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.
A Bhutanese hydroelectric project authority and an Indian construction company (L&T) were in a contract dispute over a major dam project in Bhutan. Their 2009 contract provided for arbitration, referencing the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (since Bhutan had no arbitration law at the time) but naming Thimphu, Bhutan courts as having jurisdiction, with arbitration seated at New Delhi or Thimphu. After Bhutan later enacted its own Alternative Dispute Resolution Act in 2013, a dispute arose over which law and which seat would now govern. When the Authority failed to appoint its arbitrator, L&T approached the Delhi High Court, which appointed an arbitrator and held that the Indian 1996 Act continued to apply. The Authority appealed to the Supreme Court, essentially contesting the choice of governing law and seat, not the composition of the arbitral tribunal itself.
By the time the case reached the Supreme Court, the tribunal had already been constituted (with a former Chief Justice of India as presiding arbitrator), and the Authority's only real grievance was over the applicable law and the seat of arbitration. During hearings, the parties reached a consensus: L&T agreed to have the arbitration proceed under Bhutan's 2013 Alternative Dispute Resolution Act with the seat at Thimphu, rather than under the Indian 1996 Act with a New Delhi seat. The Supreme Court recorded this agreement, modified the Delhi High Court's order accordingly, allowed the tribunal flexibility to hold hearings at convenient venues, and disposed of the appeal with no order as to costs.
Even where a contract's arbitration clause becomes ambiguous due to later legal developments (such as a country enacting its own arbitration law), parties can resolve a jurisdictional dispute by mutual consent before the Court, which will readily record and give effect to such an agreement rather than forcing a contested ruling on governing law.
