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 National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) acquired about 5 acres of Sayedabad Tea Estate land in West Bengal for highway construction. When the landowners were dissatisfied with the compensation and a dispute arose over appointing an arbitrator to decide the amount, they approached the Calcutta High Court under Section 11 of the general Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, to have an arbitrator appointed, rather than waiting for the Central Government to appoint one as provided under the special National Highways Act, 1956. The High Court appointed an arbitrator under the general Act, and NHAI appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing this bypassed the special statutory procedure.
The Supreme Court held that the National Highways Act, 1956 is a complete, self-contained special code for land acquisition and compensation disputes under that Act, including a specific mechanism (Section 3G(5)) under which only the Central Government, not a court, can appoint the arbitrator. Relying on the established principle that a special law overrides a general law, and on its own earlier ruling regarding a similarly worded provision in the Electricity Act, the Court held that Section 11 of the general Arbitration Act had no application here, and the High Court was wrong to appoint an arbitrator under it. The Court set aside the High Court's orders and directed the Central Government to appoint an arbitrator within 30 days, further directing that, given the long pendency of the dispute (about 12 years), the arbitration itself be completed within six months once the respondent appears.
Where a special law creates its own complete mechanism for resolving a particular type of dispute (such as compensation under land acquisition legislation), that specific mechanism overrides the general arbitration law, even if both could otherwise apply: "special law prevails over general law" is a key principle for identifying which legal route to follow.
