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 lender had given an interest-free term loan of Rs. 1.6 crore to a company to help meet its working-capital needs, and later assigned this debt to the appellant. When over Rs. 1.5 crore remained unpaid, the appellant tried to start insolvency proceedings against the company as a "financial creditor" under Section 7 of the IBC. Both the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) rejected the plea, reasoning that because no interest was charged, the loan was not a "financial debt" and the appellant could not be a financial creditor.
The Supreme Court held that both tribunals had misread the definition of "financial debt" in Section 5(8) of the IBC: the phrase "along with interest, if any" shows that interest is optional, not essential, and even an interest-free loan can qualify if it has the "commercial effect of borrowing," as expressly covered by clause (f) of that definition. Reviewing its own precedents on the IBC's purpose, the Court concluded that a working-capital loan to a company's business clearly has this commercial effect regardless of interest. It set aside both the NCLAT and NCLT orders and revived the original insolvency petition, directing it be decided afresh in light of this clarified legal position.
Lending money to a business interest-free does not by itself disqualify the lender from being treated as a "financial creditor" who can seek insolvency proceedings if that loan goes unrepaid.
