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.
7878 more judgements for members
You're seeing the newest cases. Log in — it's free — to keep scrolling, search by name or judge, and filter by court or legal area.
Log in to see moreLegal Case Shots is built to help you quickly identify and understand relevant precedent. For citation in pleadings or filings, always verify against the full judgment PDF and current citation format (e.g., 2026 INSC ___).
The holding is what the court legally decided. The lesson learnt translates that into a practical takeaway: what a lawyer should factor into case strategy or client advice as a result of this precedent.
Both. Each case shows a distilled summary (case type, key holding, and lesson learnt) and links to the full judgment as a PDF for when you need the complete text for research or citation.
Yes. Use Advanced Filters to narrow results by decision date and by practice area, including Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Service & Administrative Law, Family Law, Civil Property & Inheritance, and Labour & Industrial Law.
Yes. You can filter judgments by the judge or bench that decided the case, which is useful for tracking how a particular judge has reasoned on similar issues across multiple rulings.
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.
Tripathi Ramroop Sanskrit Vidyalaya in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh, was brought onto the government grant-in-aid list in 2015 with five salaried posts (one Headmaster and four Assistant Teachers). The Director of Secondary Education then split the teacher posts subject-wise and directed that Neeraj Kumar Mishra, about five years junior to Pancham Lal Pandey, be paid instead of Pandey, ignoring an earlier assurance given to the High Court that salaries would be paid strictly by seniority. Pandey won a writ petition in 2019; Mishra's and the State's appeals were dismissed, and the Supreme Court also refused their special leave petitions. Mishra then filed a review petition in the High Court against the dismissal of his own appeal, and in February 2021 the Division Bench allowed that review: effectively reversing the result. Pandey appealed.
The Supreme Court set aside the review order. It explained that review is a narrow remedy: it exists only to correct an error that is obvious on the face of the record, not to re-argue the case or reach a different conclusion simply because another view is possible. Here, the Single Judge had rightly ordered payment by seniority because of the State's own statement to the Court; subject-wise bifurcation of posts is an internal matter of the institution, and no new post was being created beyond the sanctioned five, so the Full Bench ruling on unsanctioned posts did not apply. By allowing the review, the Division Bench had in substance re-heard the appeal and rewritten its judgment on a completely new ground (subject-wise payment), something a review court cannot do. The appeal was allowed with no order as to costs.
A review petition is not a second appeal in disguise; a court can use it only to fix a clear mistake visible on the record, not to change its mind. A litigant who has lost at every level, including the Supreme Court, cannot re-open the case through the back door of review.
