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.
Genentech and its Indian marketing partners, who market the cancer drug Trastuzumab under brand names like HERCEPTIN, sued Reliance Life Sciences before the Delhi High Court to stop it from marketing its own version, "TrastuRel," as biosimilar to their drug, alleging inadequate trials. A Single Judge had earlier imposed interim conditions restricting how Reliance could describe and market TrastuRel pending trial. A Division Bench of the High Court later stayed those conditions and let Reliance market freely on par with two other manufacturers, prompting Genentech's appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court found that the Division Bench had failed to comply with this Court's own earlier direction to hear the appeals and interim applications of both sides together, and had instead decided only Reliance's application while shutting out Genentech's. The Court held that the arrangement under the Single Judge's 2016 interim order had operated without disruption for over three years and should not have been disturbed without a final decision in the underlying suit. It set aside the Division Bench's order, restored the Single Judge's interim conditions, and directed the High Court to dispose of the main suit expeditiously (preferably within 12 months), while permitting Reliance to participate in government tenders using the generic drug name in the meantime.
When a court directs that competing parties' applications be heard and decided together, an appellate forum cannot selectively decide only one side's application, doing so can itself be a ground for the higher court to step in, even at the interim stage, without touching the final merits of the underlying suit.
