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.
The complainant alleged that she and the appellant had an on-and-off relationship and sexual relationship spanning roughly 2004 to 2016, during which he repeatedly promised to marry her but ultimately married someone else, prompting her to file an FIR for rape (Section 376 IPC) and related offences, including under the SC/ST Act. The appellant sought to have the FIR quashed, arguing the relationship was long-term and consensual; the Bombay High Court declined to quash it.
The Supreme Court laid down a clear two-part legal test for when a "promise to marry" can vitiate consent and turn consensual sex into rape: (1) the promise must have been false from the very outset, given in bad faith with no real intention of being kept, and (2) it must have had a direct and immediate bearing on the woman's decision to engage in the sexual act. Applying this to the facts, a six-year relationship where both parties knew from 2008 onward that caste-based family opposition could prevent the marriage, yet continued the relationship regardless, the Court found no evidence the promise was false from inception, so the "misconception of fact" needed to vitiate consent was absent. The FIR was quashed; the SC/ST Act charges also failed because the relevant provisions hadn't even been enacted when the alleged conduct occurred.
Not every broken promise of marriage amounts to rape in the eyes of the law: criminal liability only arises if the promise was fraudulent from the very beginning and was the direct reason the woman agreed to the sexual relationship; a relationship that sours or a promise that is later not kept, despite having been made honestly, is not a crime.
