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.
7878 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreLegal Case Shots is built to help you quickly identify and understand relevant precedent. For citation in pleadings or filings, always verify against the full judgment PDF and current citation format (e.g., 2026 INSC ___).
The holding is what the court legally decided. The lesson learnt translates that into a practical takeaway: what a lawyer should factor into case strategy or client advice as a result of this precedent.
Both. Each case shows a distilled summary (case type, key holding, and lesson learnt) and links to the full judgment as a PDF for when you need the complete text for research or citation.
Yes. Use Advanced Filters to narrow results by decision date and by practice area, including Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Service & Administrative Law, Family Law, Civil Property & Inheritance, and Labour & Industrial Law.
Yes. You can filter judgments by the judge or bench that decided the case, which is useful for tracking how a particular judge has reasoned on similar issues across multiple rulings.
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 road-contracting company was awarded a highway-upgradation contract by the State of Kerala. A dispute arose over whether the contractor was entitled to interest on delayed payments under the agreement, and an Arbitral Tribunal ruled (by majority) in the contractor's favour, awarding interest at 1% per month compounded monthly. The State successfully challenged this award before the District Court (Arbitration Court) under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, which set aside the interest award, and the Kerala High Court upheld that decision, reasoning that a blank column in the contractor's bid document implied the contractor had waived any claim to interest.
The Supreme Court held that the Arbitration Court and High Court had exceeded the limited scope of judicial review permitted under Section 34, effectively rewriting the contract rather than merely checking it for "patent illegality." The Tribunal's factual finding, that the contract did not exclude interest on delayed payments and that a blank bid column did not amount to a waiver, was a reasonable and possible interpretation of the evidence that courts could not substitute their own view for. The Court restored the Tribunal's award of interest in principle but found the originally awarded rate of 1% per month excessive, and recalibrated it to a simple interest rate of 8% per annum as just and equitable, applying the compensation principle from earlier precedent (the Constitution Bench ruling in the G.C. Roy case) that is also reflected in Section 31(7)(a) of the Arbitration Act.
Courts reviewing an arbitration award cannot re-examine or reinterpret the underlying contract as if hearing a fresh appeal: they can only intervene for genuine illegality, not merely because they would have read the facts differently; and silence in a contract on the rate of interest does not mean no interest is payable, since courts can apply equitable principles to fix a fair rate.
