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 appellant, a charitable trust running a heart hospital in Ahmedabad, got its hospital project approved under Section 35AC of the Income Tax Act, which allowed donors to claim a tax deduction for donations made to the project for specified financial years. After the approved window lapsed, the appellant was unable to secure further donations in a later financial year and challenged the resulting restriction before the Gujarat High Court, which dismissed its writ petition. The trust then appealed to the Supreme Court, also seeking that the Court use its special constitutional power (Article 142) to extend the donation-deduction benefit.
The Supreme Court held that equity or hardship cannot override the plain requirements of a taxing statute, and that constitutional validity or operation of a tax provision cannot be set aside merely because compliance proved difficult for the assessee. It also held that Article 142 cannot be invoked to extend a tax benefit beyond what the statute and notification actually permit, especially once donors had already availed the deduction for the years for which approval existed. Finding no merit in any of the appellant's arguments, the Court dismissed the appeal.
Tax benefits run strictly on the terms fixed by the statute and the approving notification: hardship in meeting a deadline or shortfall in donations is not, by itself, a legal ground for a court to extend or rewrite those terms, even using its wide discretionary powers.
