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.
The appellant, a partnership firm exporting wooden handicraft items, claimed income-tax deductions under Section 80-IB for amounts received under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme and the Duty Drawback scheme, both government export-incentive schemes that reimburse or offset customs duty on inputs used in exported goods. The tax department disallowed the deductions, and while the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal sided with the firm, the Rajasthan High Court reversed that and held the firm was not entitled to the deductions, relying on the Supreme Court's earlier rulings in Liberty India and Sterling Foods. The firm appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that Section 80-IB deductions are available only for profits "derived from" the actual business of an industrial undertaking (meaning income with a direct, first-degree nexus to manufacturing or production) and that DEPB and Duty Drawback benefits fail this test because they arise only after export takes place, one step removed from the manufacturing activity itself, and depend on a separate statutory export-incentive scheme rather than the profits of the industrial undertaking. The Court reaffirmed its earlier decisions in Liberty India and Sterling Foods on this point and held that a later decision in Meghalaya Steels, which the assessee relied on, did not actually conflict with or overrule them since it dealt with a different kind of subsidy (interest and transport subsidies, not an export-incentive scheme tied to customs duty). The High Court's ruling that the assessee was not entitled to the 80-IB deduction on DEPB and Duty Drawback income was therefore upheld, and the appeal was dismissed with no order as to costs.
Tax deductions meant for profits "derived from" an industrial business do not automatically extend to every government incentive an exporter receives: export-linked incentives like DEPB and Duty Drawback are treated as one step removed from actual manufacturing profit and are not eligible for such deductions.
