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.
Ultratech Cement (formerly Grasim Industries) was granted a Capital Investment Subsidy of 75% of its sales tax/VAT liability for its Kotputli cement plant under Rajasthan's Investment Promotion Scheme, 2003, based on Entitlement Certificates issued by the State Level Screening Committee (SLSC) in 2011. Years later, in 2018, the State's Finance Department revised this down to 50%, holding the SLSC had erroneously granted the higher rate based on a misreading of an earlier government decision that had already been withdrawn, and ordered recovery of the excess with 18% annual interest.
The Supreme Court upheld the State's power to revise the erroneous certificates, since the Scheme itself allowed revision within five years and the SLSC's grant of 75% subsidy was found to be an unauthorised, perverse reading of a decision that had been withdrawn before it could apply. However, the Court modified the interest rate: since the company itself had only ever given an undertaking to repay any excess subsidy at 12% per annum, and there was no finding that it had obtained the benefit through any fraud or misrepresentation, the higher 18% rate under the Scheme's default penalty clause could not be applied. The appeal was therefore partly allowed: the 50% subsidy cap was affirmed, but interest was reduced from 18% to 12% per annum.
Government benefits availed under an officer's erroneous order can still be clawed back by the State within the time limits set by the scheme itself, even years later, but the rate of interest charged on recovery must match what the beneficiary actually agreed to, not automatically the harshest default penalty rate in the scheme.
