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.
Transfer Petition (Criminal) · 2026 INSC 1060
Where a marriage has irretrievably broken down and the parties reach a genuine, voluntary settlement, including on alimony, the Supreme Court can use its Article 142 powers to grant a mutual-consent divorce and close out all related litigation in one stroke, without requiring the usual statutory waiting period.
Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 1061
In long-running, complex litigation involving apportioned government liabilities across states, the Supreme Court can use a mechanism like a retired-judge committee plus periodic compliance affidavits to bring genuine finality, including firm timelines, transparency obligations, and interest for delayed payment, rather than leaving matters open-ended.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1062
In an "as is where is" liquidation auction, a bidder who voluntarily accepts the auction terms cannot later resile from a forfeiture clause by citing regulatory caps or after-the-fact excuses for non-payment: courts will enforce the auction notice's own conditions.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8338-DB
Once someone is released from custody because the police failed to properly communicate the grounds of arrest, the police cannot simply re-arrest them by adding new charges: a specific, court-supervised procedure with senior-officer accountability must be followed, or the re-arrest itself becomes illegal.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8308
In economic-offence cases, bail can still be granted where the method used to quantify the alleged financial evasion is not adequately justified, and where the apprehension of re-offending is speculative rather than evidence-based.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8323
A parole claim must be backed by a genuine, verifiable application to the competent jail authority: courts will scrutinise irregularities like an incomplete address, an unexplained thumb mark, or reliance on a mere friend's affidavit rather than close family.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8337
Courts can grant short, strictly time-bound interim bail purely on humanitarian/compassionate grounds (such as caring for a seriously ill family member), even while a case remains pending trial and an earlier bail plea has failed.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8312
Courts will not repeatedly re-examine a bail plea already rejected on merits unless the applicant can point to a genuine change in circumstances since the earlier order.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8334
Under the no-fault compensation scheme for railway accidents, a valid ticket-holder injured while attempting to board a train, even carelessly, is generally entitled to compensation unless the railway can show a deliberate, conscious exposure to danger, not mere negligence.
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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.
A borrower had taken a loan from Indian Bank in 1984, secured by a guarantee and mortgage from one G. Ramanujam. After the borrower defaulted and Ramanujam later died, the bank (as secured creditor) pursued the guarantor's heirs (including the appellant, his daughter) and eventually auctioned the mortgaged property in 2010 under the SARFAESI Act, with a third party emerging as the successful bidder. The heirs challenged the notice and the auction before the Debts Recovery Tribunal and later the Madras High Court, arguing the bank had not followed the statutory procedure for the sale, but lost at every stage before reaching the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court found that the bank had committed a material irregularity by not adhering to the mandatory timelines prescribed under the SARFAESI Rules, and held that a sale confirmed despite such non-compliance cannot be shielded from judicial scrutiny merely because it was already completed. It also held that the heirs' repeated applications before the DRT seeking to redeem the mortgage were sufficient evidence of their intent to redeem, even without an explicit formal statement to that effect. The Court set aside the High Court, DRAT and DRT orders and quashed the auction sale, but balanced the equities: the auction purchaser was ordered refunded his full deposited amount with 7% interest, and the appellant was given a one-time opportunity (exercising the Court's special Article 142 power) to redeem the mortgage by paying the outstanding dues of Rs.95,42,372.52 plus 5% interest within a time to be fixed by the bank, failing which the property could be re-auctioned after a fresh valuation.
A bank or lender enforcing a mortgage through auction under the SARFAESI Act must strictly follow the statutory timelines and procedure; even a completed and confirmed auction sale can be undone by courts if that process was not properly followed, and heirs of a guarantor retain a genuine right to redeem the mortgaged property if they show real intent to do so.
