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 coffee-curing company in Karnataka claimed that an exemption granted to new industries under the state's 1996 Industrial Policy, which referred to "sales tax" exemption or deferral, should also cover purchase tax on the same transactions, since a sale and a purchase are just two sides of the same deal. The company's appeal had also raised a technical objection that the High Court should not have entertained the case on merits without first formally condoning a delay in filing, and a related appeal challenged the High Court's decision to recall its own earlier judgment.
The Supreme Court first condoned the modest delays in filing (71 and 283 days) given the explanations offered. On the core tax question, the Court relied on its own earlier decision in Malnad Areca Processing, which had already interpreted the same 1996 Industrial Policy and held that it granted exemption only for sales tax, not purchase tax, even though both arise from the same underlying transaction. The Court rejected the company's argument that later including its industry in an appendix to the policy changed this substance. On the companion appeal, the Court held that having actively participated in the High Court proceedings after its judgment was recalled, the company could not now use a technical objection about that recall to undo the final outcome. Both appeals were dismissed.
A government exemption written to cover only "sales tax" will not automatically be read to also cover "purchase tax," even though both taxes arise from the same sale transaction: businesses relying on tax incentives need to check the exact wording of what is exempted, not just the general spirit of the policy.
