other admitted defaults exist; once debt and default are proven, NCLT has very limited discretion to refuse admission under Section 7 of the IBC.
