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.
Five companies incorporated in Sikkim claimed to earn commission income from cardamom trading in Sikkim during 1987-90, a period before the Income Tax Act, 1961 was extended to Sikkim (Sikkim was then taxed under its own 1948 tax manual). A search at the Delhi office of the companies' chartered accountant, Mr. Rattan Gupta, turned up the companies' books, blank signed cheques, seals and letterheads, suggesting the real "head and brain" of the companies was in Delhi, not Sikkim. The tax department reopened assessments and taxed the companies under the Income Tax Act; the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ruled for the companies, but the Delhi High Court reversed and ruled for the department.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court, dismissing the companies' appeals. It held that the overwhelming evidence: blank signed cheques and company seals sitting in the accountant's Delhi office, directors who had never visited Sikkim, no genuine business activity or expenses in Sikkim, and commission figures implausibly larger than Sikkim's actual cardamom output: proved that "control and management" of the companies was wholly in Delhi, making them Indian tax residents whose income was taxable under the Income Tax Act despite their Sikkim incorporation. The Court also held the companies failed to prove their claimed commission income was genuinely earned in Sikkim, that the reassessment notices were validly issued and served, and that statutory interest under Section 234A was mandatory once the tax authorities used it in the assessment worksheet, regardless of whether it was separately spelled out as a question of law.
Incorporating a company in a low-tax jurisdiction does not by itself shield income from tax elsewhere. Courts will look at where the company is actually controlled and managed (the "head and brain" test), and paperwork formalities cannot substitute for genuine business substance.
