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.
Two companies incorporated in India, PASL Wind Solutions and GE Power Conversion India, had a dispute over converter warranties and settled it through an agreement that required any future disputes to be arbitrated in Zurich, Switzerland under ICC Rules, even though both parties were Indian and the substantive law applicable was Indian law. When fresh disputes arose, GE sought interim relief from Indian courts under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, and PASL challenged whether two Indian parties could even validly choose a foreign seat of arbitration, and whether the resulting award could be enforced in India as a "foreign award."
The Supreme Court held that Indian law does not prohibit two Indian companies from choosing a forum for arbitration outside India, and an award rendered at such a foreign seat, governed by the New York Convention, qualifies as an enforceable "foreign award" under Part II of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act: party autonomy to select a juridical seat abroad is not defeated merely because both contracting parties happen to be Indian nationals. The Court clarified that the restrictive definition of "international commercial arbitration" in Section 2(1)(f) (which requires a foreign element) applies only to domestic arbitrations under Part I of the Act, and is irrelevant to Part II's separate "foreign award" framework, which turns on the seat of arbitration rather than the nationality of the parties. It also upheld that an application for interim relief under Section 9 remains maintainable before Indian courts even where the arbitration itself is seated abroad.
Two Indian businesses can lawfully agree to resolve their disputes through arbitration seated in another country, and the resulting award will still be enforceable in India as a foreign award: contractual freedom to choose where arbitration happens is not restricted just because both sides are Indian.
