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.
Manmohan Nanda, a type-II diabetic, took out an overseas mediclaim policy before travelling to the USA, disclosing his diabetes and undergoing a medical check-up arranged by the insurer, who then issued the policy. In the USA he suffered a cardiac episode and underwent emergency angioplasty. The insurer later repudiated his claim for around USD 2,29,719 in hospital bills, alleging he had concealed a pre-existing heart condition (based on his having taken cholesterol-lowering "statin" medication). The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission upheld the repudiation, and Nanda appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the appellant had fully disclosed his diabetes at the time of applying, and that the insurer, as a "prudent insurer," reviewed his medical reports and chose to issue the policy anyway, so it could not later claim surprise. Taking statins as a precaution against complications of diabetes is not the same as having a pre-existing cardiac disease, and the sudden heart attack in the US was not shown to be a direct, foreseeable consequence of the diabetes that was disclosed. Applying the principle that ambiguous policy exclusion clauses must be read against the insurer who drafted them (contra proferentem), the Court held the repudiation illegal, directed the insurer to indemnify the appellant's full medical expenses with 6% interest, and awarded Rs. 1,00,000 in litigation costs.
An insurer cannot refuse a genuine medical claim by stretching an exclusion for "pre-existing disease" to cover an unrelated, unforeseen medical emergency, especially where the policyholder honestly disclosed their known health condition at the time of taking the policy.
