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.
Panther Security Service, a company supplying private security guards to clients, was held liable by the Employees' Provident Fund authorities to pay EPF contributions on the ground that it was an "establishment rendering expert services" covered by a 1971 government notification. The company argued it merely facilitated placement of guards for a service fee, that clients (not it) controlled and effectively employed the guards, and that it had only 5 employees on its own rolls: below the 20-employee threshold for EPF coverage. A raid, however, uncovered balance sheets showing wage payments running into lakhs of rupees and records referencing 79 security personnel, and the company had never produced its statutory registers.
The Supreme Court held that Panther Security was indeed engaged in providing "expert services" (trained, supervised security personnel) within the meaning of the 1971 notification, making it the employer of the guards regardless of the fact that clients ultimately funded the wages through contract payments. The Court found the company had deliberately withheld its statutory registers and that its own seized financial records proved it had well over 20 employees, triggering EPF coverage. The appeal was dismissed, confirming the company's liability to pay the assessed provident fund dues and statutory interest, and an earlier interim stay on recovery was vacated.
A business cannot avoid employer obligations like provident fund contributions simply by structuring contracts so a client "pays" through it: if a company recruits, trains, supervises, and pays wages to personnel (even if ultimately funded by a client), it is treated as their employer under labour welfare laws.
