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 appellants were Indian firms acting as agents for foreign buyers of frozen seafood, helping them source suppliers, verify quality, and get market/pricing information from India, for which they earned commission in foreign exchange. They claimed a tax deduction under Section 80-O of the Income Tax Act, which rewards income earned for "services rendered from India" to foreign enterprises. The tax department denied the deduction, saying the services were actually "rendered in India" (an excluded category), while the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal sided with the firms; the Kerala High Court then reversed in favour of the tax department.
The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court and tax department, holding that the firms were essentially acting as procurement agents for the foreign buyers, negotiating with local sellers, inspecting goods, and supervising quality within India, which are services performed "in India" rather than specialised services "from India" that get used only abroad. The Court emphasized that Section 80-O's benefit is meant for genuine intellectual/technical services exported from India and used abroad, not for ordinary commission-based agency work physically carried out in India, and that the assessees failed to show which specific part of their fees related to any qualifying service. The appeals (and a connected appeal by another similarly-placed firm) were dismissed.
A tax deduction meant to incentivize exporting expertise "from India" cannot be claimed merely because payment comes in foreign currency: the taxpayer must show the actual service was performed and used outside India, not just that a foreign client was informed of work done locally.
