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.
In 1992, MTNL floated bonds worth Rs. 425 crores, of which bonds worth Rs. 200 crores were placed with Can Bank Financial Services Ltd. ("CANFINA"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canara Bank, under an MOU. After CANFINA failed to pay the full consideration, MTNL cancelled part of the allotment, and the bonds were later transferred by CANFINA to Canara Bank, triggering a long-running dispute. When the matter went to arbitration before a Sole Arbitrator pursuant to Delhi High Court orders, a dispute arose over whether CANFINA (which was not a signatory to the arbitration agreement but had participated throughout) should also be impleaded as a party to the arbitration, since Canara Bank objected to CANFINA's inclusion.
The Supreme Court held that the underlying transaction was tri-partite in substance, linking MTNL, Canara Bank, and CANFINA, and that no final resolution of the dispute was possible without joining CANFINA. Applying the "Group of Companies" doctrine (which allows a non-signatory group company to be bound by an arbitration agreement where facts show a clear intention to bind it), the Court found CANFINA's conduct, participating before the Committee on Disputes, the Delhi High Court, and before the Sole Arbitrator through its own counsel, showed implied consent to be bound by the arbitration. The appeals were partly allowed: the Court directed that CANFINA be joined as a party to the pending arbitration before the Sole Arbitrator, and remitted the matter for the arbitration to continue and conclude expeditiously, expressly refraining from commenting on the merits of the underlying dispute.
A company that is not a signatory to an arbitration agreement can still be bound and impleaded in the arbitration if it is part of the same corporate group and its conduct (active participation throughout the dispute) shows an implied intention to be bound: courts will look at substance over form to ensure disputes arising from a single composite transaction are resolved together rather than in fragments.
