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.
S.T. Devaraju, the Commissioner of Raichur City Municipal Corporation, died after the car he was travelling in met with an accident. His widow and two children sought compensation, claiming he earned Rs. 55,000/month. The Tribunal awarded them about Rs. 65.6 lakh, applying a 30% addition for future prospects. The Karnataka High Court reduced this to about Rs. 57.8 lakh, cutting the future-prospects addition to 15% on the reasoning that the deceased was just over 50 years old, and also trimming the amount awarded for loss of love and affection.
The Supreme Court held that the High Court had made an internal contradiction: it kept the same 13-year "multiplier" (appropriate for someone in the 40-50 age bracket) while simultaneously treating him as being in an older bracket to justify cutting future prospects to only 15%. Since the deceased's age squarely placed him in the 40-50 group under the Constitution Bench's guidelines in Pranay Sethi, the 30% future-prospects addition originally awarded by the Tribunal was correct and should not have been reduced. The Court restored the Tribunal's original, higher award in full.
When courts use age-based formulas (like the "multiplier" and "future prospects" percentage) to calculate compensation, those formulas must be applied consistently with the same age bracket: a court cannot pick and choose different age assumptions to justify a lower final figure.
