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.
Eleven members of a family were tried for the murder of a woman, Mahendro Bai, arising from a land dispute between two branches of the family. The trial court convicted all eleven under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC (unlawful assembly). On appeal, the High Court acquitted eight of them for lack of evidence but upheld the conviction of the remaining three (one of whom died during the Supreme Court appeal), controversially switching their conviction to Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC (common intention) instead.
The Supreme Court held that once eight co-accused were acquitted, the charge of "unlawful assembly" under Section 149 automatically collapsed since fewer than five persons remained, and while the High Court did have the power to alter the charge to Section 34, there was no evidence at all showing that the two surviving appellants shared a "common intention" to kill: a requirement distinct from Section 149's lower threshold. Since the appellants had each inflicted only a single, non-fatal blow before the fatal injuries (a gunshot and a sword strike by other men) were inflicted, the Court held their conduct did not support a murder conviction. Their conviction was reduced to the lesser offence of voluntarily causing hurt (Section 324 IPC), and given they had already served about seven years and were on bail for a decade without breach, they were sentenced only to the time already served, subject to a fine.
A person can only be convicted of murder through "common intention" if there is actual evidence that they shared a plan to kill: merely being present and striking a minor, non-fatal blow during a group fight is not enough to make someone liable for a killing committed by others.
