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.
National Spot Exchange had claimed roughly Rs. 673 crore against Dunar Foods Limited (undergoing insolvency proceedings), alleging the money had been siphoned off through a related company, but the Resolution Professional and the Tribunal rejected the claim for lack of any direct contractual relationship with Dunar Foods. When National Spot Exchange appealed this rejection to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), it filed 44 days late, and the NCLAT refused to condone the delay because the law only allows a maximum 15-day extension beyond the normal 30-day limit.
The Supreme Court upheld the NCLAT's refusal, holding that Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code sets a hard, non-extendable cap of 15 days' extra time beyond the 30-day appeal window, and that this limit cannot be bypassed even using the Supreme Court's own broad "complete justice" power under Article 142 of the Constitution. The Court relied on its earlier Constitution Bench ruling that statutory deadlines using words like "but not thereafter" leave courts with no discretion to extend them further, however sympathetic the facts. The appeal was dismissed, meaning the rejection of the claim stood final.
When a law fixes an absolute outer limit for filing an appeal, missing it is usually fatal: no court, however senior, can extend a statutory deadline that Parliament has deliberately made non-extendable, regardless of the amount of money at stake.
