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.
A Maharashtra state electricity distribution company sought to levy an "additional surcharge" under Section 42(4) of the Electricity Act, 2003 on industrial consumers (including JSW Steel) who generate their own power through "captive" generating plants rather than drawing all their power from the distribution grid. The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity held that such captive consumers are not liable to pay this surcharge, and the distribution company appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court upheld the Tribunal's ruling and dismissed the distribution company's appeals. It held that Section 42(4)'s additional surcharge applies only when the State Commission specifically permits a consumer to receive power from an alternate supplier through "open access"; captive generation under Section 9 of the Act is a separate statutory right that doesn't require any such permission, making captive consumers a distinct category outside the scope of Section 42(4). Since the company had already collected the surcharge under an earlier interim court order, the Court directed that this amount be adjusted against future billing rather than refunded all at once.
Businesses that generate their own electricity for self-use through a "captive" plant have a statutory right to do so, and this right exempts them from the additional surcharge meant for consumers who opt to switch suppliers through regulator-approved "open access."
