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.
An Italian company (NV Engineering) and an Indian company (Jindal Drugs) had a dispute arising from contracts to build an ascorbic acid plant in India, with arbitration seated in London under ICC rules. After a partial and a final award were made largely in NV Engineering's favour, Jindal challenged the partial award in the Bombay High Court under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act (a provision meant for domestic/India-seated arbitrations), while a separate enforcement proceeding on the same awards was also pending. The Bombay High Court's Division Bench ruled that a Section 34 challenge to a foreign award was permissible, relying on pre-2012 Supreme Court precedent.
The Supreme Court held that because the parties had clearly chosen London as the seat of arbitration (with English law as the curial law), the law laid down in the five-judge Constitution Bench ruling in Bharat Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium (BALCO) applied, meaning Part I of the Arbitration Act (including Section 34) does not apply to foreign-seated arbitrations. The Bombay High Court's reliance on the older Bhatia International and Venture Global rulings was therefore incorrect, and its judgment allowing a Section 34 challenge was set aside. The Court also held, relying on Section 50 of the Act and the precedent in Fuerst Day Lawson, that Jindal's separate appeal against the order enforcing the award was not maintainable, though NV Engineering's own appeal (on the portion of the award not enforced) was maintainable and left open to be pursued. Jindal was ordered to pay costs of ₹1,50,000.
Where parties to an international contract choose a foreign city as the "seat" of arbitration, Indian courts generally cannot be used to challenge or annul the resulting award under the domestic provisions of the Arbitration Act: any challenge must ordinarily go through the courts of that seat, and in India only the enforcement-stage objections under Part II are available.
