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 candidates, Praveen Kumar (PK) and P. Anitha Devi (AD), applied for High School Assistant (Natural Science) posts under separate Kerala Public Service Commission notifications. Both had B.Ed. degrees in subjects (Biological Science, etc.) that were not literally the "concerned subject" specified in the recruitment notification, though their degrees were later certified by universities and the State Government as equivalent to the required subject. The Kerala Administrative Tribunal accepted their equivalency and ordered their inclusion in the selection list, but the Kerala High Court reversed this, holding that equivalency granted after the recruitment notification could not be applied retrospectively.
The Supreme Court held that the Government Orders recognising the candidates' B.Ed. degrees as equivalent to the "concerned subject" were merely clarificatory: they confirmed an existing academic status rather than creating a new qualification, so applying them did not amount to impermissibly "changing the rules of the game midway." The Court distinguished this from cases where an entirely new qualification was added to the eligibility criteria after the selection process began. It set aside the High Court's judgments and restored the Tribunal's orders directing that the candidates be included in the ranked list, with consequential appointment benefits if they qualify.
When a government or university formally certifies that a candidate's existing degree is "equivalent" to a qualification required in a job notification, that certification can be treated as confirming a status the candidate always had: it is not automatically barred merely because it was issued after the recruitment process started.
