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.
Frankfinn sued EXL Careers for recovery of money under a franchise agreement in a Gurgaon civil court, even though the agreement gave exclusive jurisdiction to Delhi courts. After years of litigation, pleadings completed and evidence closed, the Gurgaon court's plaint was ordered returned for filing in Delhi, and the question arose whether the suit should restart from scratch ("de novo") in Delhi or continue from the advanced stage it had already reached in Gurgaon. A two-judge bench, noticing a conflict between two earlier Supreme Court rulings on this point, referred the question to a larger bench.
The Court resolved the conflict by holding that where a plaint is returned under Order VII Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure for being filed in the correct court, the suit must proceed afresh ("de novo") in the new court: it does not continue from the stage reached in the earlier court, unlike a formal "transfer" of a case under Sections 24/25 of the Code where continuation from the same stage is allowed by law. It approved the reasoning in Modern Construction's case and disapproved a contrary ruling in Oriental Insurance's case. However, exercising its special discretionary power under Articles 136 and 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice, the Court declined to actually restart the Gurgaon suit from scratch in this particular case, noting the appellant had delayed raising the jurisdiction objection and the suit was already fully argued, and let the Delhi court continue from where it stood.
As a matter of law, a case sent back to be re-filed in the correct court normally starts over from zero, unlike a case that is formally "transferred," but the Supreme Court can still depart from this rule in special circumstances to avoid unfairness, especially where a party sat on an available objection for years.
