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.
Visakhapatnam Port Trust invited tenders for the supply of wooden sleepers, and the appellant-company bid subject to the condition that inspection of the goods would happen only at its own depot, paying an earnest deposit of Rs 75,000. After rounds of correspondence, the Port Trust agreed to inspect at the company's depot but added a further condition, that the sleepers would also undergo final inspection at the Port Trust's own General Stores at the company's cost, which the company never accepted. When the company did not supply the sleepers, the Port Trust bought them elsewhere at a higher price and sued for the price difference as damages, while the company sued separately for the return of its earnest deposit; both the trial court and the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled in the Port Trust's favour, holding a contract had been concluded.
The Supreme Court held that both lower courts had overlooked Section 7 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, which requires an acceptance to be "absolute and unqualified" to convert an offer into a binding promise. Since the Port Trust's acceptance added a fresh condition (final inspection at its own stores) that the company never agreed to, this was in law merely a counter-proposal, not a valid acceptance, meaning no concluded contract ever came into existence between the parties. With no concluded contract, the company could not be held liable for "breach" or for the Port Trust's resulting losses, and it was entitled to a full refund of its earnest deposit with interest; the appeal was allowed and the earlier judgments were set aside.
Under Indian contract law, an acceptance that adds a new condition is not a true acceptance but a counter-offer: a contract is "concluded" only when the final terms proposed by one side are accepted exactly as they are, without any further conditions being tacked on by the other side.
