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 contracting firm, Shahi and Associates, had a dispute with the U.P. government over payment for additional work on a drainage project. An arbitrator awarded the firm about Rs. 17.86 lakh plus 18% annual interest under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Both the District Judge and the Allahabad High Court later reduced this interest rate to 6% per annum, relying on an old U.P. state amendment to the repealed Arbitration Act, 1940. The firm appealed to the Supreme Court challenging only the reduction of interest.
The Supreme Court held that since the arbitration proceedings had commenced in 1999, after the 1996 Act came into force, only the 1996 Act applied, not the repealed 1940 Act or its U.P. state amendment. Under Section 31(7)(b) of the 1996 Act, an arbitral award carries 18% annual interest unless the arbitrator specifies otherwise, and here the arbitrator had correctly applied that rate. The Court found the District Judge and High Court had wrongly relied on an obsolete, repealed provision to cut the interest rate. It set aside both lower rulings solely on the interest point and restored the 18% interest awarded by the arbitrator, with no order as to costs.
Once the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 governs a dispute, older state-specific amendments to the repealed 1940 Act no longer apply: courts and parties must apply the interest rules of the Act actually in force when arbitration began.
