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 married couple with a young son, Sattik, separated in 2016 amid allegations of domestic violence, with divorce proceedings pending in Bengaluru. The mother, employed by a multinational company, was relocated to Singapore for work in 2017 and sought to take the child with her; the father opposed this and obtained a Family Court order restraining the child from being taken out of Bengaluru, after which the child lived with the mother's parents in Bengaluru. The Karnataka High Court dismissed the mother's challenge to that restraint order, and she appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, exercising its special power under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice, held that the child's welfare was paramount and that rigid adherence to procedural technicalities (such as whether the mother had formally challenged every lower-court order) should not stand in the way of that welfare. Noting that the child had lived with the mother since birth, had expressed a wish to live with her, and would otherwise lose a year of schooling, the Court allowed the mother to take the child to Singapore. It balanced this against the father's rights by ordering detailed visitation arrangements, regular video calls, in-person access during vacations, mandatory visits to India twice a year, and required the mother to furnish a formal undertaking not to relocate the child elsewhere without the Court's permission.
In child custody matters, Indian courts prioritize the child's actual welfare and lived circumstances over rigid procedural formality, and will use constitutional powers to craft practical, detailed arrangements (like structured visitation) rather than simply picking one parent's position over the other's.
