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.
Parul Jaiswal (the wife) filed a transfer petition seeking to move her divorce proceedings, filed by her husband, Avinash Jaiswal, before the Family Court in Bengaluru, to a court of competent jurisdiction in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, citing the difficulty of contesting the case so far from home.
Instead of simply granting or refusing the transfer, the Supreme Court directed that the parties first be referred to mediation, to be conducted online over the following 10 weeks, during which the Bengaluru Family Court would not proceed with the case on merits. If the mediation succeeded, the Family Court would pass orders reflecting the settlement; if it failed or remained inconclusive, the Family Court would resume the proceedings after the 10-week period, continuing to conduct hearings online for the parties' convenience. The Court further directed that whenever the wife's personal presence was required at a hearing in Bengaluru, the husband must pay her Rs. 10,000 for each such date to cover her cost of attending. The transfer petition was disposed of in these terms.
Even where a spouse asks for a case to be transferred to a more convenient court, the Supreme Court may instead direct structured, time-bound mediation (including online, to ease travel burden) before deciding the transfer question, and can order practical cost-sharing arrangements, like travel/attendance compensation, to make continued litigation fairer for the disadvantaged party.
