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 Family Court in Jaipur had dissolved the marriage between an Army officer and his wife on grounds of cruelty and desertion by the wife, a decision later upheld by the Rajasthan High Court. The wife appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing in the alternative that even if the divorce stood, the findings of "cruelty" against her should be removed and that she and her minor son needed ongoing maintenance, since the husband had stopped paying it and had since remarried despite a court-ordered status quo.
The Supreme Court declined to disturb the concurrent findings of cruelty and desertion reached by both lower courts, since these were based on appreciation of evidence. However, noting that the couple had been separated since 2011 (amounting to an irretrievable breakdown of marriage) and that the husband had already remarried, the Court used its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to confirm the divorce without further revisiting the merits. Importantly, it held that a father's duty to maintain his child continues regardless of the marital dispute, and directed the husband to pay Rs. 50,000 per month in maintenance for the son, with arrears to be paid within eight weeks and future payments deducted directly from his Army salary.
A child's right to maintenance from a parent survives the end of a marriage entirely: courts will enforce this obligation directly against a parent's salary if necessary, irrespective of who was at fault in the divorce.
