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 petitioner was accused, along with another person, of running an illegal sex-determination and sex-selective abortion racket from her residence in Morena, Madhya Pradesh, using an unregistered ultrasound machine. A sting operation conducted by the local PC&PNDT Advisory Committee caught her accepting Rs 7,000 from a decoy "pregnant woman" for the service, after which the ultrasound machine and related equipment were seized from her home. She had been in judicial custody since September 2020, and both the trial court and the Madhya Pradesh High Court had already refused her bail.
The Supreme Court refused to grant bail, holding that the charge sheet and sting-operation evidence disclosed a strong prima facie case against her. The Court traced the legislative history of the PC&PNDT Act, enacted to curb India's skewed sex ratio and female foeticide, and emphasised that such offences are treated as grave crimes against society, warranting a strict, no-leniency approach at the bail stage. It rejected her plea for parity with a co-accused who had been granted bail, noting her more active role in the offence, and dismissed the Special Leave Petition while leaving it open to her to seek expedited trial.
Courts treat offences under the PC&PNDT Act (illegal sex-determination and sex-selective abortion) with particular seriousness, and a clear prima facie case built on sting-operation evidence will usually outweigh pleas for bail even after prolonged custody.
