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 applicant, acting in person, had earlier asked the Supreme Court to recall its order dated 03.09.2020 passed in a transferred criminal case between her and her late husband's legal representatives. That first recall request was rejected by the Registrar, and a further challenge to the Registrar's action was also dismissed. She then filed this second, fresh application seeking the same relief: recall of the same 03.09.2020 order.
During the hearing, the applicant asked Justice Chandrachud to recuse himself simply because an earlier order had gone against her. The Court held that a litigant cannot "browbeat" the Court into giving her a bench of her choice, and that an adverse outcome alone is never valid grounds for recusal, so it rejected that request. On the merits, the Court found the fresh application not maintainable because an identical request for the same relief had already been considered and rejected once before, and the original 03.09.2020 order had itself been passed after hearing the applicant. The application was dismissed, and the Court directed the Registry not to accept any further miscellaneous applications on the same subject matter.
A party cannot repeatedly re-litigate the same request before the same forum after it has already been rejected, and asking a judge to step aside merely because a past ruling was unfavourable is not a legitimate ground for recusal.
