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 respondent applied for Madhya Pradesh's 2016 State Service Examination and listed his order of preference for various posts, including Deputy Superintendent of Police as his second choice. He scored enough marks to be placed in the main selection list for that post, but was later found medically ineligible because his height (162 cm) fell short of the required minimum (168 cm). He then sought to be considered instead for his next listed preference, the post of Chief Municipal Officer, pointing out that another candidate with the same marks as him had been appointed to that post. The High Court's Single Judge and Division Bench both ruled in his favour and directed the Commission to consider him for CMO or another preferred post.
The Supreme Court held that once a candidate is selected in the "main list" for a higher-preference post based on his declared eligibility, the relevant recruitment rule bars him from being considered for any other preferred post, even if he is later found ineligible for the first post. The respondent had expressly declared in his application that he met the physical eligibility criteria for the post he preferred, and he could not turn around afterward and claim a lower-preference post once the selection process for all posts had already been finalized together. The Court set aside the High Court's orders and restored the selection process as originally conducted by the Commission.
When a recruitment process asks candidates to rank post preferences and declare their own eligibility, a false or mistaken declaration of eligibility for a higher-preference post cannot later be used to claim a lower-preference post: candidates bear responsibility for the accuracy of their own eligibility declarations.
