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.
Manjeet Singh and his cousin Amarjit Singh were attacked while driving home; Amarjit was shot dead and Manjeet was injured. The FIR named several people, but after investigation the police charge-sheeted only the main shooter, Sartaj Singh, and placed four other named persons (the private respondents) in "column 2", meaning they were not sent for trial. During the trial, when Manjeet Singh (the injured eye-witness) gave his evidence naming all the attackers again, he applied under Section 319 CrPC to have the four additional persons summoned to face trial. Both the trial court and the High Court refused this request.
The Supreme Court held that the trial court and High Court were wrong to refuse the application. It reaffirmed settled law (from Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab and later cases) that a court can summon additional accused under Section 319 CrPC even on the basis of an injured eye-witness's examination-in-chief alone, without waiting for cross-examination, and even if those persons were never charge-sheeted. The Court found that the four private respondents were specifically named in the FIR with distinct roles (carrying weapons, blocking the road), and that the police's decision to exonerate them was not based on any real investigation or witness testimony. The lower courts had wrongly evaluated the merits of the evidence at this preliminary stage, which is not permitted. The appeal was allowed and the trial court was directed to summon the four persons to face trial.
A victim or witness who names specific attackers in an FIR and again in sworn testimony is not without recourse just because the police did not charge-sheet those persons: courts have the power to add them as accused at any stage before judgment, based on credible witness evidence.
