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 won an auction in 1996 for a commercial booth in Faridabad allotted by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for Rs. 7,55,000, paying only about 25% of the price before defaulting on the balance despite repeated notices over several years. The Estate Officer resumed (cancelled) the allotment in 2001 for non-payment; an appellate authority initially set aside the resumption on conditions, but a revision restored it, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the resumption, noting 20 years had passed with the appellant still not complying.
The Supreme Court found the appellant was a "rank defaulter" who, despite multiple opportunities over more than two decades, never paid the balance sale consideration, and who had also executed a General Power of Attorney in a manner the High Court rightly viewed as an attempted assignment of the litigation. The Court declined to invoke its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to protect what it called an "unscrupulous buyer," noting the booth's market value had risen to roughly Rs. 2.14 crores against the appellant's token payment of under Rs. 9 lakhs. It confirmed the resumption order and directed that the Rs. 20 lakhs the appellant had deposited with the Registry (under an earlier interim order) be adjusted by HUDA towards unauthorized-occupation charges from 1996, with any surplus refunded with interest, and liberty to HUDA to recover any shortfall.
Courts will not use their broad equitable powers to rescue a buyer who repeatedly defaults on payment obligations for allotted property over many years: prolonged non-compliance, especially coupled with attempts to transfer the dispute to others via power of attorney, forfeits any claim to extraordinary relief.
