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.
A newly formed trust applied for registration under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 within about two months of being set up, before it had actually carried out any charitable activities. The Commissioner of Income Tax rejected the registration solely because no activities had yet been undertaken, reasoning he could not verify genuineness of activities that hadn't happened. This appeal was heard together with two similar appeals raising the same question of whether a brand-new trust with no track record can be registered.
The Supreme Court held that Section 12AA requires the Commissioner to be satisfied about the genuineness of the trust's objects and of its "activities," and that this term must be read to include "proposed activities" for a newly formed trust, since the provision governs registration (a forward-looking exercise), not an audit of past conduct. A Commissioner cannot refuse registration merely because a new trust has not yet started operating; he must assess whether the proposed activities are genuinely in line with the charitable objects. The Court upheld the Delhi High Court's view, dismissed the Revenue's appeals, and in a companion matter also held that merely not yet spending income on charitable purposes (without having been found to have breached the trust's objects) does not itself justify refusal or cancellation.
A charitable trust does not have to first "do" charitable work before it can seek income-tax registration: tax authorities must judge a new trust by its stated objects and proposed activities, not demand a completed track record that is impossible for a newly formed entity to have.
