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.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1066
Courts will not infer a concluded oral contract for the sale of immovable property just because the other side's witnesses seemed evasive: the party seeking specific performance must independently and affirmatively prove every essential term was genuinely agreed.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1065
Even in serious, high-value corruption cases, prolonged pre-trial detention cannot be used as a substitute for punishment when the trial is unlikely to conclude soon and the evidence is already secured: bail remains the touchstone principle under Article 21's personal liberty protection.
Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1067
Preventive detention cannot be used as a backdoor way to keep someone in custody once the ordinary criminal process, including bail, has already run its course on the same facts; the detaining authority must show a genuine, independent risk of future harm, not just recycle the criminal case file.
Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1068
In land acquisition disputes, courts will readily restore a uniform, fair market rate across similarly-situated parcels, but ancillary compensation heads (like moveable equipment such as tubewells) still require the claimant to prove their case with admissible evidence, not private reports whose authors were never examined in court.
First Appeal from Order · 2026:DHC:8447
If you are injured while genuinely trying to board or exit a train, you are very likely covered under railway "untoward incident" compensation law, even if you technically hadn't fully boarded yet: courts read this protection broadly in favour of passengers, and contemporaneous official records (station logs, police diary entries) carry more weight than a statement taken from you much later.
Writ Petition (Criminal) · 2026:DHC:8404
Courts will not entertain vague, unsubstantiated allegations of judicial bias, and a request to combine cases becomes moot once the other related proceedings have already concluded: genuine grievances about trial delay or procedure must be backed by specific, demonstrable facts, not just repeated litigation.
Bail Application · 2026:DHC:8403
Anticipatory bail can be granted even in matrimonial cases involving serious sexual-offence allegations where there is unexplained delay in reporting, no evidence substantiating the need for custodial interrogation, and the investigating agency's own conduct (e.g., undocumented "verbal" notices) fails to justify arrest, though this is assessed only for bail purposes, not as a finding on guilt.
Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8407
In family property disputes, signing a Relinquishment Deed acknowledging receipt of consideration, and then waiting years without challenging it or pursuing your claimed share, will make it very difficult to later prove you were never actually paid; courts expect contemporaneous action (a legal notice, a suit) and corroborating evidence, not delayed assertions alone.
Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8401
A tenant who claims to have paid a large sum toward an informal "mortgage" or side arrangement must be able to prove it with solid evidence (receipts, corroborating witnesses): bare assertions, especially when contradicted by one's own family members under cross-examination, will not defeat a landlord's claim for rent and possession.
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Pankaj Bansal and his father Basant Bansal, associated with the M3M Group, were arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under Section 19 of the PMLA in connection with a money-laundering case linked to a corruption FIR against a former Special Judge. Just days after the two secured anticipatory bail from the Delhi High Court in an earlier, related ED case (the "first ECIR"), the ED recorded a fresh case (the "second ECIR") based on an older FIR, summoned them on short notice, and arrested both men within hours, without giving them a written copy of the grounds of arrest, merely reading it out to them. Their challenge to the arrests and the remand orders was rejected by the Punjab & Haryana High Court, leading to this appeal.
The Supreme Court found the ED's conduct suspicious and lacking in bona fides, recording a new case against the appellants immediately after they got protection in the earlier one, and arresting them within about 24 hours based on it, suggested a retaliatory motive rather than a fresh, considered decision. On the core legal question, the Court held that simply reading out or allowing an arrested person to read the grounds of arrest is not sufficient compliance with Article 22(1) of the Constitution and Section 19(1) of the PMLA; going forward, a written copy of the grounds of arrest must be furnished to every arrested person as a matter of course, without exception, so that the person can meaningfully consult a lawyer and apply for bail. It also held the remand order invalid because the magistrate had not properly verified compliance with Section 19's safeguards before ordering custody. As the arrests themselves were therefore unlawful, the Court set aside the arrest orders, arrest memos, and all remand orders, and directed that the appellants be released forthwith unless needed in some other case.
Anyone arrested under the PMLA (and by extension, similar special-law protections) has a right to be given the grounds of arrest in writing, not merely told orally: an oral reading-out is not enough, and failure to follow this rule can by itself invalidate an arrest and any resulting custody.
