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 petitioners were wards of serving Railway employees who sought appointment under the "Larsgess Scheme," a Railway Administration policy that allowed certain wards of employees to be inducted into service without a competitive selection process. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier found this scheme problematic for bypassing merit-based selection required under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, and on the Supreme Court's own direction in an earlier round of litigation, the Union of India reconsidered and ultimately terminated the scheme in March 2019. The petitioners nonetheless approached the Supreme Court directly under Article 32, seeking a mandamus directing the government to appoint them under the now-discontinued scheme.
The Supreme Court dismissed the writ petition, holding that the Larsgess Scheme amounted to a "back door entry" into government service that was fundamentally inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of equal opportunity in public employment under Article 16. Since the Union of India had already taken a considered decision to terminate the scheme, a decision the Court itself had earlier noted with approval, the petitioners could not claim either a vested right or a legitimate expectation of appointment under it. The Court held that granting the relief sought would effectively endorse an unconstitutional back-door appointment route.
There is no vested right or legitimate expectation to appointment under a government scheme that bypasses open, competitive selection; courts will not revive or enforce such a scheme once it has been lawfully discontinued for being inconsistent with the constitutional right to equal opportunity in public employment.
